Do you have to eat protein at every meal?

[deelicious]

I have grown tired of eating meat with my meals. Recently I have found myself craving a salad without meat. When I cook meat to put in the salad, I find I am picking around the meat. I have experienced the same thing at dinner time too. I have only been wanting to eat green beans/yellow squash/whatever veggie I am having for the day and not having any protein. I have been eating a varitey of protein sources, but I just haven't felt like eating it.

I know that if I eat like this then I am really not doing Atkins. My question is, if I continue to eat like this, will I start to gain back the weight I lost previously. Also, is it really that bad to eat like this? I want to add that I do not take a vitamin.

One more thing I was wondering, could I be craving these veggies because I am dehydrated? I didn't really think about that until I was typing just now. As I think about the veggies I am craving-they are mainly veggies with a lot of water.

Thanks for your help.

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

How much water are you drinking? Are you constipated? Do you feel full?

You do not have to eat protein at every meal. However, protein helps keep you full, if you are only eating veggies, you may get hungry and be more likely to go eat off-plan.

[deelicious]

I have been drinking about 32-50 oz. water this week. I am a teacher and have been making the transition from sleeping in all summer to getting up at 6:00 am every day. I have been very tired and haven't really been able to exercise a lot or do my regular toning either. I have also been drinking a lot of Diet Coke due to my fatigue.

Do you think I may be just plain dehydrated or could this have to do with my drastic schedule change as well? Also, now that you mention it, I have not had a BM in a few days.

[DEBI IN OHIO]

32 -50??? do u drink other things? i can down 20 ounces within 10 seconds of waking up!!

[Diana]

You need that water! I drink almost 200oz a day, and I only Drink when I feel the urge too, not just guzzle it all day

[deelicious]

Thanks guys! The new school year just has me in such a whilr. I am starting at a new school and I have just been very worked up over it. I need to pay more attention to myslef. Thanks for the help!

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

I know it is hard to adjust to new schedules and deal with more than a few things at once but....

If you have not gone to the bathroom, you should take 500-1000mg of magnesium oxide at bedtime.

In the future, drink at least 80 oz of water it will help you avoid getting constipated.

I hope this helps, let us know how things work out! I'm sure you'll start feeling better once you get used to your new schedule and you have increased your water and gone to the bathroom.

[DEBI IN OHIO]

I drink 150 ounces per day and I still ONLY go to the bathroom every 3-4 days........BM wise that is

[MAMZELLE]

But in your new book it says to not eat carbs alone without protein because that makes the sugar spike faster/higher.... a rush of sugar [paraphrasing]. I read that last week when getting the book and scanning the most important issues to me, but haven't read that whole chapter yet because I went back and started with the ''take action'' chapter 11 first and leading back up to the other, to read in it's entirety.

I remember it vividly because that's very important to me and made a mental note to never eat carbs without protein [and fat] and to always keep every meal AND snack balanced..... and remember feeling it an extra hardship and extra struggle because I have 'already' been having lots of trouble eating the amounts of food I should be eating even spread over the whole day in little snacks [which is how i'm always used to eating anyway, but now have hardly any apetite] and this would mean a whole production every time I wanted a 'little' something.

I couldn't eat some salad alone [not the best example but the only one at the moment], for instance, without protein in it...... and just off the top of my head it 'would' make sense, that carbs alone would cause a faster and higher spike. So which is correct? Don't want to have to struggle with extra productions of meal coordinations every time I feel like noshing just a little something [required... according to the book] if that's not really necessary, as you state above. If it is important to do that, of course I will but not if it isn't.

For instance... I made one of my whole big batches of homemade chicken soup to store for a week in frozen portioned containers [because I don't eat canned soups, of course and don't trust the addatives in broths either], and with lots of cabbage [which I happened to have in the house for something else] and celery, but I don't eat that at the same time as my proteins [meats, fish, actual chichen, etc, because it's too much for me, a cup of it is enough alone each time I feel like having a little something].... so the cabbage [and celery] is my vegetable for the day and through the day, but I don't have protein with it.... but in this case the chicken was boiled in it [then went into the oven broiler to brown] so would the chicken having been cooked IN the soup [then all of it completely taken out] mean there were remnants of proteins from it in there? Does THAT count as protein? If so fine, but I'm also asking about other situations where no protein would be involved at all? Thanks again.

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

Salad veggies do not spike the blood sugar like other carbs (fruit, etc..).

[deelicious]

Atkins Nutritionist-
Thanks so much for your response! I will check in after a couple of weeks and let you know how it is going. Thanks again!

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

My pleasure.

I certainly look forward to hearing from you.