Total carbs verses net carbs

[csawesome 181]

Which do you count?

My surgeons office just says each meal should have less than 15g of carbs per 15 grams of Proteins, but they have you eat five times a day. That seems like a lot of carbs. They don't specify so I assume they mean total carbs.

I was trying to stay about 40 total carbs, 20 net carbs but as my diet options and portion size gets closer to three ounces, I have been inching over 40 a lot of days. I don't start dense meats until next week so it may change as I switch from soft proteins, some of which are pretty carby (beans, dairy).

[Dub 9,946]

I count net carbs.

I don't embrace stalls worth a fukk.....but I embrace Fiber like it's going out of style.

[FrankyG 1,450]

I track both, but I count net carbs. I have to work hard to keep my Fiber numbers up with mostly Protein as my main dish.

[RickM 1,753]

Neither. My doc never jumped onto the carb counting bandwagon when that came into fashion a few years ago (sugars and other simple carbs are limited, however.) Net carbs came about when the Atkins people realized the need to make their diet plan relevant to the realities of human nutrition - there is a reason why low carb dieters tend to be constipated.

The main driver for your long term weight loss is your caloric deficit; carb levels drive short term variations within the long term loss trend, primarily by way of changes to your body's glycogen levels and the Water needed to keep it in solution. Your doc's program seems quite reasonable, and it is only providing you with a max level per meal - you can go under it if you so desire. But generally, the carbs that need to be severely limited are the junk carbs that have little nutrition tied to them, while those that come as part of real food (that which comes out of the ground, as opposed to out of a box...) that has real nutrition behind it does little damage to your loss efforts.

As a side note, my carbs averaged (I didn't control them, but did record everything,) 70-80g per day in the early months of my loss phase, and around 100-120 g per day in the later months, and I wouldn't have wanted the weight to come off any faster - but I had a fairly high caloric deficit driving my loss, so carbs didn't matter, but the nutrition derived from them certainly did.

[RickM 1,753]

oops...deleted

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

I pay attention to both but I try to stay between 25-35 net carbs. I almost never get that high with my carbs, but I look at the whole number.

European standard to the best of my understanding is net carbs. The US seems to be more total carbs.

Since we need fiber, I think net carbs are better to track.

[csawesome 181]

I like the idea of net carbs much better. I don't see me eating a lot of non fiber carbs for a while, but I was suprised to learn how many there in dairy products. I think I will be drastically weaning down on those as I move onto dense Proteins.

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[Dub 9,946]

I track both, but I count net carbs. I have to work hard to keep my fiber numbers up with mostly Protein as my main dish.

The struggle is real.........

It's difficult to get our fiber. I really respect the macros on the label of the average Quest Protein Bar. Not even sure I trust them.....but I love the numbers on the labels.

[JenniferP1 75]

What are you guys eating for fiber?

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Green veggies, Protein brownies, once a week maybe a low carb tortilla or a flat out rollup. I think Protein Bars being highly processed and extremely fake are for emergencies only, but I have one maybe once every 10 days. Mainly veggies for fiber.

[2goldengirl 2,076]

What are you guys eating for Fiber?

I'm in the early days with veggies, so my Fiber has come from a daily serving of Beans, usually refried. I am not carb-phobic. What @@rickm said is spot-on. Carbs aren't evil, but highly processed foods are problematic on several levels. First, their glycemic effect (which is mitigated to some extent when eaten with protein), second their nearly complete lack of nutrition, and third their lack of satiety.

I have always done better with food I can recognize as food, as it's come out of the ground, so to speak. I do make exceptions for yogurt and cottage cheese, as their nutritional value is huge. I don't worry about the carbs in dairy. My daily carbs hover in the 40-60 range and it hasn't slowed me down.