Day 14 - 2Week Atkins Induction
Grilled Steak.
Nothing signals summer in our house like grilled steak. And you may be saying, "Wait! It's not summer, yet. It's still snowing in my town."
You may be right. But in Texas, when the thermometer rises over 80°, it's summer, baby. Like it or not. Welcome to Hell.
You want to know the Official Steak of Fluffy Chix the world over, or at least in Houston?
Ribeye. Of course. (Porterhouse nips on Ribeye’s heels, though.)
Sure, there are other steaks on the cow, but none compare to the marbled, succulent meat found in a ribeye. I hesitate to go any further. I do. I fear the backlash from fat-o-phobes in the world. You know they are “out there.”
But I maintain, along with a bunch of science to back me up…just go check out the folks at the Nutrition & Metabolism Society. It’s their mission to spread the good word – fat is our friend! It’s the carbs that’ll getcha in the end. Or go read Peter’s blog at Hyperlipid, or Chris Masterjohn’s excellent blog, Daily Lipid. You can also read very informative and insightful information at the Weston A. Price Foundation. They’ll tell ya!
I don’t know about you, but the past 2 Week Induction Challenge taught me I could be completely happy and satisfied eating at 20g of carbs for life – but I won’t. This week, I’m happily walking the OWL Ladder and have added in an extra 5g of carbs per day from a selected list of Induction Foods as well as the nuts & seeds and fruit rung.
I am happy to report, the same would not be true if you asked me to give up fats – most specifically saturated fats. Many have said this, “We are what we eat.”
Well, yeah, that’s proving to be true, isn’t it? But really let’s look at a few other numbers. Dr. Mary Enig, noted biochemist and expert on fat metabolism, is also one of the foremost authorities on fat, writes in Know Your Fats that many of the cell membranes are comprised of up to 50% fat. Most of that being saturated fats.
Additionally, most hormonal and enzymatic metabolic pathways are mediated by saturated fats and without them; those pathways reach a road block and can’t continue.
In other words, the train gets stopped at the track and we become malnourished in its absence. Specifically, fat soluble vitamins such as Team ADEK (Vitamins A, D, E, and K) depend on the presence of saturated fat for metabolism.
So if our bodies are made in large part of long chain (saturated) fatty acid molecules connected in chains, wouldn’t it make sense to feed it the building blocks we need to maintain them?
Richard Nikoley from Free The Animal blog makes great sense in this post, Losing Weight Is Pretty Much Like Eating Lard. He speculates that regardless of the composition of our diet, if we lose weight, we liberate stored fatty acids for energy. And that’s the goal of most diets, right? To burn fat? We hear it all the time – fat burning! Feel the burn! Yada yada yada. So the supposed low fat diet is a myth! Animals depend on high fat nutrition for health!
(Disclaimer – Don’t take my word for it. I’m just some schlep on the internet writing about droolicious food. Do your research! Go to the experts, cuz I’m certainly no expert. I have no degrees in science or math or nutrition, nor things that go bump in the night. I’m just here for the entertainment! And the food. Well, mostly the food.)
Day 14 – Menus and Totals
Brunch
Salmon, Goat Cheese Omelette with Onions and Capers
Sautéed Baby Spinach with Tomatoes, Garlic and Mint
(You won't even know this salmon is leftover. Next time, make enough for a meal or two of cold salmon leftovers. It works great in salads or omelettes. Or, get fancy! Make salmon croquettes out of the leftovers, or salmon spread appetizer, or salmon salad (like tuna salad)! Watch out - or I will Bubba Gump your salmon!
Dinner
3 oz Ribeye Steak, Grilled
2c Mixed Greens Salad with Homemade “Balsamic” Vinaigrette
Asparagus in Ghee
(We stayed full all day from the hearty brunch! But by supper time, we were ready to tear into one of the last remaining ribeyes in the freezer. I hope grilling season and lower meat prices show up in our neighborhood this year!)
Daily Totals
Day 14 – Fluffy Chix Report
Weight – 229.0lbs
FBG – 99
Pain – 5
Mood – 9
Walking – Yep (1.5mi)
Wooohoooo! Celebrate good times. Come On!! Today was the last day of Atkins 2Week Induction. Let’s free the mind!
It’s silly to be excited about the “end” of a simple two week period where no deprivation occurred. Right? It’s simply the fact of not being “confined” to a set list anymore that feels liberating. But I am still confined to a “set list.”
But it’s a bigger list. There are two new rungs – Nuts & Seeds and Fruits. Woooohooooo! Now more than ever, I will use my blood sugar meter and hunger cues for clues about how easily I metabolize these new sources of carbohydrate. I already know the foundation or Induction Veggie and Protein list worked like a charm! No hunger, no eating between meals, no snack monster visitations. Beauty! My blood sugar was well-controlled on 20g of Net Carbs from the foundation foods of Induction.
It’s not as if I’m “free” to eat from all food groups willy-nilly. That would lead to disaster and a quick regain of the progress made during the previous 2 weeks. I’m not that big of a masochist! (Oh, make no mistake, I’m still a masochist. But I’m not totally effin’ Goofy! I just date Goofy every now and again.)
Instead, I will follow the orderly progression of adding controlled carb nutrition back into my diet as the Atkins folks describe on their website in Phase II - OWL. This equates to climbing the OWL (Ongoing Weightloss Ladder) to determine my specific carb threshold for losing (CLL – Carb Level for Losing).
CLL – Carb Level for Losing - is completely individual! Some with more broken metabolisms will have lower net carb levels. Others with more robust affinity to metabolize carbs and who perhaps have a smaller level of insulin disruption will be able to enjoy a higher carb level from a broader variety of low glycemic index foods.
The goal of OWL (Ongoing Weightloss Ladder) is to add back 5g of net carbs per week either in the form of additional foundation veggies or choose new additions from the Nuts & Seed Rung or the Fruit Rung as well as a few new soft cheeses such as cottage cheese, ricotta and fresh mozzarella. (To celebrate last night, I made the Tomato Stack again as a Caprese Salad with fresh mozzarella and basil. Bellisimo!)
Week One of OWL means eating 25g of Net Carbs per day. Score! I already know how I’m going to use those extra carbs! Hello crispy walnuts! I sure have missed you my little beauties! The Fluffy Chix blue cheese dinner salads will no longer feel cold and alone!
And if weight loss continues despite adding back 5g of Net Carbs, then next week, you get to add an additional 5g of Net Carbs and have an entirely new rung of foods from which to choose. Rinse and repeat until you reach the level where you no longer lose weight or inches. Once that happens, you will back off that number by 5g of Net Carbs and you will no longer have to guess about controlled carb nutrition again. I know I won’t!
Atkins Controlled Carb Approach to Eating Healthy
Phase 1, Induction Includes -
Rung 1: Foundation vegetables: leafy greens and other low-carb vegetables
Rung 2: Dairy foods high in fat and low in carbs: cream, sour cream, and most hard cheeses
Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss Includes -
Rung 3: Nuts and seeds (but not chestnuts)
Rung 4: Berries, cherries, and melon (but not watermelon)
Rung 5: Whole milk yogurt and fresh cheeses, such as cottage cheese and ricotta
Rung 6: Legumes, including chickpeas, lentils, and the like.
Rung 7: Tomato and vegetable juice “cocktail” (plus more lemon and lime juice)
Phases 3 and 4, Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance Includes -
Rung 8: Other fruits (but not fruit juices or dried fruits)
Rung 9: Higher-carb vegetables, such as winter squash, carrots, and peas
Rung 10: Whole grains
(Note - Let’s worry about Phases 3 & 4, in 80lbs or so…it’s too far away and I feel a “Scarlet-moment” approaching.
“Fiddle dee dee, Miss Melanie. I caint wor-ray ‘bout that today-ay! I’ll worry ‘bout that two-marh-ha…”
It’s funny how things change. The old Atkins Induction plan allowed cottage cheese during the first 2 week period. Revolution Rolls were part of Dr. Atkins’ recipes in both the ’72 and ’92 books. So I didn’t even bother to compute it wasn’t part of this new Induction, Phase I Plan.
No worries. I am not going to sweat using cottage cheese in the Revolution Rolls. At most, I had about ½ tablespoon per day. No big deal.
But if you want to be completely precise about things and stay 100% strict Induction – as I would have if I wasn’t a bonehead - simply swap out the cottage cheese for cream cheese. The rolls then become something more closely aligned to my friend Jamie’s, Oopsie Rolls. You can see many derivations along with her daring development of Oopsie Family Recipes on Your Lighter Side. Great fun. Great food. Great recipes. Great gal! Go there. But don’t forget to come back here once in awhile!)
Don't forget! Today is May 1. It's almost time for the drawing! We will have 8 lucky winners, soon! Be sure to check back here often for the winners. You might be one of the lucky people who win:
$20 Gift Card to Cheeburger Cheeburger
$20 Gift Card to Beck's Prime
The New Atkins for a New You Book (2 prizes)
Fluffy Chix Apron (2 prizes)
Fluffy Chix GF SF NF Bake Mix (2 prizes)
I will post the winners in a separate thread later today!!!
 |
| Grilled Ribeye, Asparagus and Spring Salad with Blue Cheese |
Nothing signals summer in our house like grilled steak. And you may be saying, "Wait! It's not summer, yet. It's still snowing in my town."
You may be right. But in Texas, when the thermometer rises over 80°, it's summer, baby. Like it or not. Welcome to Hell.
You want to know the Official Steak of Fluffy Chix the world over, or at least in Houston?
Ribeye. Of course. (Porterhouse nips on Ribeye’s heels, though.)
 |
| Raw, seasoned ribeyes with Fluffy Chix delicious cast of characters. |
But I maintain, along with a bunch of science to back me up…just go check out the folks at the Nutrition & Metabolism Society. It’s their mission to spread the good word – fat is our friend! It’s the carbs that’ll getcha in the end. Or go read Peter’s blog at Hyperlipid, or Chris Masterjohn’s excellent blog, Daily Lipid. You can also read very informative and insightful information at the Weston A. Price Foundation. They’ll tell ya!
I don’t know about you, but the past 2 Week Induction Challenge taught me I could be completely happy and satisfied eating at 20g of carbs for life – but I won’t. This week, I’m happily walking the OWL Ladder and have added in an extra 5g of carbs per day from a selected list of Induction Foods as well as the nuts & seeds and fruit rung.
I am happy to report, the same would not be true if you asked me to give up fats – most specifically saturated fats. Many have said this, “We are what we eat.”
 |
| Dr. Enig is one of the most respected authorities in fat metabolism. |
Additionally, most hormonal and enzymatic metabolic pathways are mediated by saturated fats and without them; those pathways reach a road block and can’t continue.
In other words, the train gets stopped at the track and we become malnourished in its absence. Specifically, fat soluble vitamins such as Team ADEK (Vitamins A, D, E, and K) depend on the presence of saturated fat for metabolism.
So if our bodies are made in large part of long chain (saturated) fatty acid molecules connected in chains, wouldn’t it make sense to feed it the building blocks we need to maintain them?
Richard Nikoley from Free The Animal blog makes great sense in this post, Losing Weight Is Pretty Much Like Eating Lard. He speculates that regardless of the composition of our diet, if we lose weight, we liberate stored fatty acids for energy. And that’s the goal of most diets, right? To burn fat? We hear it all the time – fat burning! Feel the burn! Yada yada yada. So the supposed low fat diet is a myth! Animals depend on high fat nutrition for health!
(Disclaimer – Don’t take my word for it. I’m just some schlep on the internet writing about droolicious food. Do your research! Go to the experts, cuz I’m certainly no expert. I have no degrees in science or math or nutrition, nor things that go bump in the night. I’m just here for the entertainment! And the food. Well, mostly the food.)
Day 14 – Menus and Totals
 |
| The last of Friday's sockeye salmon made it into the Sunday Morning Brunch Omelette with Goat Cheese, Capers and Red Onion. |
Salmon, Goat Cheese Omelette with Onions and Capers
Sautéed Baby Spinach with Tomatoes, Garlic and Mint
(You won't even know this salmon is leftover. Next time, make enough for a meal or two of cold salmon leftovers. It works great in salads or omelettes. Or, get fancy! Make salmon croquettes out of the leftovers, or salmon spread appetizer, or salmon salad (like tuna salad)! Watch out - or I will Bubba Gump your salmon!
 |
| Grilled Ribeye, Asparagus and Blue Cheese Salad - hold me. |
3 oz Ribeye Steak, Grilled
2c Mixed Greens Salad with Homemade “Balsamic” Vinaigrette
Asparagus in Ghee
(We stayed full all day from the hearty brunch! But by supper time, we were ready to tear into one of the last remaining ribeyes in the freezer. I hope grilling season and lower meat prices show up in our neighborhood this year!)
Daily Totals
 |
| Click image to enlarge. |
Day 14 – Fluffy Chix Report
Weight – 229.0lbs
FBG – 99
Pain – 5
Mood – 9
Walking – Yep (1.5mi)
Wooohoooo! Celebrate good times. Come On!! Today was the last day of Atkins 2Week Induction. Let’s free the mind!
It’s silly to be excited about the “end” of a simple two week period where no deprivation occurred. Right? It’s simply the fact of not being “confined” to a set list anymore that feels liberating. But I am still confined to a “set list.”
But it’s a bigger list. There are two new rungs – Nuts & Seeds and Fruits. Woooohooooo! Now more than ever, I will use my blood sugar meter and hunger cues for clues about how easily I metabolize these new sources of carbohydrate. I already know the foundation or Induction Veggie and Protein list worked like a charm! No hunger, no eating between meals, no snack monster visitations. Beauty! My blood sugar was well-controlled on 20g of Net Carbs from the foundation foods of Induction.
 |
| Click image to enlarge. |
Instead, I will follow the orderly progression of adding controlled carb nutrition back into my diet as the Atkins folks describe on their website in Phase II - OWL. This equates to climbing the OWL (Ongoing Weightloss Ladder) to determine my specific carb threshold for losing (CLL – Carb Level for Losing).
CLL – Carb Level for Losing - is completely individual! Some with more broken metabolisms will have lower net carb levels. Others with more robust affinity to metabolize carbs and who perhaps have a smaller level of insulin disruption will be able to enjoy a higher carb level from a broader variety of low glycemic index foods.
 |
| Gratuitous food porn - More Salmon Goat Cheese, Caper, Onion Omelette |
Week One of OWL means eating 25g of Net Carbs per day. Score! I already know how I’m going to use those extra carbs! Hello crispy walnuts! I sure have missed you my little beauties! The Fluffy Chix blue cheese dinner salads will no longer feel cold and alone!
And if weight loss continues despite adding back 5g of Net Carbs, then next week, you get to add an additional 5g of Net Carbs and have an entirely new rung of foods from which to choose. Rinse and repeat until you reach the level where you no longer lose weight or inches. Once that happens, you will back off that number by 5g of Net Carbs and you will no longer have to guess about controlled carb nutrition again. I know I won’t!
Atkins Controlled Carb Approach to Eating Healthy
Phase 1, Induction Includes -
Rung 1: Foundation vegetables: leafy greens and other low-carb vegetables
Rung 2: Dairy foods high in fat and low in carbs: cream, sour cream, and most hard cheeses
Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss Includes -
Rung 3: Nuts and seeds (but not chestnuts)
Rung 4: Berries, cherries, and melon (but not watermelon)
Rung 5: Whole milk yogurt and fresh cheeses, such as cottage cheese and ricotta
Rung 6: Legumes, including chickpeas, lentils, and the like.
Rung 7: Tomato and vegetable juice “cocktail” (plus more lemon and lime juice)
Phases 3 and 4, Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance Includes -
Rung 8: Other fruits (but not fruit juices or dried fruits)
Rung 9: Higher-carb vegetables, such as winter squash, carrots, and peas
Rung 10: Whole grains
(Note - Let’s worry about Phases 3 & 4, in 80lbs or so…it’s too far away and I feel a “Scarlet-moment” approaching.
“Fiddle dee dee, Miss Melanie. I caint wor-ray ‘bout that today-ay! I’ll worry ‘bout that two-marh-ha…”
 |
| Basic Revolution Rolls make it easy to adhere to Atkins |
No worries. I am not going to sweat using cottage cheese in the Revolution Rolls. At most, I had about ½ tablespoon per day. No big deal.
But if you want to be completely precise about things and stay 100% strict Induction – as I would have if I wasn’t a bonehead - simply swap out the cottage cheese for cream cheese. The rolls then become something more closely aligned to my friend Jamie’s, Oopsie Rolls. You can see many derivations along with her daring development of Oopsie Family Recipes on Your Lighter Side. Great fun. Great food. Great recipes. Great gal! Go there. But don’t forget to come back here once in awhile!)
Don't forget! Today is May 1. It's almost time for the drawing! We will have 8 lucky winners, soon! Be sure to check back here often for the winners. You might be one of the lucky people who win:
$20 Gift Card to Cheeburger Cheeburger
$20 Gift Card to Beck's Prime
The New Atkins for a New You Book (2 prizes)
Fluffy Chix Apron (2 prizes)
Fluffy Chix GF SF NF Bake Mix (2 prizes)
I will post the winners in a separate thread later today!!!
Everything looks so tasty! Your rev rolls look so much like real buns. Have a great rest of the week!
ReplyDeleteI so heart you! Jen, they actually have a very decent, "roll like" texture and are still my overall favorite bun/bread sub these days. You know, I'm trying to keep those carbs to Induction Level! So they really fill the bill where my other LC GF SF NF White Bread is a bit more carb expensive.
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