Ok, I am new to this bulletin board, so please forgive my ignorance. According to the posts I have read here, the mayonnaise I buy in the store has some sugar. My question is this: how much of a problem is that really? The label says no carbs, so is it going to derail my diet in any appreciable way if I use this mayonnaise?

Here is my history: I have been doing Atkins for a couple of weeks but have not lost much. I find out every day something new that may be keeping me from losing weight. First I cut out the bars and other products. Now I am going to try taking one of the supplements (I am a college student and cannot afford more than that), cutting out the dairy, eating a little bit less, and trying to drink a lot more water. Hopefully this will help. I also have a question about meats. I know that it is best to eat fresh meats, but I have to be out and about all day, so how bad are things like vienna sausages and cold cuts?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-csfdavis

Hi there cfsdavis & welcome I'll try to answer some of your questions and I'm sure others will come along too.

Manufacturers can claim a food is zero carbs by choosing a "portion" which has less than 1 carb. Mayonnaise is usually OK but DON'T get the low fat kind. Go for the "real thing" cause the fat is helpful in the diet. Read the labels - the first 4 things ought to include oil, egg yolk (dry or liquid), water. Mine has sugar after the salt so you know there's not much. The lower down the ingredient list a thing is, the less there is in the food.

How much do you have to lose? (If it's less than 20 pounds, you may have lost 4 and already be 20% of the way to your goal.) So it just depends. All the other things you have done sound good. But don't eat less - that can stall you. It is NOT good to go low cal or low fat when eating LC. Eat as much as needed to be comfortably full or when you are hungry.

Drinking the water is absolutely necessary. It flushes out the by-products of burning the stored fat. This kidney flushing allows the liver to do its real job of burning the fat. Without the water, the liver has to help the kidneys do their work so less fat is burned.

The vienna sausage & deli meats are certainly high in salt (which causes water retention so the scales don't move) and may contain sugars. If you can buy sliced roast beef or chicken/turkey breast, they tend to be lower in both salt & sugar. I cook extra for supper the night before and then take it for lunch next day.

The best measure of a loss is how your clothes fit. If they are getting looser, you are losing. The scales are often a week behind the tape measure.

good luck

BarB

Hellman's Mayonnaise has no sugar. Even a guest chef on Martha Stewart's show said it is the only one he ever uses, because it just tastes the best!

Hi cfsdavis

One of things that I do to save a time is roast a whole chicken every Sunday night and cut it into pieces for lunches. Then I only have 1 day that I have to find something else to have. I love chicken, so if it's not your fave, substitute for a small roast or something.

Good luck!

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

Just to set the record straight, Hellmann's Mayonnaise does have sugar, and it does have carbs.

These are the ingredients and nutrition count in Canadian Hellmann's:

Vegetable oil, water, liquid whole egg, white vinegar, liquid egg yolk, salt, sugar, concentrated lemon juice, spices, calcium disodium EDTA

Per Tablespoon:
Calories 99
Total Fat 11 gr
Protein 0.2 gr
Carbohydrate 0.2 gr
Dietary Fibre 0 gr

And, these are the ingredients in American Hellman's:

Soybean oil, whole eggs, vinegar, water, egg yolks, salt, sugar, lemon juice, natural flavors, calcium disodium EDTA

But, this is the nutrition count...

Per Tablespoon:
Calories 100
Total Fat 11g
Total Carbohydrate 0g
Protein 0g

Now, why is that? Eggs, sugar and lemon juice have carbs. Read about why, here!

Cheese, Canadian and American Labeling Laws

Karen