by Westman, Dr. Eric C. ; Phinney, Dr. Stephen D. ; Volek, Dr. Jeff S.
0.0
Taco sauce
1 tablespoon
1.0
Tahini (sesame paste)
2 tablespoons
1.0
Vinegar, balsamic
1 tablespoon
2.3
Vinegar, cider
1 tablespoon
0.9
Vinegar, red wine
1 tablespoon
1.5
Vinegar, rice (unsweetened)
1 tablespoon
0.0
Vinegar, sherry
1 tablespoon
0.9
Vinegar, white wine
1 tablespoon
1.5
Wasabi paste
1 teaspoon
0.0
BEVERAGES
• Clear broth/bouillon (not low sodium and without added sugars, hydrogenated oils, or MSG).
• Club soda.
• Cream, heavy or light, or half-and-half (1 to 1.5 ounces a day).
• Caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.
• Caffeinated or decaffeinated tea.
• Diet soda sweetened with noncaloric sweeteners.
• Lemon juice or lime juice; limit to 2 to 3 tablespoons a day. Note that 2 tablespoons of lemon juice contain 2.5 grams Net Carbs; the same amount of lime juice contains 2.9 grams.
• Plain or essence-flavored seltzer (must say “no calories”).
• Herb tea (without added barley or fruit sugars).
• Unsweetened, unflavored soy or almond milk. An 8-ounce portion contains 1.2 and 1 gram Net Carbs, respectively.
• Water (tap, spring, filtered, or mineral).
WHAT’S OFF LIMITS?
For now you need to stay away from certain foods. Clearly, we cannot list every food you should avoid. Follow these guidelines, and use your common sense. Avoid the following:
• Fruits and juices (other than fruits listed with vegetables and lemon and lime juice).
• Caloric sodas.
• Foods made with flour or other grain products (exclusive of low-carb products with no more than 3 grams of Net Carbs per serving) and/or sugar, including but not limited to bread, pasta, tortillas, muffins, pastries, cookies, chips, cakes, and candy.
• Any food with added sugar, no matter what kind. Look for terms such as brown syrup, evaporated cane juice, glucose, dextrose, honey, and corn syrup.
• Alcohol of any sort.
• Nuts and seeds, nut and seed butters (in the first two weeks of Induction), except for flaxseeds, which are acceptable.
• Grains, even whole grains: rice, oats, barley, quinoa, buckwheat groats, and so on.
• Kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, and other legumes.
• Any vegetables not on the Acceptable Induction Foods list, including starchy vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and other winter squash.
• Dairy products other than hard cheese, cream, sour cream, and butter. No cow or goat milk of any sort, yogurt, cottage cheese, or ricotta for now.
• “Low-fat” foods, which are usually high in carbs.
• “Diet” products, unless they specifically state “no carbohydrates” or have no more than 3 grams of Net Carbs per serving. Such foods are mostly suitable for low-fat diets, not low-carb plans. Don’t be fooled by the words “sugarless,” “sugar free,” “natural,” or “no sugar added.” Go by the carb content, which must be stated on the label.
• “Junk food” in any form.
• Products such as chewing gum, breath mints, cough syrups and drops, even liquid vitamins, which may be filled with sugar or other caloric sweeteners. (You can have breath mints and gums sweetened with sorbitol or xylitol and count 1 gram per piece, up to three a day.)
• Any foods with manufactured trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils).
When in doubt, pass it up.
TURNING LISTS INTO MEALS
Your objective is to build meals around a wide array of protein sources, natural fats, and foundation vegetables. If you love salads, eat them to your heart’s content. When it comes to cooked vegetables, choose from almost fifty selections, from artichoke to zucchini. Steam, sauté, roast, or stir-fry vegetables, but don’t boil them, which destroys their nutrients, unless you drink the broth or add it to soups. Likewise, meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, and tofu may be broiled, grilled, roasted, stir-fried, poached, or braised—but not breaded or floured and deep-fried. Enjoy the odd fruits that pretend to be vegetables—think avocados, olives, and tomatoes—in moderation. Refer to the Induction meal plans in part III, which you can modify according to your needs, as long as you comply with the Acceptable Induction Foods list and tally the carbs.
