Good day,
As a new Atkins user I have a couple of items:

Microwave popcorn:
When looking at the labels it is marked as containing 14g of carbs and 0g of sugar. Does this mean that there is no suger added? That the corn is all fiber (and "harmless") Or the sugar content is 0.9 (rounded down), or soemthing else? Basically is it safe?

The Ketosis vs. Ketoacidosis myth
I've had a few people question me about this and am looking for suggestions on how to best debunk it.

The Wif (who has joined me on this) presents another issue. She is very easily bored of repetitive food items. After only the second day she is sick of omlett. (I on the other hand can easily eat the same thing over and over) I'm looking for quick and easy (if such things exist) non-egg breakfast suggestions. Please note that we do not have much time for morning prepwork before leaving for work. (30m or less)

Finally, does anyone have any experience with doing a low-carb plan while on Topamax (an anti-convulsant also used to prevent migranes)?

Thanks In Advance,
Griz

Griz

Welcome to the forum! You'll be able to find all kinds of info and support on here.

On the popcorn issue, I'd say no...you can't have it. First of, on induction you should only be eating the foods that are on the acceptable foods list. No others! If you're past induction I don't think it's a very good choice....especially the microwave kind.

The box I have shows 15gm of carb, 3 gms fiber....doesn't mention the sugars. So that would give a "countable" carb of 12gms of carb! On induction you're only allowed 20 gms/day....do you really want to use up almost all your carbs in one sitting? The simple carbs, the sugars are listed sometimes, but it's only the fiber you subtract. The other carbs are complex carbohydrates, which is broken down to sugar before being absorbed. Fiber is not absorbed, so you don't need to count it.

Dr Atkins does list air-popped with butter as an acceptable snack for children, but they are better able to control their insulin levels. Maybe at maintenance you could have it? The fat in microwave popcorn, my box anyway, is not "good" fat. The list on mine includes partially hydrogenated soybean oil, sucralose and milk ingredients. Air popped, with butter a "real" fat, is much better for you!

The glycemic index (GI) is a measurement of how fast the sugars are absorbed. the faster they are absorbed (high glycemic index) the more likely the food is to cause an insulin spike. the GI of pop-corn is 79 (according to a web-site I found) and carrots are 70. We are not allowed carrots on iduction because of the high glycemic index. When choosing carbs, even once on maintenance, you would be better to pick the low glycemic foods as they are less likely to cause an insulin spike.

For ideas about how to cook low carb, there is a recipe thread on the forum....take a look and see what's there! I'm like you, I can get into eating the same few foods over several days....and I'm not very adventurous in trying new recipes.

Hope this helps some. I'll let someone else tackle the other questions you have.

And again....welcome!

Thank you CindySue,
I had no fiber counts etc on my leftovers popcorn, but I'll take yours as a typical count.

It was just the 0g sugar that threw me.

No worries though, I'm not eating anything off the acceptable lists till they're proven acceptable.

Thanks Again
Griz

Griz

Unfortunately, the food industry is not know for making label's easy to understand!

There are links on this page to make things a bit easier...check out the low-carb tools above.

Cindy

Welcome Griz!

I too had to get creative with breakfast. Now I feel like the Low Carb Brekkie guru...lol.

Have to admit that I eat breakfast at work. I can't face food first thing, so it is an extra challenge. Hard boiled eggs in my pocket are my backup plan only.

Try deli turkey slices spread with cream cheese mixed with chopped olives. Don't knock it till ya try it! It's awesome.
This morning I brought three hard boiled eggs chopped up in a bowl with diced ham and grated cheese...warmed in the micro at work....was delicious.

Other breakfast staples for me are leftover meat from the night before....oriental chicken patties, my recipe is in my journal....meatballs and cheese.

Use your imagination and don't limit yourself to the "traditional" breakfast items. As one wise member of the group said, we are grown ups, we can eat whatever we want in the morning!!!!

Good luck!

Sam

Welcome to the forum!

Someone wise once said in their journal "if you think this is boring think of how boring death is". I really took this to heart and thought about it a lot. I have to remind myself "food is fuel for life not entertainment". Obesity kills and I don't want it to kill me!

When I get bored with the food I try to think about what else I can do to distract myself. Read a book, rent a movie, or go for a walk. It is really changing your whole mind set about food and what it is for.

Good luck to you! Hang in there, the pounds will come off!
Cindi

Thanks all, I'll make mention of this to my Wif, but I'm not sure how it will go over. Right now, she does not want to see another egg in her life.


Griz

Good Morning Griz!

I had eggs yesterday for breakfast but I don't eat them very often. Usually I have one of the following for breakfast. I am not crazy about eating in the morning so I usually pick something very simple:

Cheese
Cream Cheese
Bacon
Sausage
Leftover chicken or something
Mock Danish

Good Luck!!!!!!!

We had cream cheese omletts this morning. I love cream cheese, any reason at all to put it in my mouth...

Cream cheese omletts with a ton of green pepper and tobasco. Yummy. We also had bacon from Gordons food Center, I know a lot of people are psycho about nitrates, but that is some of the best bacon I have had.

A real great convenience for breakfast (especially if you have a microwave at work) is the cooked bacon!!!

I also eat pepperoni for breakfast, or even canadian bacon. both are easy, canadian bacon cooks up fast and pepperoni warmed up is yummy!!!

having leftovers is great too! chicken, steak... Eggs can get boring real fast. uke:

Another good alternative to eggs is to take 2 ounces cream cheese, nuke it til soft(about 20seconds), add in a beaten egg and some sweetener, mix it all up and nuke it for 2 minutes. That's the original amounts but I double it for myself. I also drizzle some raspberry sf syrup over it. This can also be eaten cold. It's called mock danish but it's more like a cheese cake type thing.

When I was on Atkins for 3 months I would make like an egg salad. I would take 3 eggs, 4 pieces of bacon and fake salt and pepper with mayo and mix it all togeather. I didn't get sick of it till after 2 weeks, and I could make it while on my bike. You throw the eggs in water on low and the bacon in the micro. It's quick and easy. I know it's still eggs, but that protein is irreplaceable. You can replace the bacon with canadian style or sausage.