Probably a question i should have asked two years ago, but do we need to be counting net carbs or total carbs???

Net carbs. Subtract the dietary fiber.

There is some debate about whether to also deduct any sugar alcohols - I do NOT deduct those. Some sugar alcohols still cause a glycemic response in the body, and they all can cause GI issues. Dietary fiber is totally undigestable and just passes through the body, and has zero effect on your intake.

Thanks! That's what i've been doing, but the 'total carbohydrate' line can be disconcerting at first glance. The sugar alcohol, in moderation, doesn't usually bother me. However, if i have more than one thing containing it, i'm in trouble.

This is not the official answer but I go for "net carbs" when I want to justify my bars. Some of them are less "scary" when you take off the fibre so my guilt is relieved a wee bit Some people also take off half the sugar alcohols off carbs I think (I don't do that so I could be wrong there...)

My understanding was that you should be keeping under 40 net carbs a day but I hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong before I am counting the wrong things too.

Edit: Oh look- Scorbett must have been typing same time as me as there was no response there when I started typin'. Good rule of thumb -- always listen to HER advice over mine anyday! LOL

Don't feel like you are "cheating" your guilt by counting net carbs - subtracting dietary fiber is EXACTLY what you should be doing, dietary fiber is not absorbed by the body at all and so does not add anything to your intake. You're doing it right

And yes, our daily intake usually falls somewhere around 20-40 NET carbs per day

Oh my lord you are too funny

Here's another question (i'm full of them tonight), how many carbs does something need to have to be considered "restricted"? I've been researching alternatives and it's been suggested that i try Proti-Diet (among a few others). I'm looking at their products and several of them seem to be pretty comparable. Any suggestions?

I use a lot of Proti Diet products, they are very nutritionally close to IP. Went "rogue" 13 weeks ago on nothing but alternative products Here's how you know restricted vs unrestricted:

8g net carbs or less = unrestricted
9g net carbs or more = restricted
more than 15g net carbs - once or twice a week only

The only real exception to these rules are some of the snack products that are higher in fat. You want to make sure that the fat content is under 30% total calories from fat. Soy nuts and wafer snacks tend to be above that - so even though their carb count makes them appear unrestricted, the fat content makes them a restricted item.

Thanks! I just posted a thread about Proti Diet for suggestions, but this definitely helps! What are your favorite things they offer?

The oatmeals (unrestricted!), The honey nut soy cereal (I use 2oz of vanilla protein shake as my "milk", oh so good!), the White cheddar crisps (they are exactly the same as the IP ones, just a slightly smaller portion). Quite a few of the bars are good, and I just got the Pizza mix for the first time - Rainbowsmiles posted how to make the dough mix into a pretzel and I am in LOVE!

I am a cereal junky. If allowed, i would just eat cereal all day long. SO having heard this, i'm SO excited! Not to mention the oatmeal! I wish i had known about all these alternatives two years ago when i went off plan and gained back all of my weight plus 20lbs (UGH!). Things would have been so much easier and affordable. Thank you!!!

heh Those fiber carbs definitely are "the more the merrier", because not only they help lower the count for net carbs, but to avoid constipation we need lots of them! [As per webmd Recommended daily grams of fiber for women is around 25+ g/day (for men more than that, about 38+)]