I've been reading a lot of posts about the different recipes cooked up to mimic "real food", and I've tried low-carb pancakes, one minute muffins, etc.

But I wonder if I wouldn't be just as well off, moving out of induction, with trying small portions of the real thing: say a sandwich with 1/2 slice of real (whole wheat) bread, or 8 oz of actual milk with a blueberry muffin or such.

Has anyone had good or bad experiences trying this?

Well, either you're doing atkins, or you're not. So either you eat what you're allowed, or not. Grains aren't allowed until the end.

Personally, I think whole wheat bread is the devil- but I have a wheat allergy. The fact is, most low carb substitutes will be more nutritious than a half a slice of whole wheat bread.

If you want small doses of the bad stuff right off the hop, and regularly, you should be questioning whether or not you're actually commited to this as a way of eating, or thinking of it as a temporary fix.

Why not make the substitutes? Many of them are far better for you than the original. They use things like coconut flour, flax seed, peanut flour and so on. They don't taste identical, but often quite good.

I'm not convinced there's anything beneficial in grains and there's plenty there to avoid.

Besides, I can't eat 1/2 of an anything...

I do not even think the substitions are a good idea for me.

What I am trying to do is to re-orient my mind so that grain and sugar are no longer part of my lifestyle.

If I eat the sweet cake-like Atkins bar, or the bread-like MIM, I am just taking a step backwards by flirting with that which I can no longer have.

Sure... it may not be hurting my body... But I am making things more difficult on myself because I will not be allowing my mind to adjust at the same rate as my body.

That's what I was getting at. I feel the same way. Back to the ladder.

There's your problem!

Actually, there are several reasons:

• Carb count. Do you want a half a slice of bread, or a whole steak? Hint: one has a lot more carbs than the other.
• Cravings. If I never eat bread, I never crave bread.
• Calories vs nutrition. As Nancy LC pointed out, these high carb items tend to be low in nutrition. There's some evidence this results in overeating because the body will keep sending the signal until enough nutrients come down the pike.
• Nutrient vs non-nutrients. To make matters worse, there's more research all the time showing that grains drain our bodies of B and C vitamins.
• Opportunity. If you are eating a 1/2 slice a bread a day; are you doing to store the rest in the freezer, and thaw it in the microwave? Or are you going to "eat it up before it goes bad"?
• Moderation. If we could eat carbs in moderation, we wouldn't be here.

Well you are getting close to your goal weight, it looks like from your stats.

You should be moving up the OWL ladder to find your carb limit for maintenance. All of the things you mentioned are "allowed" as rungs of OWL. I highly recommend you re-read the OWL part of an atkins book and follow it as you add things in.

For example, you would add the blueberries first, eating 5 carbs worth, and that is the only new thing you add that week.

Then you add another new food from the next OWL rung the next week.

The good thing about adding foods in slowly is you can identify any foods that make you bloat up and not feel good (indicating inflammation due to a food sensitivity) or if you get bad cravings afterward, then thats a trigger food for you.

If you were to add in 3 new foods at once you wouldn't be able to tell which one was a problem.

I'm new here, but for what it's worth....I am in agreement about you don't crave what you don't eat. I have troubles with the Atkins bars, I ALWAYS want more than one...and sometimes I eat more than one.
MarieGray

Well, I don't consider a flaxseed muffin a "substitute" for anything. It is real flaxseed, a real egg, real coconut oil.

I don't feel the same way about Atkins bars, which involve sugar alcohols and various chemicals I don't count as "real" food.

The low-carb instructions say, NO FLOUR PRODUCTS. So why would a flaxseed muffin be a bad choice? It isn't a "fake flour" product. It's something entirely different. And those are the choices we make.

I suppose it would also hinge on your idea of what "real food" is. What I love about Atkins is that its focus brings you to REAL (ie., WHOLE) foods. Not processed wheat bread that has numerous additives and non-real foods. I'd rather make a "fake bread" that consists of real, whole foods, or a flax muffin, than eat something that is full of chemicals or triggers cravings - or does me harm (frankly, anything that Monsanto owns or endorses )

Why not treat yourself to a piece of low carb cheesecake? i once was missing milk (and i am not even a milk drinker) but used some cream diluted with water.

I just came off a "break" from low carbing . A LONG one (10 months). I did gain some weight back.... less then 10 pounds, but still it was 10 pounds. I ate those things your missing and let me tell you ..... it's not worth it. I lost a lot of ground "health wise" that I am now fighting daily to get back. JUST DON"T DO IT!

Exactly.

I just had some cookies with my lunch; aside from .083 ounces of Splenda in each one, they are almonds and butter and cream cheese and eggs and cranberries and walnuts.

Should I get worked up that they aren't "real cookies"?

For me...

Back in the day, I'd never eat a flaxseed muffin. Are you kidding me. A nice hunk of toasted bannana bread, loaded with chocolate and carmel chips... toasted and slathered with butter... Yea... I was on that.

Flaxseed... no way.

Now... what I have done while on low carb was... Ohhhh... a little extra splenda... mmmmmmmm... put some 85% crumbled up chocolate in there. Is that sugar free carmel syrup over there? MMMMMMMMMMMM.... Yea... I deserve THIS. I've been good ALL week. I had a tough day. REWARD TIME.

Wait... is this a new way of living? Maybe there are hardly any carbs in there. And, a whole lot of fiber too.

But, I am telling my mind that my rewards are still... BREADS... SUGARS... CHOCOLATE... CARMEL. I am holding on to the old principals that I cannot be happy eating a low carb diet... I must occasionally fall back to my old way of eating to be happy in my life...

And what is worse... is when I ease my guilt by providing myself with the fake substitutes. I'm in a painful position, with one foot on each side of the fence... all the time telling myself: "It's OK... It's not REALLY a muffin... It just tastes like one... kinda... sorta... not really... BLECH"

Now, this is just me. Other people, I am sure, can have "cheat days", and fake muffins, and Atkins bars, and diet drinks and all kinds of artificial sweetners. I cannot. This isn't my first rodeo. I've been on and off diets before. And, EVERY time I have fallen, it has started with a small compromise in my resolve. EVERY time.

I agree with you guys who state its not replacing but re-orientating. I have been low carb for 7 weeks and I have been making some great recipes with vegetables I have not eaten in years. the flavors are wonderful and I wonder why I did not try these before. My current favorite is the fried cauliflower recipe that was on here yesterday. I made it last night and loved it.

Hey WereBear, I'm just curious. With just .083 ounces of Splenda in each one, what does that do for you? Would the food be so flat without it? or what would happen if you used, like, a raisin?

It seems so small.

I noticed my Kwasniewski cookbook has "Viennese style cheesecake" and its only sweetener is currants so that's why I ask.