Spinach!

[samira]

Question about spinach measurements and induction:

This morning I measured 3, loosely packed, cups of fresh spinach and boiled it. After it was done, it measured a little more than half a cup. I ate it with 25 cals of butter and about 10 drops of lemon juice it was delicious. Are those all the vegetables I get today?

I wonder because Dr. A said 3 cups of leafy salad greens and the Atkins site specifically says to measure spinach raw because it cooks down so much.

HOWEVER: Three cups of spinach has less than 1 net carb, which is far less than 12-15 carbs of veggies allowed/recommended at Atkins.com.

Confused: Am I supposed to have up to 3 cups of leafy vegetables or up to 15 carbs of vegetables? Or perhaps it is 3 cups which could be up to 15 carbs?

The amount of cooked spinach just looked so puny....

Thanks for the help.

[SueSue1212]

Maybe I am doing this wrong, but I buy the canned and the whole can is like 3.5 carbs. I love spincah. I was having my meals and using about a half can in a setting.
I hope you get more post here, because I am wondering now too!
SueSue1212

[DesertRain]

Can someone correct me if I'm wrong, I thought we could only have 1 cup of spinach if salad doesn't exceed 2 cups.

[DesertRain]

Oh yes, and on page 110 on DANDR it says,
"If a vegetable, such as spinach or tomato, cooks down significantly, it must be measured raw so as not to underestimate it's carb count"

So, measure 1 cup spinach raw before boiling, and only *if* you have not gone over your 2 cups of salad veggies.
Hope that helps!

[samira]

Ok DesertRain, I will answer your observation...
I'm an Atkins Outlaw!

Looking at the acceptable foods list at atkins.com it says that spinach isn't a salad vegetable and/because it is higher in carbs.

But fitday.com and calorieking.com say spinach has fewer carbs than lettuce.

So I eat spinach like it's lettuce because I get more nutrients for fewer carbs.

[DesertRain]

Sorry Samira that I didn't answer your question, I was just trying to help.
I'm on induction and following it to a T so it's my bad that I assume that everyone here does it from the book. So I answered you about it directly from the book. I'm sure someone here can tell you from experience about it. I think that's strange the they say it has less carbs. I would prefer to eat spinach the way you said you cooked it over lettuce anyday. By the way, in my pre-Atkins mind, spinach was always a leafy green. LOL.

[samira]

I know, right? Spinach comes in leaves, it's green, you can make 'spinach salad'....

... of course, you can make jello salad too...

[Chicklady]

I count spinach as a salad veggie. Not sure why Dr A put it under "other" but to me it qualifies as a "green" I've heard St Peter will not hold this against me

[chinadoll]

It can be tough to get close to your daily carb limit with the induction veggie and salad quantity limits, but don't forget your salad vegetables include a lot more than leaves. There are mushrooms, radishes, peppers, daikon, etc, and these generally have more carbs than the lettuces so use these to boost your totals. Check out the Induction stickies for more complete lists. I have to confess I played kind of loose with the quantities of veggies because at the time I did induction I was using an ancient Atkins book. I have since gotten the DANDR book and I think it is harder to follow now but it can be done.

[SueSue1212]

For what it is worth, I started what I thought was the Atkins plan. I did what I thought for a month and a half. Basically, I just kept all my carbs. under 20 no matter what the food was, I still lost 40 lbs. in that time span. So, I am not telling anyone to break the rules or change the plan, but I am telling you that a mister meaner like spinache may not be that big of a booboo. Everyone has to make up their own mind what works for them. BUT, since I found out I am doing it all wrong, I now have the book and am doing a clean induction. Just FYI and hope it helps.
SueSue1212