Welcome CP

Yes you can have the chicken salad, and yes you must count the carbs. You must count all carbs toward your daily 20g. The chicken salad is probably made with miracle whip, hence the carbs. You're better off making your own, but for today you should be ok. Be sure you check to see what a serving size is, sometimes they are quite small, you could end up blowing your entire carb allotment on the salad. Not good.

Atkin's says caffeine is a ; other plans let you have the odd cup of coffee. Its one of those YMMV (Your Milage May Vary). If you're going to drinkk soda's go for decaf and of course diet and try to limit them, citric acid can be a staller. And every diet soda you drink means you lost out on a glass of water. And you do need your water (64 oz or 8 glasses a day + one more glass per 25lbs you want to lose)

Point and click your way around this site, be sure to check out the "Low Carb Tips" section of the forum, you'll find valuable information there.

Happy low carbing

Nat

P.S. And CP please get a copy of the book. This forum is a great source for help and advice, but it is no substitute for the book. LC works and is a great WOL (Way of Life) but it must be done properly.