[janeemljr]

Wondering if I don't eat my fruit or bread stick but instead have an atkins shake? I get a craving for one in the evening - as long as I stay in the 500 cal?

[TRASIAOREXOLA]

Any time i've gone off protocol it has messed me up. I know that if you dont have the fruit or melba its okay to add a bit more protein, but probably not a good idea to add sugar/ carbs.

[we0MA4MI]

After reading some excerpts from P&I, I would say, "NO". I would also say that an Atkins bar is not an orange or a breadstick. Here's some relevant material from Dr. Simeons:

"Every item in the list is gone over carefully, continually stressing the point that no variations other than those listed may be introduced. All things not listed are forbidden, and the patient is assured that nothing permissible has been left out....Some people do not realize that a tangerine is not an orange and that chicken breast does not mean the breast of any other fowl, nor does it mean a wing or drumstick. The most tiresome patients are those who start counting Calories and then come up with all manner of ingenious variations which they compile from their little books. When one has spent years of weary research trying to make a diet as attractive as possible without jeopardizing the loss of weight, culinary geniuses who are out to improve their unhappy lot are hard to take...

...The diet used in conjunction with HCG must not exceed 500 Calories per day, and the way these Calories are made up is of utmost importance. For instance, if a patient drops the apple and eats an extra breadstick instead, he will not be getting more Calories but he will not lose weight. There are a number of foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, which have the same or even lower caloric values than those listed as permissible, and yet we find that they interfere with the regular loss of weight under HCG, presumably owing to the nature of their composition. Pimiento peppers, okra, artichokes and pears are examples of this."