I’m not totally stupid. But sometimes I can be a real dope.I know enough to stay away from the obviously sweet and starchy veggies: peas, corn, etc. I was under the impression squash was reasonably low carb. Tonight, I was going to have a hamburger with a slice of Muenster melted on top. Hadn’t even considered a side. My wife asked if we could have the butternut squash I’d bought a few days ago. I said, “Sure.”I don’t normally buy prepared food, but this past week I bought a package of butternut squash, peeled and cut up, ready to cook. Maybe it cost a dollar for that convenience. I put it in a pan, added a little water, and shortly afterward we had mashed squash with our cheeseburgers. I put a scant cup’s worth on my plate, slathered it in butter, salt and pepper, and it was delicious.
Then I went upstairs to plug it into my weekly food log. I consulted my steadfast Atkins Carb Counter (the paperback version).
OMG!!! You have GOT to be kidding! One half cup of butternut squash, baked and mashed, 9.4 GRAMS OF NET CARBS? That meant I’d taken in my limit of carbs for the day JUST IN THAT SERVING! Of course, this being the last meal of the day, there was no chance to compensate. My total net carbs for Sunday turned out to be 33.8 grams.
Lesson learned: Don’t assume! Read first, then eat. Here’s a rundown on some winter squash stats straight from the good doctor’s website:
| Portion | Food Item | Total Carbs | Fiber | Net Carbs | Fat | Protein | Calories |
| 0.5 cups | Squash, winter, acorn, baked | 14.9 | 4.5 | 10.4 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 57 |
| 0.5 cups | Squash, winter, butternut, baked | 10.7 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 41 |
| 0.5 cups | Squash, winter, butternut, frozen, boiled | 12.1 | 0.0 | 12.1 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 47 |
| 0.5 cups | Squash, winter, hubbard, baked | 11.0 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 51 |
| 0.5 cups | Squash, winter, hubbard, boiled, mashed | 7.6 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 35 |
Filed under: Atkins, cooking, Induction, Megamas, Personal Journal, Starting on Low Carb
Point taken. Sometimes you don’t *know* what you don’t know. I myself have been eating spaghetti squash and your article made me double-check the net carbs – 8g for 1 cup. It seems to be low enough for me to get back in ketosis, but it’s higher than I thought.
Oh – a good resource for getting the nutrition data is:
http://www.nutritiondata.com – actually, you might think it’s TOO MUCH data.
The site is probably worth a post all by itself – eh?
Holy moley! Someone got carried away with their Junior Chemistry set, huh? That is a TON of data to digest. Thanks for the link. I’ve been using Calorie-Count.com, they’re pretty good for the basics, too.
The amount of information on the Internet NEVER ceases to amaze me. What a staggering change it’s made in our world in such a short time.
Whoa – I didn’t realize squash was that high, though there’s not much worry about eating it in my house. Hubby can’t stomach it, so I try not to buy veg that he won’t eat. He’ll eat zucchini and summer squash – that’s it.
LCC, thanks a lot for that nutrition info site! I’m going to have a good long look at it when I get home tonight.
Megamas, what do you use for your food log?
T.
PS, I meant that the only type of *squash* my hubby would eat is zucchini and summer. My post read like those were the only vegetables he’d eat. Far from it. LOL
Trish, I use an Excel spreadsheet for my weekly log. I’ve been a spreadsheet freak ever since I discovered them in 1985. I don’t use many of the features that are built in, like pivot tables (I don’t even really know what those are!), but they’re great tools, especially for the anal-retentive like myself. In the beginning during 2003, I simply got the data on what I was eating and pasted it, alphbetically, into a list at the bottom of the week. Then, as the list grows, all I have to do is copy and paste into the current day and meal. The formulas tally the net carbs and calories, and it really does help me stay true to induction because I can plan what I’m going to have in order not to exceed 20 net carbs per day.
I’m now looking at that data I pasted in on the post, and I’m trying to figure out where the 3.4 grams of fiber comes from in the Hubbard squash when you boil and mash it instead of bake it. The water? Metallic fibers flaking off the masher? Weird.
That nutrition website is awesome! I’ve been looking for a decent site for ages and that site takes the cake. Although I’ve noticed they believe the food pyramid is good for you though so you just kind of have to ignore the “diet” advice.
I just want to add that I am in my second week of induction but have been a low-carb fan for a long time (off and on, off and on, just couldn’t quite give up those beer carbs until now) and I am so grateful for your sight LCC. It’s been helpful for me to “connect” with other serious low-carbers since I am totally alone among family and friends in my belief in low-carb and have no one I can talk to about recipes, tips, etc.
