Atkins diet, I need more menu choices?
I started the atkins diet four days ago and I am running out of food choices. I have been living on meat, eggs, cheese and pork rinds. Does anyone have any suggestions? The induction phase seems more restrictive.
The strict induction phase only lasts 2 weeks. The first 2 weeks eat several cups a day of (mostly) lettuce & celery, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, peppers & more variety of vegetables thereafter – add 5 grams per day additional every week (20 grams day first 2 weeks, 25grams 3rd week, 30grams 4th week etc)
Simple carbs are addictive & can be disastrous to health. The best way to break the addiction is NO carbs for 3 days. Make a huge batch of deviled eggs, eat one every time you want “something” – have huge omelets with bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms & cheese. Pork chops smothered with peppers, mushrooms & cheese – pork rinds & dip or tuna/chicken/turkey/egg salad – steaks – a huge sugar free cheese cake. Eat so much you won’t feel deprived of anything. By the 4th day, the addiction will be gone & you can start making healthy choices.
Concentrate on what you can have and don’t dwell on what you can’t have.
During the first 2 weeks, you can have several cups of salads – Bacon, lettuce & a lil tomato with avocado/mayo dressing is my fav. Jicama, cucumber, celery & radish marinated in sesame oil & hot pepper flakes with rice wine vinegar & artificial sweetener. Make a stir fry with Bok Choy, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, celery, mushrooms, shirataki noodles & your fav meats. I love eggs & could eat deviled eggs every day. You can smother omelets & meats with mushrooms & peppers & cheese. Meatzza – Meatloaf with pizza toppings (pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, mozzarella) I prefer very thin sausage patties fried crispy with pizza toppings. Pork rinds & celery sticks are great crunch and can be eaten with dips (avocado/mayo/cayenne is my fav) & tuna/chicken/turkey/egg salads. I love love love my rotisserie and it makes the meats extra tasty. I cook a turkey every couple of months and make soup with the bones (add vinegar to leach minerals) & turkey salads. I’ll cube up some turkey meat mix in a couple of raw eggs add cheese (and broccoli after induction) with cayenne powder & nuke a couple of minutes for nearly instant meal. Flax seed should be eaten 2T daily even in induction.
Ground flax seed (2-4 Tbsp) 1/4 cup water, sweetener, mix in a raw egg – let sit 10 min. to absorb liquid, put some cream cheese in the middle & nuke 2 min for daily fiber needs.
After the 2 week induction, you add 5 grams of carbs per day every week and add a much greater variety of non starchy vegetables. Change your mindset – eat what you like to eat, just adapt it to low carb –
replace bread with lettuce
replace pasta with cabbage
replace rice with cauliflower
replace potatoes with brocolli
I eat all my favorite Chinese, Italian, even Mexican foods with low carb foods. Cabbage makes an excellent pasta substitute (for me) Make a lasagna with blanched cabbage leaves & thinly fried eggplant instead of noodles. Sugar free pasta sauce over fried cabbage. My fav is chicken cacciatore, I add greens & flaxseed or chia seed for body and also add pizza toppings – pepperoni, mushrooms, lots of mozzarrella. Alfredo sauce is also low carb..
I make a lot of shredded cabbage & mayo or fried cabbage if I’m a bit more ambitious. I cook up some bacon & throw in onions & let them fry & it makes any salad extra special (BLT) Avocado & turkey is great on a salad – Grilled chicken or fajita meat & fried onions too. Sometimes I’ll make a canned salad – can mackerel, can baby corn, can water chestnuts, can bamboo shoots, can artichoke hearts, can sweet red peppers & add in mayo & chia seed gel.
Kim Chee is a fermented cabbage salad & is suppose to be one of the most healthy foods in the world. You can make a huge batch & it will sit in refrigerator fine for a long time.
I usually make huge batches of food & freeze most of it. I cook meats 20-30# at a time (for just me) I have gone into the forums for recipes (especially when I first started low carb) I was shocked that fried “rice” made with grated cauliflower tasted just like it’s name sake. Shirataki noodles are traditional in Japanese sukiyaki and low carb. I’ve heard faux mashed “taters” made with cauliflower & cream cheese can fool non low carbers. “potato” salad using cauliflower instead.
Chia seeds sound so expensive but 1# will make 10# food (when you can splurge some – Amazon.com has couple lbs. for $16 shipped to you. I buy mine in bulk – 24# for $5.83# with free shipping at getchia.com
I also order off Amazon – Lowrey’s Pork Rinds 18 for $15 – they pop like popcorn & are portion controlled.
Faux tapioca – 2 cups of water, 5 scoops of low carb whey protein powder, stir together & add cup of chia seeds, after they have started to absorb the water, add in 2 cans of coconut milk (or cream and added water during induction) & artificial sweetener if you like and mix it all in. Can be eaten after an hour but will be better tomorrow. Cream a pkg. of cream cheese into a can of pumpkin & add to the faux tapioca for an even more nutritious pumpkin pie pud
Atkins Diet Quick Hits – How do I start?
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