What can we eat?

When someone first visits an online low-carb community, they often have questions about the way of eating. "Am I doing this right?" "My aunt's best friend went on Atkins and her doctor told her it was the spawn of Satan!" "What fats can I eat?" "Do I have to give up [x]?" (insert beer, wholewheat bread, ice cream, oatmeal, corn, etc). Well, this blog isn't really going to answer those questions except to say read the book for your plan, read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes (also known as the Diet Delusion in the UK), and if you still have questions, find a good online low carb support community (such as Active Low Carber).

I am also not going to attempt to give you much advice on recipes or menus. There are a lot of low carb recipe sites, and often most low carb boards have recipe exchanges. This, my hoping to be svelte and healthy friends, is advice on the actual ingredients of those recipes.

I am also not going to tell you which supplements to take, which oils to use, debate the merits of organic, or command you to eat grass-fed beef. I have opinions on all of those things, but I am not here to advise you on that or to criticise if you don't do things the same way I do.

I love vegetables and fruits. I can't say I did before starting Atkins. Sure, I had some favoured veg, and I can say I loved the idea of vegetables. I always had grand intentions of eating more, especially fresh ones, but often they'd rot in the crisper drawer.

Mainly, I want to focus on what we can eat. I want to allow your creativity to take over and for you to try to think of different ways to try these wonderful foods. You might not even like the first way you prepare something, so I am challenging myself and my husband to revisit the produce we can eat, even those we have dismissed. And to try the ones we have never had.

This blog will at least initially be based upon what is on the allowed food list for Atkins Induction. I may expand it later. This doesn't mean that low carb eaters who aren't following Atkins can't benefit from better knowing tried and true low carb foods, but do check if the ingredient is allowable on your plan. For instance, most people who follow a more paleo diet wouldn't bother with tubers or olives (for the most part), and someone following Protein Power or South Beach would need to ensure that the meats or dairy follows their plans guidelines.