I am new to this New Way of eating..and am starting induction tomorrow! Is it really ok to eat a huge steak for a meal (of course along with my vegies)?
Or should you really limit yourself to 4 to 6 oz of meat?

If you are hungry, eat it. If you are not, don't. Yes, we can eat more calories when we are low carbing because our body burns fat less efficiently than it burns carbohydrates. However, if you pig out on steak -- eating it beyond the point where you are hungry -- you will consume too many calories and stop or slow down your weight loss.

Most people don't need to count calories on Atkins, but calories do count. Eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full. Sometimes that will mean eating a huge steak and sometimes it will mean stopping after 4 or 5 ounces.

I hope you enjoy low carbing as much as I have!

thanks Liz175! I just wished I would have weaned myself off of coffee before tomorrow! I know that will be my biggest problem - used to drinking 8 cups a day. Oh well new beginnings...new body!

Some people still drink coffee with no problems. You can always switch to decaf. Use the "search" function to look for threads about coffee. There are lots of them.
Good luck with induction.

I probably shouldn't say this, but I never gave up coffee and I have lost over 100 pounds. Who knows, perhaps I would have lost if faster if I gave up the caffeine -- it took me 17 months. Coffee seems to be a real no-no for some people and it doesn't bother other people at all.

On the other hand, I have pretty much had to give up all artificial sugar (including Splenda) and there are a lot of people who don't have any problem with that.

No, it's not OK to eat as much protein as you want.

I only say this because you must understand what atkins is really about.

It is a high FAT, low carb diet, not a high protein diet.
So eat the steak but make sure it has a good amount of fat on it.

Your percentages should be about 65% fat, 30% protein and 5% carbs on induction.

i suggest you limit your protein to your body-weight... let's say i weigh 162lbs, i should stick to 162grams of protein or less... don't want to risk overloading our kidneys... but if you're lifting like i am, you can take in slightly more, but not too much...

source of my protein = soy milk, whey protein isolate, chicken

I would like to respectfully disagree with the last two posts which seem to be suggesting that it is necessary to weigh and measure the amount of food you are eating. There is nothing in DANDR that suggests anyone needs to weigh and measure anything other than carbs. If someone is stalled out and having trouble losing weight, he or she may want to more carefully track foods and look at the ratio of protein/carbs/fat. IMHO, becoming obsessive about ratios is not necessary for MOST people. I have no idea what percentage of my calories come from fat/protein/carbohydrates and I don't care. What I do care about is that I am healthy, I have energy, I don't have food cravings, and I am losing weight.

Anyway, djcarbno was asking about eating steak, not some sort of pure protein powder, which is what rice_boi seems to be eating (whey protein isolate). I know the question was posed in terms of protein, but in fact steak (which is what the question was really about) is not a pure protein food. I can see how someone might have to get concerned about the quantity of protein they are eating if they are taking a protein supplement. I don't think the same concerns apply to someone who is getting their protein from real foods such as steak. Steak combines both fat and protein. Steak fills people up. Most people cannot eat enough steak to go over any sort of reasonable protein limit for the day.

Therefore, I don't think that djcarbo or anyone else has to worry about the amount of steak they are eating, as long as they stop eating when they are full. Obviously, if someone doesn't lose any weight for an extended period of time, they may want to more closely track their food. However, I would not recommend starting out that way.

Bit it's really hard to eat so much steak in one go that you'll overdose on proteins !

However:
For some people (like myself) it's necessary to weigh and measure everything from the start. Even on this WOE. If you have not tried low carb before, there's no way you can manage to "predict" carb count/calories/protein just by looking at the food and reading the label. After 6 months (this time) (and 3rd time alltoghether since 1980) on Atkins I found MY WAY of managing this WOE. I need to keep my carb levels above 20 or I stall.I need to keep my calorie level at 10-12 times my body weight - or I stall. My ratio for loss is 70-75 % fat, 5 % carbs and 25-30 % protein (as recommended by Atkins Support). It has taken me a long time (with lots of help) to figure this out. Due to gender (female), medical condition, age and 3rd time on Atkins I am a slow loser. - but still a loser !

If you're losing - fine - don't change what you're doing !
I wish it could be that simple for everybody !!

If you experience stall or gain - turn to the forum for help when and if the time comes. There is a lot of experienced LC'ers here, and the support they can offer is tremendous !

GOOD LUCK TO YOU !!!

Thanks Nille. I totally agree with you. If you are having problems losing, you may well need to weigh and measure everything. However, I don't think someone starting out should assume he or she is going to have problems. That's why I don't recommend weighing and measuring anything OTHER than foods that include carbs at the beginning. Almost everyone has to weigh and measure carby foods until they get a good sense of serving sizes. However, steak has no carbs so it doesn't fall into this category.

djcarbno.. if you are serious about this WOE (way of eating) you really need to read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR). You can then supplement your knowledge with the excellent information from the members of this board.

Per the book it is important to measure portions other low carb/high protein foods on induction like cheese and vegtables, it is all explained in the book. Meat is pretty much considered a "free" food on induction as are most fats (butter, oil NO margarine) but the idea is to eat until you feel full not to eat a certain portion size. I would get the book and read at least the chapters that cover induction before starting.

Hi djcarbno!

Yes, it's really okay to eat a huge steak with your veggies at a meal if you're really that hungry. However...I think that you'll find that after the first week or so that you really don't want to do that anymore because your appetite will be decreased significantly. Many people on this WOE actually have a hard time eating enough instead of eating too much, but there are those who can eat too much as well even though they are fairly rare (I'm one of them, BTW).
Remember...while Dr. Atkins does not put any quantity limits on proteins and fats, he also said that low carb is not to be used as an excuse to gorge yourself on allowed foods. Eat until you are satisfied (that is, no longer hungry) and stop at that point. I know for myself that if I eat until I feel full, I will feel uncomfortably full half an hour later. The reason for this is that it takes up to 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you have had enough. If you eat quickly, you can easily eat way more than you really needed to be satisfied and not stuffed.
My advice would be to take time to eat your meal and really enjoy it and learn to recognize when your body is telling you that it's had enough. That whole process takes some time and self-awareness. Until then, make an attempt to eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied and unless you experience problems with losing don't worry too much about the quantities of anything except the carbs.

One other reason to not let your protein/fats precentages get out of balance is that the liver can convert excess protein imto glucogen which can cause a blood sugar spike in some people. While this is a useful thing because your body can then produce the small amount of glucose it needs without carbs, in susceptable individuals it can keep the body on the insulin cycle. How much protein is controversial, and I won't give a number, just make an effort to keep your fats in the 70-65% range and protein at 25% or so. Nyah Levi

I would say eat as much meat as you like...but leave the fat on, the skin on the chicken and so on. And have a green salad or some low carb veggies with every meal. Many poeple who have done low fat dieting in the past are protein deficient and if so, your body will love all that lovely protein to affect the repairs it needs to do.