see when you are checking something using the hidden carb calculator it asks for stated label information what info is this coz i'm checking mayo and bacon but the mayo has per 100ml and per 15ml or do you just multyply the actual total which for the mayo would be 340ml ie per 100ml of mayo = 74g of fat so i just work out the 340ml by the 100 ml facts?

Essentially you just put in whatever is on the label and the number of hidden carbs given will be per whatever amount is on the label...

So if you put in the details per tablespoon, you'll get them back per tablespoon... if you put in per 100ml, you'll get them back per 100ml... and so on.

Just remember... don't let the bad calculator upset you!

Hi Carbcutter,

l tend to use the standard formula as used on Fitday of Total Cals = (9xFat g ) + ( 4x Carbs g ) + ( 4x Prot g ).
lf the total on the label is more than a couple out to allow for rounding then it has hidden Carbs.
lf you then divide the excess cals by 4 this will give you the total of hidden carb grams.

However l checked out my Fresh Mayo and Corned Beef and they both matched the label within 2 cals.

The interesting one was my Diet Coke. it read per 100mls - 0.4 cals , 0 Fat, 0 Carbs, 0 prot.
At first sight 0 carbs - great however doing the sums for 1 litre gave 4 cals, and 4 cals = 1g carb .


lf you're not carb sensitive like UrbanGypsy, my personal advice would be to use fitday to track what you have been eating and checkout new foods, or use the formula above and dont let hidden carbs rule.


l am similar to you in height ( 6ft) and have had the same comments as you, " you can't be that weight ", before l started on this lifestyle. Since April l have lost just under 3 stone from my start weight of 20 stone 7lbs, having between 20 & 30g per day. To allow for any hidden carbs like that 1g in Diet Coke, l aim for around 25g.

l find l'm more likely go over my target by not being honest with myself, eg. not recording that line of Ketchup l'd been putting on my morning omelete ( 3g / day ) or measuring out the mayo for my salad and then liking the spoon and the 2 cherry Tomatos l eat after coming back from my nightly walk ( to the pub )


Hope i've not confused you,


Steve

I totally second that! Like I said before... life's too short! Unless you're finding eating is knocking you for six (which it does me if there's extra carbs I wasn't warned of) or you're really struggling with the weight loss, honestly don't sweat the small stuff!

I couldn't use Fitday for love nor money mind you... I just ended up stressed every time I tried inputting stuff (and I am good with computers!), so that one seems to work for some and not for others.

Its partly why I write my favourite recipes in my journal now... as much so I have record to refer back to on the carb content as to help other folk out in adding diversity to their meals!

Really... this is such a fun diet, don't spoil the enjoyment of eating by turning it as stressful as Weightwatchers for yourself!

Steve Confused is my middle name btw
I hate trying to work these things out without examples

Ok bear with me here this Fitday is American and when i checked mayo it came up as per cup = 8 fl oz US measures so i checked old blighty's measurements and it has 2 cups a breakfast cup = 10 fl oz and a tea cup = 1/3 of a pint typical brits mixing measurements gives 1 cup in fl oz and the other cup in fractions of a pint.

So did you have to work out all the conversions from US to UK or near as dammit and when you say the formula fitday uses, when i type mayo in and it comes out as 1 cup = 1577 calories that is actually what (9xFat g ) + ( 4x Carbs g ) + ( 4x Prot g ) = 1577 calories according to fitday?.

This is a pain in the erse working all this out no wonder you lose weight on this diet u aint got the time to eat coz yer working out all the conversions and stuff

So steve if this isn't a hassle could you please post an example for mayo as you would do it converting what ever you have to convert to get your result. Coz somehow i have a sneaking suspicion that i will be working it out and coming up with it totally wrong.

This diet larks not what its cut out to be
And Urban your totally right when you say don't sweat the small stuff but my wee mind works on the sponge theory which means when i look at something like this i NEED to soak up all the relative info till i've fried my brain into submission i don't know why i'm like this i've always been the same even tho as u say if it doesn't matter don't sweat it i just need to know how it works.

Hi Carbcutter

Got to nip out now, will post an example when l get back,

Steve

Thx a lot m8 appreciate it and you do it whenever you have the time no rush.thx again

Ah Carbcutter, I may be clueless where Fitday is concerned (and you're finding out the hard way why I just gave up!), but at least you've reassured me I'm not alone in the obsessive need to really know what I'm talking about with stuff like this!!!

My poor sister sat there open mouthed the other day (if you haven't read my journal, she's also on the diet) whilst I came up with endless reams of information and answers to stuff she wasn't sure of. All she kept saying was "How do you know all this stuff?! I thought I'd read the book carefully..."!

I'd wonder if it was more of a Scots thing, if I wasn't already like this before I lived there! Though I have really noticed being back down here how much stuff English folk will just allow to slide by at my fiance's job, whilst the Scots will pounce on and not let go till they're 100% sure someone's not trying to pull a fast one. I'm certainly more outspoken than I was before I lived in Scotland (just so the rest of you know who to blame when I won't shut up! )

Whatever the case... best of luck with figuring out Fitday!

Hi Carbcutter,

Sorry for the delay in this post.

Lets see if l can put how l use Fitday into words.


First l only use fitday to record - (1) my weight loss and how l'm doing against my goal date. (2) Daily food record.

Ok lets have a go at entering a custom food - Fresh Mayo.

1. - In the " add custom " field, select New Custom Food, then Click on the GO icon.
2. - Give the food a name, eg Fresh Mayo - Morrisons 250g
3. - ln the Serving Size field enter 100
4. - From the dropdown menu, select Grams
5. - Now we just fill in the Nutrition facts taken off the label ( LEAVE FIBER BLANK ), also leave lower section blank as the label dosen't give details.
6. - To check for any hidden carbs change the cals value to a very low one.
7. - Now press the " Save Custom Food " button. The system will put a message up to say the sums don't work and gives its calculated value. You can then check this against the label.
8. - Now put the correct cals value back and save the food.

So for my Mayo the figures for a 100g serving workout as :-

Cals - 730
Total Fat - 80.1g
Saturated Fat - 5.5g
Polyunsaturated Fat - 0g
Monounsaturated Fat - 0g
Cholesterol - 0
Sodium - 300mg
Potassium - 0

Total Carbohydrate - 1.6g
Dietary Fiber - LEAVE BLANK
Protein - 1.6g
Alcohol - 0

As a check when cals = 50 was entered Fitday reported that there should be atleast 731 cals ( only 1 out so no hidden carbs ).


l tend not to use Fitdays own produce as like most uk folk, cups are confusing and l dont know all the different cuts of meat and cooking methods. l just use a good Carb, Fat, Cals book and enter everything in the custom section.

As has been said in another thread doing it this way means l can call up the " All Custom Foods " which produces a full list and l can select all the days foods with one click. on returning just amend the portion size numbers and check that all the units are correct. Fitday has a bad habit of defaulting to 1 oz.


Hope this makes some sense.


Steve

Thanks Steve for this example.

I would not worry to much about hidden carbs in general as UK food labelling is pretty good. You should not get to many nasty surprises.

I use Fitday all the time and with every new food I use I input the labels information so that it is fully customised. If you use things like chicken then you can also save it as a customised item from the general list and this makes it a lot easier to find. So then you only need to go to the master data base rarely.