let me start by saying hi...my name is mandy. I'm new here and this site is a bit confusing...is there no live chat?
anyway I'm on my second week of induction ,might as well be on my first.I did the diet about a year ago and found I was preagnant and went to low fat..so I'm back! I ate bars and chocolates that were low carb last time on the diet and maintained my weight very well. Now I'm hearing about all these hidden carbs and that bars , low carb breads and shakes are bad and have tons of carbs...
I,after induction would like to have my ketogenics bread machine mix (and atkins bars wich say are legal in induction in the book,I would like to be eating now) but I'm scared to touch them at any time
Why would Atkins bars have hidden carbs if he wants us to succeed? I count on those bars for an on the run breakfast once in a while also those keto shakes....I know the bread I have to wait on but what do you guys think ??? If they all have hidden carbs, then they wouldn't be good for any phase of the program....to eat or not to eat bars and keto shakes....and what about carb solution bars too. does anyone eat these things counting the carbs on the label without problems? this was really a long question sorry.

You'll get a lot of different opinions on this one. One group of people eat what they call "real food" - that's fresh protein and vegetables - and no low-carb products that imitate high carb food. The other group eats bars and low-carb products. So it depends on who you talk to. I belong to the first group, so I say no way Jose to any of those products!

A few things that you should read are Low Carb Tips at the top of the page and in the Newbies Question forum there is a thread at the top of the page called Hot Links!

There is a live chat feature here, but chats are rarely co-ordinated. I think we all prefer to type!

Karen

thanx karen...although I would like to hear the opinion of the bar eaters also...I really think those things are a once in a while thing anyway, It would just be nice to know if the once in a while that I eat them on the run is'nt the same as blowing my diet once in a while. anyway ever noticed how many products contain the sugar DEXTROSE...I'ts even in iodized salt! you may be surprised how many of us are consuming this sugar it's everywhere. maybe I'm obsessing.

Hi everyone,

I have been on the diet for about 6 weeks now and I eat those low carb bars daily. I have lost 17 lbs so far and attribute my success to the Carb Solutions bars in blueberry and mint chocolate. I started reading about all the "hidden" carbs and am wondering if I am eating more carbs than I originally thought. I try to stay at 20 carbs or less daily and was counting those bars at 3 carbs each. I should also mention that I have become a workout fiend and am at the gym 6 days a week doing cardio and strength training, which may have something to do with my weight loss since I was completely sedentary during my pregnancy. I don't know if it is the shock of moving, less carbs or all that water that has my body losing weight. I am thinking maybe I should give them up and actually prepare food instead of eating the bars. To be honest, I am getting kind of tired of the taste anyway. Its just so easy to eat those for breakfast and lunch and not have to think about food. Now I am wondering if I would have lost more weight if I was eating low carb food. What do you guys think?

I called the atkins center hotline and asked about hidden carbs because I have had people tell me that atkins bars have hidden carbs.
They said it's truley a misunderstanding and that most people blame the bars and such for lack of weight loss when in fact their not doing the diet correctly.and If they are...there is a small percentage of extra sensitive people to the ingred contained in the bars and shakes such as maltitol...and so any thing that contain the ingred will stall their losses. but it still doesn't mean that the carbs they ingested were any higher it was the effect of the chemicals working with their body.....so hidden carbs are not really a fear. and we should count the carbs stated on labels of at least atkins bars and probably most bars as the count that is stated. one exception, products like russel stovers candy(yum) have total grams of carb including the ones from the maltitol,but they state the grams of maltitol that are in the servings so....just subtract the grams of maltitol from the grams of carbs and you got the total amount of carbs that we need to count...don't forget to subtract your fiber! basically do what works best for you, if these products stall your losses don't use them, but many people are succesfull using these things within the diet...
And that's what they told me so I say...it's their diet, I think they would be the experts!and I don't think their out to sabotoge anyone...because they would loose alot of money------------ I'm so relieved
although this has taken away my fears of these products...they also did say that bars and shakes should never be a meal replacement, eat them as snacks after you've had your meals(kind of a bummer)...and we need remember that we should be getting most of our carbs from veggies and later from veggies and fruit to make this a healthy way of living.

Well, I have to say...

They are the ones who make them, but they have an interest in selling them too. If you were to ask wheat farmers if refined flour was good for everyone they would say yes. If you asked the makers of aspertame if the product was okay for consumer use, they would say sure.

This is why there needs to be independent testing, and until there is, you must go by the word of mouth, and experience of others. Sure, maybe some people still eat their bars and shakes, perhaps they are not resistant to weight loss. Maybe they would have lost a lot more faster if they hadn't had any fake food.

There are many people of experience here that know from experience that those bars do not work for low carbing. A few people have had just a bite of a bar when they are craving. But how many of us can do that? Not many I bet.

In my experience, eating two low carb bars in a weekend blew my weight loss for at least a week. I tried again the following weekend with just one, and again no loss. At this point, I was well into the plan and had been losing 2 pounds a week steadily. I gave the bars up. I didn't think they tasted that good and they were expensive.

I don't believe that "not absorbed into the bloodstream" or "not usable carbs" stuff. It acts just like a real sugar for most of us.

Also, in my old version of DANDR, in his final words, Atkins says,

" 1. Be food aware--remember that fresh meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and occasional fruits and starches are the foods nature designed you to eat. That packaged stuff in the supermarket puts money in somebody's pocket. But try not to put it in your stomach. This is the only body you've got. Notice how good it feels now. Notice how much better it looks. Keep it that way.

2. Be wary--endlessly wary--of sugar and corn syrup, and white flour and corn starch. Look at the labels of whatever packaged foods you find yourself obliged to buy and avoid like the plague the packages that contain sugar, corn syrup, honey, maltose, dextrose, fructose, sorbitol, and all the other variations and inventions of the modern sugar-refining industry.

...........

6. Remember that addictions can only be managed through abstinence."

These are words to live by.

Elihnig