INDUCTION GUIDELINES
Many people see remarkably fast weight loss results on Induction. Others find it slow going. Whatever your pace, you’ll need to follow the rules precisely to achieve success. This applies equally to those of you who are working on improving your blood sugar and insulin levels or your lipids. Otherwise, you could become frustrated before you’ve had a chance to see what Atkins can really do for you. Read the following rules of Induction, and then read them again to ensure that they’re engraved on your brain!
• Eat either three regular-size meals a day or four or five smaller meals. Don’t skip meals or go more than six waking hours without eating.
• At each meal, eat at least 4 to 6 ounces of protein foods. Up to 8 ounces is fine if you’re a tall guy. There’s no need to trim the fat from meat or the skin from poultry, but if you prefer to do so, fine. Just add a splash of olive oil or a pat of butter to your vegetables to replace the fat.
• Enjoy butter, mayonnaise (made from olive, canola, or high-oleic safflower oils), olive oil, high-oleic safflower oil, canola oil, and seed and nut oils. Aim for 1 tablespoon of oil on a salad or other vegetables, or a pat of butter. Cook foods in enough oil to ensure they don’t burn, but no more. Or spritz the pan with a mister of olive oil. See guidelines for oils on page 89.
• Eat no more than 20 grams a day of Net Carbs, 12 to 15 grams of them as foundation vegetables. This means you can eat approximately six loosely packed cups of salad and up to two cups of cooked vegetables. (See Acceptable Induction Foods on page 82.) Carb counts of vegetables vary.
• Eat only the foods on this list. This is not the time to push the envelope.
• Learn to distinguish hunger from habit and adjust the quantity you eat to suit your appetite as it decreases. When you’re hungry, eat until you feel satisfied but not stuffed. If you’re not sure if you’re full, wait ten minutes, have a glass of water, and eat more only if you’re still unsatisfied. If you’re not hungry at mealtime, eat a small low-carb snack.
• Don’t starve yourself, and don’t restrict fats.
• Don’t assume that any food is low in carbs. Read the labels on packaged foods to discover unacceptable ingredients, and check their Net Carb counts (subtract grams of fiber from total grams). Also use a carbohydrate gram counter.
• When dining out, be on guard for hidden carbs. Gravy is usually made with flour or cornstarch, both no-nos. Sugar is often found in salad dressing and may even appear in coleslaw and other deli salads. Avoid any deep-fried or breaded food.
• Use sucralose (Splenda), saccharin (Sweet’N Low), stevia (SweetLeaf or Truvia), or xylitol as a sweetener. Have no more than three packets a day, and count each one as 1 gram of carbs.
• To be safe, stick with Atkins low-carb products and only those coded for Induction. Limit them to two a day.
• Drink at least eight 8-ounce portions of approved beverages each day to prevent dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Include two cups of broth (not low sodium), one in the morning and one in the afternoon, in this count.
• Take a daily iron-free multivitamin/multimineral combo and an omega-3 fatty acid supplement.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FIRST WEEK
If you’ve been eating lots of poor-quality c
arbohydrates, this way of eating will be a significant change for you, and it may take some time for your body to adjust. You may also be giving up many of your old high-carb comfort foods, which may leave you feeling emotionally bereft. Both reactions are normal. Record any such feelings in your diet journal, along with a list of the foods you’ve eaten. You can find online support and answers to specific questions on the Atkins Community forums during this transition (as well as at any other time) as well as link up with Atkins “newbies” and old hands.
Just because your best friend or spouse lost 7 pounds on Atkins in her first week of Induction, don’t assume it will be the same for you. It’s better to begin with no set expectations. Most people lose a couple of pounds of water weight in the first few days. Your loss may be more dramatic, or not. And don’t skimp on fluids or eliminate salt to hasten water loss. Remember that lost inches are just as significant. So if your clothes seem to feel a bit looser, even if your weight is constant, you’re on the right track. This is also why we recommend that you weigh yourself once a week at roughly the same time of day (or use weight averaging) and take your measurements. That way, you’re more likely to see positive results and not get hung up on your body’s normal day-to-day variances.
