If you are a newcomer to the Atkins Nutritional Approach (ANA), you might just now be realizing that vegetables and the vitanutrients they contain are central to this program! You are learning that in Phase One, called Induction, you are instructed to eat 20 net grams of carbohydrate each day, with most of them (12-15) coming straight from veggies. Net carbs are calculated by subtracting the grams of dietary fiber in a serving of any food from the total grams of carbohydrate. For example, if a cup of broccoli contains around 6 grams of carbs and 2 grams of fiber, it contains 4 net carbs. These net carbs are what we count to get to 12-15 per day. The other 5-8 net carbs will come from non-veggie sources, such as cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, flax seed and other Induction-friendly foods.
If you are the type of person who loves to keep track of every detail, you can enter your daily food into fitday.com, which is a free online food and fitness diary. Enter the food, and fitday will do all the math, telling you percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate, calories and even nutritional content.
But if the thought of that much journaling makes you just a little nervous, you can still succeed “doing Atkins” by using the "cup method". This method has been used by many, many people throughout the years, and you can still reap the benefits of good health and nutrition that you want and need by using it.
If you are the type of person who loves to keep track of every detail, you can enter your daily food into fitday.com, which is a free online food and fitness diary. Enter the food, and fitday will do all the math, telling you percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate, calories and even nutritional content.
But if the thought of that much journaling makes you just a little nervous, you can still succeed “doing Atkins” by using the "cup method". This method has been used by many, many people throughout the years, and you can still reap the benefits of good health and nutrition that you want and need by using it.
If you want to eat your vegetables as part of your three daily meals, you might try getting 4 veggie net carbs with breakfast, 5.5 veggie net carbs with lunch and 5.5 veggie net carbs with dinner. If you want to keep it fairly simple, without having to make a lot of fancy recipes, here are some examples of what that might look like:
Breakfast ideas: Sautee 1/4 cup chopped broccoli and 1/4 cup chopped onion in 1 Tbs. real butter. Then add 2 beaten eggs to the pan. Stir over medium high heat until the eggs are set. If you like, sprinkle 2 Tbs. shredded cheddar cheese over the eggs in the last 30 seconds of cooking. 5 total net carbs, with 4 of them coming from veggies.
Here are some other combinations of veggies that you can easily add to an egg scramble or omelet that will total 4 net veggie carbs: 3/4 cup chopped tomato and 3/4 cup chopped spinach, or 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms.
For a breakfast on the run, grab a couple of hard boiled eggs, a slice of real cheese, and one of the following raw veggies to crunch in the car: 1-3/4 cup chopped cucumber, 1 cup string beans (green beans), 1-1/2 cups chopped cauliflower, 1 cup chopped green pepper.
Lunch ideas: Salad is a good way to get in your veggies! Start with 2-1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce and add any of the following for a total (including the lettuce) of 5.5 veggie net carbs: 2 cups chopped cucumber, 3/4 cup chopped jicama, 2-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms, 1 cup chopped green peppers, 3/4 cup chopped red peppers, 2 cups sliced radishes, 1 cup chopped broccoli, 1-1/2 cups chopped cauliflower, 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes, 1-1/2 cups sliced yellow squash. If you want more than one added veggie in your salad, use half the measurement of one veggie, combined with half the measurement of another, like 1/2 cup green peppers and 1 cup chopped cucumber.
Of course, if you don’t like salad, you can just eat raw or cooked veggies, and use the following dinner ideas.
Dinner Ideas:
You can have another salad at dinner, or eat cooked or raw vegetables. Add butter or even mayonnaise to hot cooked veggies. Here are some sample amounts of veggies that have been measured before they are cooked. Each raw amount has 5.5 net carbs, and if you like, you can have half of one and half of another, or cook some and crunch on some raw:
2-1/4 cups asparagus, 1-1/3 cups avocado, 1-1/2 cups chopped broccoli, 1-1/4 cups Brussels sprouts, 1-1/2 cups shredded red cabbage, 2-1/3 cups shredded green cabbage, 2 cups cauliflower, 2-3/4 cup cubed eggplant, 1 cup chopped kale, 1-1/2 cups kohlrabi, 1-1/2 cups okra, scant 1/2 cup chopped onions, scant 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!), 1-2/3 cups unsweetened rhubarb, 2 cups drained, canned sauerkraut, 3/4 cup cubed spaghetti squash, 12-1/2 cups spinach (that’s not a typo - it's over 12 cups!), 2 cups chopped green summer squash, 2 cups sliced yellow summer squash, 1 cup chopped or sliced tomatoes, 1/3 cup canned water chestnuts.
