Do you count net carbs or a carb is a carb?

I really get confused about this. I will sometimes eat an Atkins bar .  I eat the peanut nougat ones because they have the least sugar alcohol. It says 3 net carbs. How can I believe that? It has over 20 carbs if you aren't doing net carbs.

do you count fat grams and calories  as well?   I have to figure out where I am going wrong. I have a feeling it could be calories and fat, from doing the ATkins diet for so many years where all he said was to count carbs. I am diigent about counting carbs and protein grams.

I count net carbs.

Have you tried Quest bars?  Low carb, high fiber, 20 grams of protein 210 calories.  No sugar alcohols.  They have ones sweetened with splenda, and a natural line sweetened with stevia.

I order them online.  I use them as road food, when desperate, they work well in a pinch and are gluten free, since I have a wheat allergy, these bars have been a life saver for me many times.

  I cannot deal with sugar alcohols....they cause gastro distress for me.  Also, I don't believe that sugar alcohols are not absorbed.  Way back in my Atkins days, sugar alcohols stalled my weight loss every time.  There is a lot of debate whether they absorb or not.  The makers of the bars say 3 grams of net carbs because they claim that the body does not absorb those S.A.'s  I say BS!!!

I personally count calories, protein and carbs.  But, because I want to keep the calories low, the fat has to stay low as well, but it comes naturally as I  am consuming high protein with the lowest calories all the time.  I had to change my Atkins mindset as well because eventually the calories have to count.  energy in, energy out. I won't lose weight unless I keep the calories low. 

I am firmly in the A Carb is a Carb camp. If the carbs are from fiber, that's better than sugar alcohols. But I would count one of those bars as 20 carbs, absolutely. When I'm trying to lose, I try to get all my carbs from vegetables and a bit of dairy, so no bread, crackers, pasta, rice, sugar etc or even much fruit, though I'll have berries occasionally.I don't count fat. (Well, I don't really count anything as a general rule, but if I'm trying to lose, I do log what I eat for a while as a check). I find that if I REALLY stick with  lean protein and veggies, then the rest of the numbers pretty much take care of themselves.

Lizanne

I'm with ThinLizzy on this one, a carb is a carb is a carb.  I don't net my calories when I walk to the fridge...LOL!  I count protein, carbs, fat and calories.  I don't track my sodium, but I do watch it.  I love salty stuff but it makes me retain water so then I have to drink TONS to flu**** out and I'm already at about 80-100 oz on a normal day.  Good luck in your tracking - but do keep track.  It really helps.

Deb

I'm with Lizanne on this one. I look at my carbs and even Quest bars are evil for me. They have over 20 carbs and even with all the fiber, I have cut them out for the past couple of weeks.

I'm trying to stay away from the protein bars, because they are a slippery slope for me. I do better with lean meat, veggies, some dairy (have to have NF Greek yogurt and a skinny latte). I stay away from crackers, pasta, etc.

I think you do need to count calories at this point in time. Too much of anything will put weight on you. I monitor everything, which is easy to do, if one uses an online tracking tool.

Are you counting calories? If not, it would be a great idea to do so. Everything counts.

Gail

I count all carbs. From what I've read, we probably do digest a bit of the fiber and subtracting sugar alcohols like Atkins tells you to do is just crazy. Some sugar alcohols have 3 calories per gram which is almost as much as a regular carb!

I don't consider carbs at all. Once my protein and fat minimums are accounted for, carbs are what's left over in hitting caloric and nutritional targets. There's too much essential nutrition tied up in things that are carbs to worry about trying to minimize them, particularly in maintenance, so the whole net vs. total game is moot.

Carb is a carb here.  I always figured if the calories count (I mean, you don't subtract the calories from the total, right?), then the carb total should count too.

If you look at the labels, you will find that those calories usually aren't counted - the totals won't add up to the normal 4 cal per carb and protein gram plus 9 cal per fat gram - so they usually do account for the lower caloric impact of the sugar alcohols, fiber, etc. So, on the average Quest bar, for instance, if the total carb figure of 24 was used calorically, it would have 230 calories instead of the stated 170 calories (chich implies an unstated "net carb" of 9 when figuring in the caloric impact of the sugar alcohols and fiber.)

Total carb is what your brain sees reading the label; net carb is what your body sees consuming the food.

This is one reason I never believed the claims of Dreamfield Pasta. They say 5 digested carbs but the label has calories for way more than that!