OK so I have a question for all you experienced LC'ers. I love my veggies. I have found such enjoyment now in maintenance from obtaining the majority of my carbs from higher fiber veggies and low GI fruits. But in your opinion... does the fiber subtracted from these veggies offset the amt eaten?

For example... I love spaghetti squash, however, I tend to limit my intake because of the carbs... even though it is only 5 impact carbs per cup, I tend to gravitate towards filling up on a salad instead. I would like to eat more of the squash, but I'm unsure about how it would effect me.

What are your thoughts on this? Now that I'm in maintenance is it better not to obsess about these type of things and consider the carbs from my fruit and whole grains more?

Christin..

Dr. A. has a great plan for Maintenance and his book Atkins for Life, which you can get pretty cheap at alot of places is great.

He talks about the CCL..which is the critical carb level that each one of us
has for life..If we eat too many carbs, we will gain, etc...

Some peeps have a low one..30-40 Some athletes have a higher one..say 100 (net).

I love veggies, too..However, unfortunately, you can overdo veggies..Rats, huh?

Dr. A. does talk about the carb ladder, which is critical in understanding the difference in carbs. Of course, spaghetti squash is higher up on the ladder than lettuce, so you may not be able to eat as much or as often. Grains are on the top of the ladder. Some peeps can never eat grains without gaining, some can.

Maintenance IS HARD!! I've been LCing for about 6 years..maintaining my loss for 5 years..give and take 5 pounds..LOLOl..But, I have found, when I don't pay attention, I'm in trouble. And, that's how I got fat in the first place..not paying attention and eating 150 worth of white grainy carbs did it to me..LOLO.

Keep track of what you eat and how it affects you. You are young and that will be on your side for calorie burning.

Find out your CCL of carbs and play around the types of carbs and see what happens..

Everyone is different and we all have to find out what works for each one of us.. Blessings to you..

You would think that after all the years I've been doing this that I'd have it all figured out. Wrong! I swear that there are some days when I can eat a bushel of veggies or fruit and not gain an ounce and there are days when I think that it had to be the veggies or fruit that were the problem because nothing else I ate should be an issue. What makes it so darn hard to figure out is that every day most of us eat different foods in different quantities in different combinations at different times of the day. How in the heck can you possibly narrow a gain down to one particular food? I truly don't think you can.

The carb ladder is fine as a guideline and helps to teach the principles of low carbing but saying to add 5 carbs per day per week means almost nothing in the real world. Five extra carbs of broccoli might be fine one day and not so fine the next depending on what else we ate that day. It might also be that 5 carbs of zucchini won't affect us the same as 5 carbs worth of some other food. There is just no way to tell for sure which foods are a problem for us unless we were to eat exactly the same thing every meal of every day for long enough to sort it out. To me that would take a lot of pleasure out of life and adds too much stress.

I'm not sure what the solution is but I think that learning to eat reasonable portions is part of it. I think that you're on the right track by going easy on the carbier foods, such as the spaghetti squash, and filling up on foods like salad and meat. One thing I've tried to keep reminding myself at those times when I'm tempted to eat too much of something that I love is that this isn't the last time I'll ever be able to enjoy this food. There will always be more another day and there will always be other delicious foods to enjoy. There is no reason to eat it all NOW as if this will be my last meal ever. There is no need to stuff myself on any particular food. I need to learn to savor a reasonable portion and be content with it until my next meal which I will try to savor as much as the last meal. Maintenance is all about learning how to enjoy a variety of foods without having to count all the time. Sometimes it seems like I do much better when I try not to think of the way I eat as a DIET but just the normal way to eat.

Hopefully I've made a little sense. I'm still trying to figure this stuff out for myself and some days it seems very easy and other days it seems like I must be doing everything wrong.

LindaSue..ITA with ya..

And, I think it is important for all of us to balance out the carbs(veggies, fruits) throughout the day. I know that Dr. Bernstein has his diabetic patients balance 6-12 carbs for breakie, 12 carbs for lunch, and 12 carbs for dinner. Or, you get the idea.

Dinner is my big veggie meal..We will have a big salad and some cooked veggie with protein. Maybe I need to rethink that and have a small salad
and a smaller amount of cooked veggie.

Dr. Groves says 2 veggies a day with a fruit..that's it..

Everyone is so different..and the thing about LCing is that it is NEVER dull...

Using home methods, I think it would be difficult, if not impossible, to tell how much (if any) of a single day's gain is fat, let alone trace it back to what single food (if any) caused it.

I would have a tough time using the scale with that end in view.

I really like the Atkins guidelines--
1. How do I feel after I eat the food? Do I experience unusual hunger or cravings? Do I feel well and healthy?
2. I set my portions for everything within the parameters of my personal CCLL. If I feel like having more squash, I see nothing wrong with less salad, provided that #1 doesn't bring up any warning bells.

My experience is that filling up with the least calorie intensive/most bulky food doesn't always work *for me* as intuition would indicate. I actually do better with more concentrated nutrition in my foods.

Groves would say, "If you want it, have it."

The Bible (noting Christin's plan) seems to indicate that with moderation and self-control, there are no illegal veggies.

My thought would be that, in maintenance, it would be very sensible to test double portions of a healthy, nutrient rich food.

But I'm a head-over-heals carnivore still, so I reserve most of my double portions for meat. LOL.

Thank you ladies for your wonderful input... this is kind of the same conclusions that I'd come to on my own as well. I seem to have settled nicely I think into my CCL of about 70-80 total cbs (about 40-50 net).

I seem to be able to handle a minimal usage of some whole grains ok. Now add in a white food and it's over... but the whole grains I've been ok with. I agree that we all have to find our balance and I just was wondering what the standard take on veggies was. Thank you and I'll keep it up!!!