I just finished Good Calories, Bad Calories by Taubs, I believe, and it is an awsome affirmation. It took me about 6 months to read cover to cover because it is so dry so every now and then I’d read something else but I just finished the last word of the last chapter. Great book for anyone trying to decide if eating popcorn is healthy. Hey, I love the popcorn but I know that with a blood sugar count of 94, I’m only a few tubs of popcorn and a keg away from becoming a diabetic.
And that is how I keep motivated for anyone needing motivation. Read Good Calories, Bad Calories and envision your pancrease dumping insulin into your boddy to counteract the poison you just fed it and how that action will one day lead to diabetes. The picture isn’t pretty and I know one potatoe, one beer, one scoop of ice cream just isn’t worth it.
Thanks for helping me keep my motivation and keep up the good work to both you, LCC and Megamas!!
KelleyO: Yes, popcorn is innocuous. So light, so fluffy… so carby… damn the stuff!
I skimmed Taub’s “All a Big Fat Lie” article again last week, and yes, he IS somewhat dry, but man, what a message. I know what you mean about insulin, in fact, I want to post here on that topic soon. The more we get the word out about the way our bodies work in an easy-to-digest manner, the better. I said in a reply a few weeks ago that I’d learned enough on Atkins the first time that it put honest-to-gosh fear into me, and I started regarding certain foods as my sworn enemies. I surprise myself that I was so easily drawn back into the high carb world when there are so many things that taste just as good and are as satisfying in our low carb world. I suppose bad things being easy to get had something to do with it. LCC was right when he wrote (7/14/07), despite how easy it can and should be, ‘Atkins isn’t for the weak.’
Megamas, I too am a recovering popcorn eater. Ice cream, popcorn and beer. My three favorite carbs (potatoes a close fourth) and all highly addictive for me. For me it works best if I use an AA mantra on the popcorn and ice cream……..one is too many and a thousand is never enough.
I’ve been religious with induction for over a week now and I am amazed again at how those cravings have seemingly disapeared. I haven’t yet walked into a movie theatre and smelled the popcorn though! To be honest, I’m afraid to.
I treated myself to something that tasted like popcorn the other day though……ham smothered in butter. I took a few bites and it had the distinct essence of popcorn! I am one of the lucky few who can eat butter with a spoon and I believe this helps me find low-carb immensley palatable – I love fat!!
So at least for now, when I feel deprived of popcorn, I can melt butter and eat it. And that’s 3/4 of the fun of popcorn anyway – gross amounts of butter! But you won’t find me in a theatre anytime soon. The draw is too great for me right now and I empathize with you. I am however, gleefully looking forward to a Superbowl with homemade hot wings, homemade blue cheese dressing and no guilt! Weehee!!
Megamas, I use spreadsheets for a lot of record keeping. However, I use SparkPeople for tracking my nutrition and exercise. Perhaps you (and LCC and anyone else) would like to check it out – not for the food log, but for everything else. A lot of self-motivation as well as group support for healthy eating. Been on that site off and on since 2006, but just discovered some Atkins support groups there.
PS, I did away with the spreadsheet for my music collection once I discovered iTunes…at least that’s a low-carb addiction! LOL
Hmmm, link didn’t work. OK, it’s http://sparkpeople.com.
KellyO – I too can eat butter with a spoon (cream cheese, too) and I think it definitely curbs cravings. Weird, so I don’t do it in front of many people, but about a week ago we went out with friends to an old Colonial-style inn for dinner…and when they were all madly passing around the bread and buttering it up, I quietly snuck a few pats of butter onto my bread plate and ate dainty bitefuls of them with my salad fork. No one even noticed in their mad dash to stuff warm rolls into their mouths!
Have you had your cholesterol checked? Mine doubled on Atkins (had always been low before) and was worryingly high. I did lose weight, though! In fact, it’s the only way I can lose weight, so I’m back on it but I don’t load up with unecessary saturated fat (but do eat “good fats” e.g. olive oil freely)Be careful!
Hey Trish, I’m not alone, yay! I can eat cream cheese straight as well. I’m surprised no one noticed your butter. Every person I’ve ever eaten in front of has been unable to not comment on the amount of butter I eat. I think it is their own guilt for eating any. I used to slab butter on bread thicker than the bread sometimes. Somehow I knew in my heart there was nothing wrong with the butter. It seemed natural. And I am so happy to now know it’s simply the bread that was killing me.
There is a good book by Barry Groves called Natural Health and Weight Loss wherein he says that carbs must be replaced by fat not high-protien, but high-fat. And Dr. Atkins now has a section that says if you are unable to get into ketosis then you need to go on a fat fast. He says eat a 1000 calories of fat a day and that’s it but it probably doesn’t matter if you eat 3000 calories of fat as long as you don’t eat carbs. And I find the more fat I eat, the darker my ketostix become. This tells me, eat fat, burn fat.
Here’s to a spoonful of butter!! And mayo, and cream cheese, and cream and more butter and…….;-)