Mommatbird,

One thing that I though was very strange about your post was that you were cutting this and measuring that. I was wondering why. I have been on Atkins twice (this being the second time) seriously and I know that I have never measured. I just at what I was allowed to eat. Alot of the "free foods" and salads with water. I didn't have to measure because meats have no carbs and the salad that you eat, when you deduct the fiber, isn't enough to even get you CLOSE to 20 carbs. Don't make it more difficult than it is or you will get tired because it is too much trouble. Eat, at least for the first 3-4 days this way and you will find that your body tells you that you have eaten too much. Strangely, before when you ate carbs, you could eat (at least in my case) 2x more food. Trust me. You will be fine. Eat till you are full, just make sure it is the "right" foods.