I’ve come across the term net carbs and from what I understand you deduct the amount of fibre (grams) from the amount of carb grams – so my 1/2 avocado has 8.6 grams of carb, and 6.8 grams of fibre so net is 1.8 grams – is this what I should count to keep under 50 grams? That would allow for a lot more veg!
Thanks – still trying to get my head around all this 🙂

In general if you are following a low carb diet to lose weight and improve your health then net carbs counting is the way to go (as you have expertly described above). There’s loads of articles about insoluble and soluble fibre but it would seem that both of those do not affect blood sugar levels (which is what we are aiming for). So go with the net carbs – I do!

Thanks – I think I’m getting this now – roll on the kale for dinner 🙂

Hi there!
I’ve read these post a few times and wonder if you could help me clarify a few things…….
I’m into my 4th week and the restriction on carbs is taking its toll……I’m struggling with limited veggies (I love to eat lots of them) but got the impression that apart from cougettes, cucumbers, etc others were “avoids” due to their sugar content ie carrots.
I can’t remember reading in the BSD book about “net” carbs and since most bloggers on here seem to manage to stick to 40g and under I’m wondering if I’m doing this right?
Your post above relating to net carbs would make more sense if people are sticking to this plan longer term…. But it’s really confusing to me……… I’m using my fitness pal to log my food intake and despite keeping the carbs to under 40g and my fiber between 10-25g daily (oh and always eating the 800 cals) my weight loss has stalled this past week. Followed the plan religiously for 3 weeks then 5/7 days last week – past weekend was a challenge due to external entertaining and therefore food out of my control (but did my best). This week my weight did not change.
Can you tell me what veggies you are eating with evening meals etc. I keep thinking I’m going to get the recipes from the book but inevitably life is just so busy that I’m sticking to safe obvious choices….. Ie chicken salad, bolognaise with courgette spaghetti, chilli with cauliflower rice……. Omelettes for brunch, breakfast I find hard – dairy gives me heartburn/reflux so only eat minimal amount of cheese. Yogurt is too much for me to cope with. Have splash of milk in tea. Relying on slim fast advanced nutritional shakes to be the mainstay for breakfast…..help please xxx

Do you think I’m doing this right? Should I up my veggies (although I don’t have spare calories)
Thanks

Mosley does not give any carb limits.

I do not deduct fibre grams from total carbs … although i do not worry so much with high fibre items.

50 carbs is what a lot of people here try and keep under as it seems to work for them. When there is an extended plateau … some people try to reduce carbs a little further.

Non root veggies don’t really have that many carbs. Root veggies have more carbs so Mosley feels the root veggies should be limited.

I don’t cook much …. for suppers i usually eat from a big pot of soup (chicken and veggies and possibly a few lentils/and/or beans. Or a chilli, heavy on the veggies … i put any veggies i have in a chilli … and these can be made ahead. Can also have some kind of meat and a salad.

I’m not 100% sure but I think this is one instance where definitions differ depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on.

My understanding is that in the UK (and Europe) food labelling marked Carbohydrate is the Carb value to use for that food as Fibre is listed separately.
In the US, on the other hand Carbohydrate is total carbohydrate (including soluble and non-soluble fibre). Fibre is again listed separately but you should subtract the fibre number from the total carb number to get the actual or net carb number.

I regard half an avocado as 8-g of carb against my daily allowance. If I’m wrong I’ve been swindling myself for the last 10 weeks!

In terms of veg I like leafy veg so I have watercress, cavallo nero, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach. Steamed, poached in miso, fried with bacon and/or chilli, baked with cumin or harissa. My objective is to spice up the taste and add variety. I also have become addicted to fennel, both as a veg and a salad. I use herbs as sides or salads so it’s not unusual for me to have a pile of mint or basil on the plate.

Thanks everyone!!
I am in Canada …. and if i have a nutrition label on the food item i use that instead of going to a website or a book.
In Canada the fibre content is a subsection of the total Carb content …. so i may be safe in deducting the fibre grams from the carb total. I am going to do that especially on beans and lentils …. and if i am loosing a reasonable amount of weight per week i will keep doing that. I am happy with 2.5 or so pounds per week as that will get me to my interim goal of under 200 pounds by December 10. Then i will give my body a 5:2 breather for a month or so …. and try and loose another 35 or so pounds by summer 2017.

kjandtheboys – lots of people seem to plateau in week 3 or 4, so its probably this rather that anything wrong with what you’re eating. I too like lots of veg which is why I was interested in the net carb position – something like kale can add up in carbs, but it much lower when you deduct the fiber. Over the past 10 days, my average carbs have been 40, and my net carbs 33. Average calories 827. I’ve lost 2.2 kg. Its not a massive loss, but its felt like very little effort either so I’m happy.
Stick with it, and I’m sure you’ll get back where you want to be.

kjandtheboys – I’m on week 6 – also had a stall in week2/3 then started losing again. It may be that.
Low carb veggies are anything green really – salad veg, spinach, brocolli, peppers, celery, courgettes, cucumbers, spring (green ) onions mange tout, sugar snap peas, kale, then we also have cauliflower and red peppers. We also have carrots, butternut squash and red onions but in limited supply (maybe one or two a week). I don’t know but you might want to invest in the 8 week BSD recipe book – there’s a whole section in there about jazzing up your veg and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed some of the recipes

good luck and hope you fall off the plateau soon!
TC x

Hi everyone
Thanks so much for your responses. Topcac and AndreaG thanks for allaying my fears and keeping me motivated. To everyone on here thank you so much for your information sharing and advice – I can honestly say this forum site has been s life line and is what’s kept me going on the plan to this point. I’m on track I think but may have got myself confused as I’m British but live in America so probably looking at my carbs as total carbs when I’m used to seeing them labelled the English way!!
Keep up the great work. I keep telling myself I’ll do one more week but that just keeps rolling…… I’m hoping for a good loss this week to give me another mental boost!!
Speak soon xx