hi,
i think im doing everything pretty much right, but the hidden carbs are stressin me out. i dont think i ingest many of them, but i just want to make sure. I read through that section of this website, and got a little confused. it didnt really explain how to determine the hidden carb count.
does anyone know what the formula is for calculating them????

You could open a free account at http://www.fitday.com
where you can input everything you eat and it calculates the carbs (as well as calories, fat and protein).

There is also a hidden carb counter on this site here:

Carb counter

Generally, the places to worry about "hidden carbs" are in speciality products like low-carb bars. These usually contain 20 or so grams of carbohydrate, but only 3-4 are "effective". Sometimes certain brands don't even label these (appalling) so it's good to watch out for them, as some people are actually affected by the non-effective carbs.

There are also "hidden carbs" in some foods labeled as 0g. This is because they are allowed to round down if the count is under 1g. Some examples of this include cheese, processed meats, eggs, salad dressings. Good rule, if it's cheese always count a carb, if sugar is an ingredient, always count a carb.

Another concept to look for is fiber calculation. As I'm sure you know, you subtract the fiber from the carb count to get net carbs. Now, some foods actually PRE-SUBTRACT this fiber. If you subtract it again, you're getting an incorrect count.

The basic rule is this:
1g fat=9 calories
1g protein=4 calories
1g carbohydrate=4 calories

To find hidden carbs, do the math (or have the carb counter on this site do it for you. )

Hope that helps!