Should I count fiber as carbs?

micaelasrecovery
micaelasrecovery Posts: 12 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm new to this, so don't kill me if I get something wrong or don't know something; I'm a teenage girl recovering from EDNOS (with symptoms of anorexia and orthorexia but I don't completely fit in to one thing) and I just need help. I obviously won't know everything and I don't assume that I do. I'm open to learning things, but please try to be patient with me as I'm not very educated on nutrition. :smile:

EDIT: I should have posted this as "Should I count net or total carbs?" but I'm stupid and I didn't do that.

My doctor wants me to be eating 1500 calories a day. Now, as someone who's recovering from an eating disorder who's used to eating 300 calories a day, you can see how that could be pretty challenging. So, over the course of the past few weeks, I've been slowly trying to increase to 1000, THEN 1500. So, I've been trying to hit 1000 calories a day with a ratio of 40c/40p/20f. But it's pretty hard to not go over 40c because I eat a ton of fruit and I get most of my protein from Quest bars! But a lot of those carbs come from fiber (in the bars), and I've recently read that you shouldn't count fiber as carbs.. but I read that on things for people with diabetes or on low-carb diets, and well, I don't have diabetes, and I'm not particularly focusing on eating a low-carb diet, just a balanced one. I know that while in recovery my body needs whatever it can get, but I still want to balance things out wherever I can. So should I subtract fiber from my carb count and track net carbs or total carbs?

Also, I'm sorry if this was posted in the wrong section or whatever, I don't really know how everything works around here yet. :embarassed:

And you don't have to get all smart and sarcastic and say "no count it as fat idiot" or something because yeah I know fiber is a carb okay sdfgsdfg but I don't know if I should just pay attention to net carbs or total carbs or oh my god guys HELP

Replies

  • schondell
    schondell Posts: 556 Member
    Carbs from fruits come from SUGAR not the fibre. To find your "net carbs" for the day, the equation is:

    Carbs - Fibre = Net carbs

    Eat fruits higher in fibre like berries. Strawberries in particular are really good. Also, vegetables have an amazing carb to fibre ratio, try green veggies like broccoli, spinach etc.

    Good luck with recovery!
  • Shadowknight137
    Shadowknight137 Posts: 1,243 Member
    No, count it as protein.

    YOLO.
  • micaelasrecovery
    micaelasrecovery Posts: 12 Member
    schondell: I didn't type it right aaah I mean most of my carbs come from the Quest bars and yeah oops :embarassed: I just meant my carbs usually shoot up because of the fruit. Thank you though c:

    howl: *sighs comically loud*
  • schondell
    schondell Posts: 556 Member
    Yes! A carb is a carb, even if it comes from fruit / Quest bar / anything
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Count total carbs. "Net carbs" is pretty much just a marketing term made up by low carb diet companies like Atkins in order to fool people I to believing they are consuming less carbs than they a really are.

    Fiber is still a carb, and most fiber still has calories.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    I wouldn't worry so much about going over your carbs as I would trying to get in enough protein. As you increase your protein, your carbs will likely go down. Also, try to get most of your calories from whole foods, like fruit, vegetables, whole grains, eggs, meat, yogurt, instead of bars. My diary is open to friends, if you want to add me. Good luck.
  • micaelasrecovery
    micaelasrecovery Posts: 12 Member
    I always get in enough protein, thank god, but that's with the help of the bars. I usually have to eat one of those a day + high protein Ensure (doctor's orders!) + yogurt + some sort of lean meat/poultry/nuts/dairy to get in enough protein and I basically just fill in the rest of my calories with carbs but it's so hard not to go over. I do eat mostly whole foods whenever I can, I just wanted to keep a good balance of everything.

    So total carbs it is, then! Thank you all c: I do think I'm going to do the whole "net carbs" thing though on SOME days like when I have to dance a lot or something like at a competition because I need the energy, but on most days I'll count total carbs, although there's a very high chance I'm completely wrong about that. If I am, correct me please.
  • jaygreen55
    jaygreen55 Posts: 315 Member
    Count total carbs. "Net carbs" is pretty much just a marketing term made up by low carb diet companies like Atkins in order to fool people I to believing they are consuming less carbs than they a really are.

    Fiber is still a carb, and most fiber still has calories.

    Absolute MISINFORMATION!!!

    Fiber whether it be soluble or insoluble is not absorbed into the body and passes out of your system down the toilette. Human beings lack the necessary digestive enzymes to break it down

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