help please - veggie challenge

[Yo Yo Girl]

Hi all. Started the veggie challenge today and it really is a challenge! I love veggies alot but don't want to mess up by eating too many. So my dilemma is this - for the challenge I have to eat between 12 -15 grams of carbs in veggie form each day. But I'm finding that to do this, I am going to have to break the rule about 2 cups salad veggies and 1 cup of other veggies per day. Does anybody not worry about the cup measurement and just go by carbs, or if not how do I do this and stay within the rules.

Any help much appreciated.

[mitzimarie]

Hi, YoYo

It was during the last Veggie Challenge that I started learning which veggies pack the most punch. There are several salad veggies that have a good number of carbs and fiber. For example, I had a whole yellow bellpepper today... that is 10 net veggie carbs right there. A cup of jicama has 5 net carbs. Those 2 salad veggies alone would put you at 15 net carbs, and you can still have a cup of veggies from the Other list.

Since you are required to get between 12 and 15 net veggie carbs for the challenge, I assume that you are in Induction. How long have you been in Induction, and what are your current and goal weights? Once you have been on Induction for 2 weeks, I would strongly advise moving to the first rung - more veggies. When you start adding in 5 net carbs of veggies, you go by carbs and not cups for the additional veggies. And, honestly, once you are in OWL, I wouldn't stress so much over the number of cups... just carefully measure and/or weigh your veggies and count your net carbs and go by that. Even though I am now in Pre-Maintenance, I still try to have at least 2 of my cups of veggies come from the Salad list (even though I rarely eat salads). That way, I know that at least 2 cups of my veggies are coming from the list with the lowest glycemic index.

Don't be afraid of veggies! I have determined that the more veggies I eat, the better I lose weight. I stayed on Rung 1 for 2 months, adding new veggies some weeks and upping my carbs on the weeks that I didn't eat new foods. As long as most of your carbs come from veggies, you should be safe. And don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have in the thread for the challenge. In the last veggie challenge, we shared tips and recipes there... it was very helpful.

Good luck!

[Yo Yo Girl]

Thanks so much Mitzimarie. Very helpful advice. Thankyou for taking the time. Good luck with the challenge.