Starting Atkins - Please review my weekly Menu

[buckeejit]

Hi all

I have done a bit of research regarding the Atkins Diet and I have read the book. I am starting tomorrow and was wondering if someone could have a quick look over my menu and tell me if it looks ok? I know the breakfasts seem boring but I love eggs lol:

Weekly Meal Plan:


Monday
Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs (2) Bacon (3)
Lunch - Turkey Salad (spinach, lettuce, 1 hardboiled egg)
Dinner - Steamed Haddock with Spinach, asparagus with Roasted Pepper Sauce
Snacks - 2 x Mini Babybel

Tuesday
Breakfast - Boiled Eggs (2) Bacon (2)
Lunch - Chicken and Bacon Salad
Dinner - Homemade Beef Burgers (2) with cheddar cheese and Oven Roasted Celeriac Chips
Snacks - Crispy Bacon Bits

Wednesday
Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs (2) Bacon (3)
Lunch - Big Al's Beef Burgers (2) with Cheese and Spinach
Dinner - Stuffed Chicken Breast with Mozarella Cheese wrapped in Streaky Bacon with buttery Asaparagus
Snacks - 2 x Mini Babybel

Thursday
Bacon Omelette (2 eggs) with Spinach
Lunch - 2 Slices of Ham, Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, hardboiled Egg
Dinner - Rump Steak with Celeriac Mash and green beans
Snacks - Celeriac Crisps

Friday
Breakfast - Ham (2 slices) and bacon (1 rasher) Omelette (2 eggs) with Spinach
Lunch - Ham and Chicken Salad with Hardboiled Egg
Dinner - Steamed Smoked Cod with Spinach, asparagus and broccoli
Snacks - 2 x Mini Babybel

Saturday
Poached Eggs (2) with Asparagus
Lunch - Big Al's Beef Burgers (2) with Cheese and Spinach
Dinner - Beef Steak With Peppercorn Sauce and Turnip Mash
Snacks - Crispy Bacon Bits

Sunday
Fried Egg (2) with Bacon (2) and asparagus
Lunch - Ham and Bacon Omelette
Dinner - Silverside (Beef) with Gravy, Brocolli and Celeriac Mash
Snacks - 2 x Mini Babybel

I have avoided foods with sugar so I have opted for Big Al's Beef Burgers which contains no sugar.

Does this menu look ok?

[liv]

Welcome.
How nice that you have started Atkins and joined us. You are a planner I see. Planning is good.
Looks like a pretty good menu.
Just a couple of thoughts: Don't for get to change your eating to your needs. In the beginning you may need more food as we seem a bit hungry when we start and when ketosis sets in you may find yourself eating less.

Pay attention to the veggie rules. Measure them in cups and eat only 1 cup from the other list (page 126) in Dandr (the book). These are denser veggies and we should not overdo them. So only chosing aspargus, spinnach and turnip one day does not work. You have eat two cups from the other list (the salad list)

You do not say how much and where you are adding oils and butter. Fats are going to be a key so use them liberally in your menu

I am not sure what is in the gravy for the Sunday menu - but it cannot be starches or flour.

What are you drinking? Plain water is another key to a successful induction.

Happy starting tomorrow. It looks to me like with a few adjustments you will be very successful.

[buckeejit]

Thanks for the reply Liv.

I will certainly pay attention to those other vegetables.

I will be using olive oil with my salads and will be using a lot of butter. Don't worry, I won't scarce on the fats as I love butter lol.

The gravy will be made with the juice of the meat with some seasoning.

I will be drinking about 2-3 litres of water a day.

Question: Will I be allowed Red onion on induction?

Thanks for the positive feedback. I hope I succeed. I tried before but only lasted a day as I didn't have the right foods in my house but I've got all the right foods now.

[JulieB]

I agree with Liz's comments, and just wanted to add that I like the variety and yummyness (I just made that word up) of your menu. I'm guessing that you love good food (so do I!) and am happy to see a 1st week menu that isn't BORING! We can eat VERY WELL on Atkins!
PS, If I'm ever travelling in your area, I'm coming over for lunch

[buckeejit]

Originally Posted by JulieB

I agree with Liz's comments, and just wanted to add that I like the variety and yummyness (I just made that word up) of your menu. I'm guessing that you love good food (so do I!) and am happy to see a 1st week menu that isn't BORING! We can eat VERY WELL on Atkins!
PS, If I'm ever travelling in your area, I'm coming over for lunch

It wasn't easy to plan this menu. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Took a good few hours to plan.

Not a problem, if I'm ever in Canada I'll be coming to your also haha.

[mizski]

Your menu looks pretty good to me. As Liv pointed out, it is very important to measure your veggies and make sure you are having enough.

A suggestion would be to try to have some veg with your breakfast on the Day 1-3 menu. I have all kinds of allowed veggies with breakfast but my new favorite is radish hash browns (radishes are one of the salad veggies). I never really cared for radishes and quite frankly, this recipe sounded pretty weird to me but I tried it and OMG...they are fantastic. Even Mr. Ski loves them.

Another thing I noticed is to maybe watch your cheese and make sure you don't go over the 3-4 oz./day limit.

Sounds like you're off to a great start! Good luck on your first day tomorrow.

[JulieB]

Originally Posted by buckeejit

It wasn't easy to plan this menu. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Took a good few hours to plan.

After two weeks, it didn't think I was going to make it, it wasn't that I couldn't hack the diet, I was spending most of my life planning meals, cooking and eating! Just wanted to let you know that it does get easier (and takes less time). I used to spend HOURS planning a menu, now it takes me about 1/2 hour to plan a weekly menu and make my shopping list.

[liv]

Red onions are fine. Just don't overdo them. Onions are carby things. I love onions. On induction I ate more green onions because they are less carby.

[buckeejit]

thanks for all the replies

I have just spotted something, my snacks that will be a Mini Babybel. It says that there is 160ml milk in each mini babybel. Now I know you aren't allowed milk on the akins. Shall I strike Babybel's from my list?

[liv]

I think Georgiana one of our mods had an exchange with Babybel and they assured us that most of their cheeses are natural cheese. So therefore allowed on Atkins. There will be some milk in cheese - that is what it should be made from and as long as there is a high fat content to go with it, it is fine. But we have a cheese limit of 3-4 oz daily.