Net carbs? and helping a friend

RebeccaMaunder

A friend of mine and her mom have decided to join the LCHF woe. I am excited by this and I think they will do really well. Though with all of us being new there are a lot of questions. So one of the questions was do you count total carbs or net carbs for any particular food? I know that it depends on which plan you are doing but if you are sort of following none but all at the same time.

I know that you guys had sent on lots of tips for me but would you mind sharing some with me. She uses Mfp but not often so I was trying to tell her about this group. So what advice would you give someone who doesn't use mfp basically? How can I help her as well as myself?

Thank you all in advance

KenSmith108

I use total but I don't eat that many to make much of a difference.

OR

lithezebra

I count net carbs. I can get 5 servings of vegetables (low carb vegetables), and still be under 50 grams of carbs that way. I think that vegetables, and fiber, are important. The only thing I don't like is that MFP makes it look like I'm over my carb goal, when I'm not.

baconslave

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10057456/so-which-is-it-total-carbs-or-net-carbs
Give this a read.

Also, check out the Launch Pad link.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10103966/start-here-the-lcd-launch-pad
Have them join and read through the info we have there. Some helpful general advice. Then they can come to us for specific questions.

RebeccaMaunder

Thanks guys

Sunny_Bunny_

I really think total carbs is the easiest to understand. Many don't count fiber, but some people get an insulin reaction to the fiber too and the whole idea is to reduce insulin.
What you often hear with net carbs is that the goal is 20 or 30 net. So there's really more like 40 or 50 total. So, why not just make the goal 40 or 50 maximum total or 20 or 30... Whatever works for you. Then there's no need to even think about what counts and what doesn't. It all counts and you can still allow for fiber. I started out with the net carbs way but it's just easier to keep tabs on it by not making it into more than it needs to be. My honest reason at that time for going net was that I wanted the low number and didn't want to have to actually eat that few carbs. lol It was silly. There's all kinds of low carb levels. The only right one is the one that's right for you. I'd keep the counting simple. If your friend isn't interested in tracking in MFP, I would still encourage them to use it for support and to help look up food info, even though that's not always reliable. And I do think it's a good idea to keep a record of total carb, protein and fat intake each day because we often find that some tweaking here and there is necessary and having the history to look back on for patterns is really helpful. But at bare minimum, she should keep a record of the carbs in some form. Most of us will start to see less progress or start having hunger or craving issues and then can look back at the carb trends and usually find that they have crept up. It helps to shine a light on what works for you best over time.