All of the carb counts in this post are taken from fitday.com, which is considered by all to be very accurate because it gets its number from the USDA. Nutritional labels are allowed to round down, according to law, so it’s best to get your carb counts from fitday.com, which I highly recommend to people who want to go the “extra mile” in planning their menus! It does the entire math for you and it’s free!
As you can see from all of the suggestions above, it’s not difficult to choose the vegetables you like and succeed in getting those 12-15 net carbs every day, even if you are just using measuring cups! As you progress through the Phases, you may decide to begin weighing your food on an inexpensive digital scale. It’s easy and accurate!
So go down to the produce department today and stock up on your favorite veggies! And while you're at it, why not try a few new ones, too?
Breakfast ideas: Sautee 1/4 cup chopped broccoli and 1/4 cup chopped onion in 1 Tbs. real butter. Then add 2 beaten eggs to the pan. Stir over medium high heat until the eggs are set. If you like, sprinkle 2 Tbs. shredded cheddar cheese over the eggs in the last 30 seconds of cooking. 5 total net carbs, with 4 of them coming from veggies.
Here are some other combinations of veggies that you can easily add to an egg scramble or omelet that will total 4 net veggie carbs: 3/4 cup chopped tomato and 3/4 cup chopped spinach, or 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms.
For a breakfast on the run, grab a couple of hard boiled eggs, a slice of real cheese, and one of the following raw veggies to crunch in the car: 1-3/4 cup chopped cucumber, 1 cup string beans (green beans), 1-1/2 cups chopped cauliflower, 1 cup chopped green pepper.
Lunch ideas: Salad is a good way to get in your veggies! Start with 2-1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce and add any of the following for a total (including the lettuce) of 5.5 veggie net carbs: 2 cups chopped cucumber, 3/4 cup chopped jicama, 2-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms, 1 cup chopped green peppers, 3/4 cup chopped red peppers, 2 cups sliced radishes, 1 cup chopped broccoli, 1-1/2 cups chopped cauliflower, 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes, 1-1/2 cups sliced yellow squash. If you want more than one added veggie in your salad, use half the measurement of one veggie, combined with half the measurement of another, like 1/2 cup green peppers and 1 cup chopped cucumber.
Of course, if you don’t like salad, you can just eat raw or cooked veggies, and use the following dinner ideas.
Dinner Ideas:
You can have another salad at dinner, or eat cooked or raw vegetables. Add butter or even mayonnaise to hot cooked veggies. Here are some sample amounts of veggies that have been measured before they are cooked. Each raw amount has 5.5 net carbs, and if you like, you can have half of one and half of another, or cook some and crunch on some raw:
2-1/4 cups asparagus, 1-1/3 cups avocado, 1-1/2 cups chopped broccoli, 1-1/4 cups Brussels sprouts, 1-1/2 cups shredded red cabbage, 2-1/3 cups shredded green cabbage, 2 cups cauliflower, 2-3/4 cup cubed eggplant, 1 cup chopped kale, 1-1/2 cups kohlrabi, 1-1/2 cups okra, scant 1/2 cup chopped onions, scant 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!), 1-2/3 cups unsweetened rhubarb, 2 cups drained, canned sauerkraut, 3/4 cup cubed spaghetti squash, 12-1/2 cups spinach (that’s not a typo - it's over 12 cups!), 2 cups chopped green summer squash, 2 cups sliced yellow summer squash, 1 cup chopped or sliced tomatoes, 1/3 cup canned water chestnuts.
All of the carb counts in this post are taken from fitday.com, which is considered by all to be very accurate because it gets its number from the USDA. Nutritional labels are allowed to round down, according to law, so it’s best to get your carb counts from fitday.com, which I highly recommend to people who want to go the “extra mile” in planning their menus! It does the entire math for you and it’s free!
As you can see from all of the suggestions above, it’s not difficult to choose the vegetables you like and succeed in getting those 12-15 net carbs every day, even if you are just using measuring cups! As you progress through the Phases, you may decide to begin weighing your food on an inexpensive digital scale. It’s easy and accurate!
So go down to the produce department today and stock up on your favorite veggies! And while you're at it, why not try a few new ones, too?
