Hello Eatright and welcome:
I think I know where you're coming from. I've never done Atkins' plan (he's not very vegetarian-friendly -- HUMPH!), but my sister bounced back and forth with his plan so I know a little of what it's about.
The biggest difference between Atkins and SP is that Atkins makes you count carbs in EVERYTHING! Now, I'm not saying this is necessarily bad in the beginning. It gives you a sense of how everything you eat (practically) has some carbs in it. But when you're limited to 20 g of carbs per day and you have to count carbs in every damn thing (from lettuce to cream to cheese), it can get very frustrating! Other programs aren't such sticklers about the carbs in veggies, fats, etc., and Schwarzbein is sort of lenient in that sense.
So no, you don't need to worry about counting carbs in low-carb veggies. Although Schwarzbein does warn that if you eat a whole lot of them you may want to watch your other carbs, I take this to mean if you eat so many low-carb veggies that it would equal 15 g carbs per meal (i.e., 15 cups lettuce, that sort of thing) then you might want to watch the other carb intake carefully. I doubt this would happen to most people, though. Also, don't worry about carbs in your proteins (I'm talking eggs here, and tofu, if you eat it
), cream, or cheese (except cottage cheese), although obviously you don't want to have 5 cups of cream a day!
The thing to remember is you don't have to worry about the carbs in foods where there's a high content of protein and/or fat because this will not make your insulin shoot up (this according to Schwarzbein, of course. Others say differently, like, ahem, Atkins for instance...).
As for the starchy carbs, that is strictly up to you. You're supposed to eat carbs at every meal, but if you don't care for brown rice, potatoes, legumes, etc., then don't eat 'em! I personally prefer fruit and very rarely have a starchy carb at mealtimes. The point is to stick to the balancing act during mealtimes and at snacktime, if you feel the need.
HTH,
Tal