Everyone is different, and it can take some time to fully switch your metabolism over to burning primarily fat. A low-carb diet is naturally diuretic, which flushes sodium and water from your body. Fatigue, light-headedness upon standing up or with exposure to heat (in a hot shower or hot tub or while mowing the lawn on a hot day, for example), weakness, constipation, chronic headaches, and leg cramps are all signs you might not be getting enough sodium. Like fat, salt has been unjustly demonized, despite being essential to life and well-being.
The symptoms described above are not the result of the diet—too little carbohydrate, too much protein, or whatever. The real problem is the lack of just a daily pinch of sodium. Yes, individuals who are sensitive to salt may experience bloating and high blood pressure if they eat lots of salt. But interestingly, these conditions are most pronounced when people eat high-carb diets. Adapting to the low-carb state fundamentally changes how your system handles nutrients that might cause problems in a high-carb setting.
Our strategy to restore your sodium balance will stop most symptoms before they begin. In our experience, normally salting food to taste is not adequate. So don’t wait until you experience symptoms; instead, have either two cups of broth, ½ teaspoon of salt, or 2 tablespoons of regular soy sauce daily from your first day on Atkins. Continue until your carb intake exceeds 50 grams of Net Carbs.
If you opt for the broth, drink one cup in the morning and another in the midafternoon. Ideally, make your own chicken, beef, or vegetable broth (see recipes in part III), but otherwise use regular (not low-sodium) canned or Tetra Pak broth or a bouillon cube dissolved in water. If you’re going to be exercising vigorously, drink one portion about an hour beforehand. If you opt for salt instead, measure out the amount in the morning and sprinkle it on food throughout the day, being sure to use all of it. If you use soy sauce, make sure it is not the low-sodium kind and consume it in at least two portions as a condiment or ingredient in meals.
If you’re taking a diuretic medication or have been advised to restrict your salt intake, consult your physician before adding sodium to your diet. Meanwhile, be sure to eat the recommended amount of vegetables and sufficient protein with every meal, as well as drink enough fluids and take your supplements. If symptoms do crop up or remain, you may want to temporarily increase your intake to 25 grams of Net Carbs by eating more foundation vegetables. Or have some nuts or seeds or even a half cup of tomato juice, which you would not normally have until Ongoing Weight Loss. Once you feel better, eliminate these foods for the time being and return to 20 grams of Net Carbs to speed your weight loss.
Follow this advice, and you’re unlikely to experience the symptoms described above.
YOUR ALLY, THE ATKINS EDGE
Somewhere toward the end of the first or second week, most people feel a dramatic increase in their energy level and sense of well-being. This is a clear signal that you’ve got the Atkins Edge and can begin to hone your low-carb skills.
Developing new habits and learning how to resist temptation are crucial to your success, but they’re not enough. Another major component of succeeding on Atkins is enjoying what you eat. If it’s blah, boring, or nutritionally inadequate, there’s no way you’re going to stay the course long enough to become slim and healthy. Having a large repertoire of enjoyable food choices and making sure that the right foods and ingredients are always in your kitchen is integral to forming habits that will result in a permanently slim you. (See the sidebar “Don’t Get Caught Short.”) Food is necessary for life. Once you discover which types and amounts of food are best for your metabolism, you’ll set yourself up for success in terms of health and weight management as well as satisfaction, and, yes, pleasure. So let’s delve deeper into what you can eat on Induction.
DON’T GET CAUGHT SHORT
You’ve been following Atkins to the letter, but after a grueling day at work, the kids are clamoring for dinner and there’s nothing in the house that’s Atkins-compliant. So you wind up eating mac and cheese with the family. If this sounds familiar, you need to have an emergency store on hand at all times. Stock your freezer, fridge, and pantry with the following foods, and you should always be able to put together a tasty low-carb meal.
REFRIGERATOR: Eggs, tofu, cheese, herring in cream sauce (without added sugar), rotisserie chicken (not honey basted), sliced roast beef or fresh turkey, hard salami and other cold cuts with no added sugar; salad fixings.
FREEZER: Hamburger patties, lamb chops, shrimp, chicken breasts, all in individual ziplock bags for quick defrosting in a bowl of warm water.
PANTRY: Tuna or salmon in cans or vacuum bags, sardines, crabmeat, clams, Vienna sausages.
