Anyone counting total carbs?

(Jennifer ) #1

Hello everyone.
After losing about 7 lbs in my first 10 days, i only lost 1.6 lbs in my second 10 days.
Feeling a bit discouraged so I decided to change to counting total carbs (i did keto 1 year ago and when i started counting total carbs that’s when I started losing weight for real).
But my question is, are there any foods that you don’t count total carbs and you do count net?
For example, avocados are high in carbs, but the amount of fiber they contain makes it perfect for keto, same with flax seeds, and I bet other food as well.
So in case of those foods, do you count them as total or net carbs?
I feel like it will be a waste not consuming this foods and missing all the nutrients and benefits that they have just because i can’t consider the fiber in it.
Last year when i was counting total carbs, I stopped eating avocados at all, but I always had that doubt. So now that I am back to total carbs, i would like to know what foods I can only count net carbs.
Thank you for your help

Jennifer

#2

Hi Jennifer, I try to stay as close to zero as I can (Usually ends up being about 10 total carbs from cheese foods & my little bit of homemade chocolate). I don’t do net. And that really seemed to help me a lot, when I made that switch. With that being said, don’t worry too much if you go a short period of time without losing anything on the scale. It’s normal. You’re doing well! You may be able to do net carbs. A lot of people don’t have a problem with it.

(John) #3

Dr. Berry has a hybrid approach - when it is a real food (example: broccoli or spinach) he counts net carbs. When it is anything in a package with a nutrition label, he counts total carbs.

I am of the opinion that you would have a hard time overeating carbs if you were eating spinach, lettuce, and broccoli as the source of the carbs, so I generally don’t even think about their carb content.

When I have a full home-cooked meal, it’s usually about 1/3 of the plate containing meat of some kind (chicken breasts or thighs, pork chops, steak) and 2/3 of the plate containing cooked fresh vegetables with some added fat for flavoring or cooking (butter, cheese, olive oil) like broccoli, cauliflower, squash or brussels sprouts.

If someone were to look at it, they would think I was on a typical healthy diet (which I am), unless they noticed the lack of bread, rice, potatoes, or corn (which is why it is healthy).

I love my veggies and tend to eat them first. This is NOT my past history with veggies, where I get excited about brussel’s sprouts!

(Carl Keller) #4

Hi Jennifer.

A fairly recent forum poll showed that 62% of voters use net carbs. I’ve used both net and total and I find that using net allows me a lot more liberty to eat vegetables that I enjoy. I didn’t like the idea of eating “too much broccoli”. But I do think that using total can be useful to someone who is stalled and/or has a high degree of insulin resistance. For folks with a less distressed metabolism, a net approach is probably just fine.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #5

I, personally, count total carbs. I feel that I can’t really go wrong with that. But there are days, to trick my body, I count Net, which is just another way of saying I have a few more carbs that day.

Total is great at first because it’s nearly a bulletproof way to get yourself into Ketosis. I’d think after that, it’s preference and seeing what works best for you and what makes you feel better. 20 net or 20 total. Or maybe even more than that, depending on you personally and your body.

I figure if I stick to 20 total, I won’t screw myself at all.

(less is more, more or less) #6

I’m a carb-totaler as well. I just posted in a different thread about this, with no less than Virta Health’s recommendation:

I am a patient of Dr. Westman. He, too, advocates total carb counting.

Polls be damned. :wink: