This is my second attempt at Atkins. The first time I failed because I kept arguing with myself about whether it was as healty at Weight Watchers. I never could seem to lose fast enough on Weight Watchers and I always felt hungry. I am going to try Atkins again, starting tomorrow morning. I have a couple of questions. Until I can wean myself off caffiene, can I still have one cup of real coffee in the morning and a glass of tea at lunch? The only thing I have to put in my coffee at the present is coffeemate; however, I noticed it was very low carb. The final question that I want to know is whether I can use Ranch dressing instead of vinegar and oil?

I do want so badly to lose this weight. I am single now and want to look good. I appreciate the encouragement that I get from reading all the posts on here.

Mickey

Mickey:

Coffee...this one is one of those "yourmileage may vary" items. Even though Atkins says no coffee, many LCers still permit themselves a cup or two. I refuse to give up my morning coffee. I'm not human without it. Some people have been able to give it up all together. Some people find giving it up helps with their progress.

A 10 oz mug of coffee (a normal mug not a teacup) is 1.3 grams of carbs. Add your sweetner carbs and cream carbs into that if you use those.

If you were used to drinking coffee all day, you may find yourself cutting down drastically once you are on your LC way. With only 20 grams of carbs a day, after a while you don't want to waste them on a cup of coffee

Ranch dressing...
Any bottled dressing is ok as long as the carb counts are low. It depends on the brand you use. You'll have to spend some time reading labels in the grocery store and comparing. Stay away from anything that has added sugar, especially if sugar is listed within the first 3 ingredients. Ingredients are generally listed in order of their volumes. The closer to the beginning of the list, the more of that item is in the product.

There's a great section of this site that talks about LC products. You might find salad dressings that you like listed in there, by doing a search. Here's the link to all the forums. Scroll down till you see Low Carb Products Discussion

http://forum.lowcarber.org/index.php?s=

Also, if you want to be in control, you can make your own yummy dressings really quicky.

Oil and vinegar with a variety of spices is quick and easy.

A couple of tablespoons of Mayo, mixed with a bit of olive oil and some vinegar to water it down, and whatever spice you feel like for the day, makes a great creamy dressing. (Try adding in an italian spice mix and some garlic for a yummy dressing)

When you make your own dressings you are in complete control over the contents. They only take a minute or two, and after a while you get comfortable experimenting.

I take a small premixed container of dressing to restaurants and use it on my salads..asking them to bring the salad with no dressing. If they question me , I just say I have allergies. They never seem to complain.

In fact Ranch dressing is one of the main benefits of this WOE for me. Some store-bought ones have a few grams of carb, but most are one gram or less. I've never had a problem with ranch in restaurants, but it is something to be careful of.