SewingSew

MissEva, If you go to atkins.com and click on "How It Works", and then select "free tools", you can download a fairly comprehensive pdf carb counter. Remember, "No fruits, no roots, no sugar, no starch" (so no potatoes, no peas, no carrots, no bread, no processed foods, and so on).


For anyone else reading this who is curious, the way that a low carb diet works is by basically turning to your fat cells for energy. If a person is minimizing their carbohydrate intake, the body has to find another source for energy, so it turns to fat cells for that energy. For people who are measuring their success using keto sticks, the keto sticks turn colors based on the amount of carbon fragments in urine. Carbon fragments are given off when fats stores are broken down for energy. But... you can get a false reading if you are dehydrated. Don't forget to drink plenty of water.


Consider South Beach, or Sugar Buster. Sugar Busters and South Beach are very similar to each other. Sugar Buster's glycemic index is measured against sugar; South Beach measures theirs against white flour. The goal in choosing the correct foods here would be to choose foods that have a lower glycemic index number, which would cause your blood sugar to rise and fall more slowly. My mother-in-law had adult-onset diabetes and I bought her a Sugar Busters book. She went on the diet and her doctor was very pleased with the changes in her lab values and her overall health.


You can have legumes on the Sugar Busters plan. The glycemic index is lower if the beans are served al dente'. The longer you cook them, the higher it raises the glycemic index. Certain fruits have a lower glycemic index. If I were to eat a peach, for example, I would choose one that was not as ripe, because it would have a lower sugar content and the index number would be lower. I would stay away from bananas, watermelon, and pineapple while trying to lose weight on this plan, and, with the exception of free foods (foods you can eat as much of as you want without consequence, like Kale or lettuce) I would still pay attention to reasonable portion control.