THE VEGETABLE CHALLENGE
One of the things we hear most often from people new to Atkins is that they’re having trouble getting enough vegetables into their daily carb tally. New science on the importance of fiber, minerals, and phytochemicals in vegetables has changed our recommendations about the amount of vegetables you should eat in Induction to 12 to 15 grams of Net Carbs. Have at least one, and preferably two, salads a day. To make it easier to track your carbs, we’ve created minirecipes for basic main course and side dish salads, which you can modify.
• Side Dish Salad: Start with 2 cups of salad greens (0.8 gram Net Carbs). Add 6 sliced radishes (0.5 gram), ½ medium tomato (1.6 grams), and a tablespoon of olive oil and a little vinegar, and you’ve spent only about 4 grams of Net Carbs. Hate radishes or tomatoes? Simply replace them with vegetables of comparable carb counts, and you’re set to go. Or add a couple of slices of avocado for another gram of carbs.
• Main Course Salad: Start with four cups of your favorite leafy greens (1.6 grams Net Carbs). Add ¼ cup sliced scallions (1.2 grams), ½ cup sliced raw mushrooms (1.4 grams), and ½ cup cucumber slices (1.0 gram), for a total of 5.2 grams of Net Carbs. Top with a grilled chicken breast, shrimp, roast beef, tuna, tofu, hard-boiled eggs, or another protein source and dress with oil and vinegar, for roughly another gram, and you’re looking at not much more than 6 grams of Net Carbs. Or pile on such low- or no-carb garnishes as crumbled bacon, diced hard-boiled egg, or grated cheese.
Making a salad is no big deal, especially if you invest in a salad spinner. To save time, wash and spin a couple of days’ worth of greens, then wrap them gently in a dishtowel, seal in a ziplock bag, and pop the bag into the vegetable drawer in your fridge. Likewise, wash, trim, and cut up your other favorite salad veggies and keep in the fridge. Or, to cut out the washing and prep work, buy bagged prewashed salad greens and packaged sliced vegetables. Easier yet, stop by a salad bar and load up on acceptable vegetables. The point is, don’t let anything get in the way of eating fresh greens.
WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST?
Most peopl
e find that it’s pretty easy to eat Atkins style at lunch and dinner, and it is at breakfast too if you get “egg-cited” about the myriad ways in which eggs can be prepared. But if eggs aren’t your thing, you’ll need to get a bit more creative, as we explain below. Americans have grown up equating the first meal of the day with sugar, in the form of sweetened cereal, jelly doughnuts, juice drinks, toaster pastries, and other foods of dubious value. But in most other countries, breakfasts are much more varied. The Japanese often have soup for breakfast, the Scandinavians delight in smoked fish. Time to broaden your own horizons.
Some of our Induction breakfast suggestions are variations of such dishes, and yes, we admit, there’s an egg here and there, but they’re a far cry from two over lightly. Remember, your goal is not just to control carbs but to also get sufficient protein and fat at every meal, including the first meal of the day. The following ideas, which all come in under 4 grams of Net Carbs, should add some variety to your morning repertoire. Some are portable, making them good for weekday mornings, and all serve one unless otherwise indicated.
• On-the-Run Roll-ups: Wrap slices of cheese and ham around a couple of cucumber spears and a dab of mayonnaise mixed with mustard. Use sliced turkey or roast beef instead and lettuce leaves or another vegetable. Or wrap cream cheese in smoked salmon.
• Chocolate-Coconut Shake: Blend 4 ounces unsweetened soy or almond milk, 2 tablespoons no-sugar-added coconut milk, 1 scoop unsweetened whey protein powder, 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 ice cubes, and 1 packet sucralose (optional) in a blender until well mixed and frothy.
• Stuffed Peppers: Stuff half a bell pepper with a few tablespoons of pork or turkey bulk sausage and microwave for 10–15 minutes on high or in a 350°F. oven for 45 minutes. Pour off the excess fat, and serve with no-added-sugar salsa or, if desired, with a poached egg and/or grated cheese. Make a batch ahead of time and reheat individual portions.
• Corned Beef Hash. Instead of the potatoes called for in most recipes, use white turnips or chopped cauliflower. Or replace the corned beef with leftover chicken or turkey.