So say I’m a pretty busy guy who wants to do Aktins, but I’m also very lazy and don’t have the patience/time to cook for myself at home to Aktins specifications.
Would the program work if I just went to fast-food joints and order burgers, tossed the buns and scrapped off the Mayonnaise?
Sure, except that you should scrape off the ketchup, not the mayo.
Whether scrapped or scraped, no, not really. Atkins is about reducing carb input to virtually nothing (to start with, anyway) to trigger ketosis.
Fast and processed food usually has carbs of both low and high GI types. Many have sugars added to their ingredients to sweeten them for the US palate. “Grilled” chicken fillets in chicken burgers just have stripes of sugar painted across them which get burnt during cooking to give the visual impression they’re healthily grilled. I don’t know but I’ll bet the same is true of the beef used in burgers.
You’re far better off cooking yourself a nice steak and eating some fresh salad veges (raw if you like, so no preparation time), won’t take any longer than going down to the local Macca’s. Nor does a quick stir-fry.
Some fast food places offer food that is already Atkins ready - Subway has its Atkins Friendly wraps, Hardees offers some Atkins type food, and you might want to check some other places as well.
Doing Atkins is a lot more than just eating meat. You are required to eat salad and other vegetables, too. If you do it any other way than outlined in the book, you aren’t really doing Atkins.
Subway specifically disclaims the use of their wraps during induction phase - no surprise, since they have something like 11 grams of carbohydrates. Plus, most of the Atkins-friendly foods you find at fast food places are either tiny and insubstantial (like said Atkins wraps at Subway) or else grossly inappropriate to the diet.
It’s quite a bit more complex than just “don’t eat bread or pasta” and I don’t think you’re likely to have success on it if you don’t familiarize yourself with exactly what you’re eating, and that’s at least a little tougher at a fast food place than when you’re handling it yourself.
Just to help you out a bit: the Atkins plan is more about eating whole foods and getting regular, moderate excerise than it is just eating meat. It’s a common misconception that colors many people opinions of the plan.
My advice: Don’t go into this half-cocked. You WILL NOT see results eating modified fast-foods and nothing else. Also, I would suggest not getting too wrapped up in buying all of the new “Atkins-friendly” products, whether they are from 3rd parties or from the Atkins people themselves. They’re all either overly-costly, or not at all helpful in the initial two week induction phase.
**The best thing you can do ** is to read all about the plan at the Atkins website. You really don’t need to buy a single Atkins product to get your eating habits in line with the plan.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
I ate that way almost every work day for lunch (left the mayo, requested no catsup or onion) and got my veggies in at dinner while I was low-carbing but I wouldn’t call it Atkins. …I still lost 54 pounds in six months though.
I would recommend reading the book or visiting the website as suggested.
Atkins cooking CAN BE very easy. Have a meat, have two acceptable veggies and you’re good to go. If you get bored there are some specialty items, just be careful. You can also have cheese cubes, meat sticks and pepperoni slices, veggie sticks, nuts and seeds…really quick finger foods.
Lazy or not though, you should still get some sort of exercise. 
Yes, that is how I practiced Atkins and had very good success with it. The mayo is fine, the ketchep has sugar in it, so use it sparingly.
FYI–you can order a burger at Wendy’s, Sonic, and McDonald’s and request the bun and ketchup be left off. They’ll do it for you without blinking an eye.
I think you’d be better served to learn how to cook fast, easy Atkins meals, personally. I’m domestically disinclined to say the least, and even I can throw together a nutritious meal in five to ten minutes. It usually takes five minutes or more just to get through the line at the nearest McDonalds, and longer if you have a special order, not to mention travel time. Cooking for yourself is often cheaper, too.
Am omelette takes roughly five minutes, and it’s horribly easy to make Atkins friendly. Grate a little cheddar in, maybe throw in bacon bits or leftover ham, some green pepper, leave out the onion. Prepping a chicken to roast takes maybe ten minutes–take out the backbone and keelbone, rub it with mayo, sprinkle with whatever spices you prefer, and pop it in. Do it in the evening when you’re home, and you’ve got tomorrow’s dinner ready before bed tonight. And you’ve got leftovers for quite some time. If you wash and chop a couple heads of lettuce and keep it in the fridge, all you’ve got to do is throw some in a bowl, maybe add a bit of leftover meat, cheese, and/or nuts (I prefer to add in some fruit, but that doesn’t fit in with Atkins induction), drizzle a bit of dressing, and you’re good to go in three minutes or less.
A burger minus bun and condiments (I think pickles may be verboten, too) would be a feasible option if you were already out and about, but I don’t think it would be all that time-effective if you were having to make a special trip for it.
Why can’t you eat onions? (I did a search on the site but it only mentioned recipes that have them, not that you can’t). And what about garlic, chives, etc? Are they forbidden too?
Onions are full of sugars (the bulb is a food storage organ for the plant)
Chives might be OK, as these are the leaves (and you don’t typically use much), but IANAAtkins expert…
Re-reading, I see that I might be misunderstood as having said that chives are the leaves of ordinary onions; I’m aware that they are a different species.
FWIW I have been doing the Atkins diet for just over three months now, and about 50% of the time I am on the road, eating at restrauants for Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Typically here is what I eat when I am on the road.
Breakfast:
2 eggs scrambled and a side of bacon. (If I am very hungry I may go for a cheese omlet) water, and decaf coffee
Lunch:
1/3 lb burger either ordered no bun or I remove the bun. Lettuce, tomato, pickles, and fresh salsa if available. If only sandwiches are available, a sandwich that includes lettuce and tomato, and I eat the filling and leave the bread. water to drink
Dinner:
Usually the smallest steak on the menu, and veggies and a small dinner salad. Or a chicken brest on top of a salad. Or perhaps a piece of fish and veggies, depends on the menu, and my mood. water to drink.
One thing I should note here is that in all of the items mentioned above, I usually wind up leaving something on my plate, as it does not take as much food to fill me up now. As of last Saturday I have lost 35 lbs. YMMV, read the book, visit the website, good luck. If you have any furter questions feel free to drop me a e mail.