im on my 1st wk of the atkins. doing good but this morning was a rushed one and didnt have time to cook like i usually do. so i took some cheese cubes, 2 pcs of already cooked bacon and i stopped at the grocery store and got 1 choc/coconut advantage bar. i went to fitday to put it in as a custom food as 2 carbs because on the front of the wrapper it says 2 Net carbs, but the carbs on the nutritional info says 21 carbs. Whats up w/that? im not too worried because it is an atkins product. but it is still confusing. does anybody know about this?

Read the lable on the package, it explains it all to you. To put it simply, you deduct fiber from the carb count. Since these do not effect the blood suger levels and travel through you. You also subtract any sugar alcohols. Don't worry, you will get use to this. Its one way of getting more carbs in!

I've learned to stay away from bars. They stall me. I hope to have them again when I'm on maintenance.

the sugar alcohols seem to have a lot more effect than they are given credit for. They stall most people.

MJ,
I would stay away from the bars. I would say they stall or cause gains with about 80% of the people here from the posts I've read. Plus you should be eating veggies to get your carbs in, not frankenfoods. Maybe once you are getting towards the pre-maintenance stage you can start adding them in, but I highly recommend that for now you stick to the recommended food lists.

mary,

I'm still a little confused. I know i am supposed to subtract the fiber carbs from the total carbs and that should give me the total net carbs.....I think, right? It looks like its 21 carbs and 9 fiber carbs, but it says 2 net carbs. maybe im missing something. pls help me figure this out!
look at this address below and hit the nutritional facts for Choc/coconut and youll see what im saying.

http://atkins.com/shop/products/Adv...Box_Coated.html

Its true. It seems that low-carb products, even thou they are good, and wont take you out of ketosis, do make you stall. I only have them on the weekends. This is when ill have the atkins ice cream(very good). And the bars.

You have to look at the sugar content which is 0g which means they have sugar alcohols rather than sugar - which the Atkins books say do not have an effect on blood sugar. However, many people think they do... and they are not really meant to be eaten in induction (even though the website says they are suitable) as you are trying to cleanse your system and get it used to Low Carb naturally.

mjsx3,
you might want to listen to what all the others have answered you.

LC "frankenfood" bars and shakes are infamous for causing problems. Too many people report stalls or slow-downs in their weightloss not to take that into consideration.

When Atkins turned into ADkin$ and started to produce and sell all these LC junkfoods, they lost a lot of respect in my eyes. I go by what the late Dr. Atkins originally said, not paying much attention to the ADkin$ sales depts reassurances on sugar alcohols...
<jumping off soapbox>

There is an excellent article on sugar alcohols here:
http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips010.html

My advice would be to try to stick to natural, unprocessed food, especially for Induction and you'll avoid disappointment later on. If you really want to have those LC bars, save them for occasional snacks for late OWL/pre-maintenance instead.

Best of luck with your new WOE.

/gil

Another thing that is subtracted from these bars are the glycerine totals.

Gilibel,

I love your reference of ADkin$....that's awesome!

I looked at the bars at a grocery store just because I was curious. Looked to "chemically" to me. Trying to stay away from "frankenfoods" all together.

DANDR says : Induction rule #11: Alcohol is not permitted in any form. I took that to heart and the words "sugar alcohol" really sounded bad. I'm sure that's not what Dr. Atkins meant by "no alcohol"...but it was convincing enough for me!!

mjsx3, I'm not trying to pick on your for picking an Atkins bar for part of your breakfast....I think you acted responsibly, since I'm sure the bagels and whatnot were probably screaming your name too!!

Thanks for all your support. I am tring to stay away from those bars, esp during the induction period. Ive been browsing the forum and noticed everybody does pretty much say the same thing on the bars.

They can definately cause some people to stall, but when faced with little or no options for other LC food, they can help you out. I didn't hit a stall with them until I was eating a bar daily. I teach and coach and my days are sometimes so long and if I have forgotten to pack a snack I'll eat a bar. I limit it now to one or two a week and I am still losing. It really depends on your body and metabolism.

Down 50lbs and still going..whahoooo!!!

>When Atkins turned into ADkin$ and started to produce and sell all these LC junkfoods...

gilibel,

I find this fairly disrespectful and inaccurate. Atkins was reluctant to commercialize his program, in terms of expanding the business of selling controlled carb foods, and had to be convinced of the merits of doing so by his associates. He only did so with the conviction that doing so would benefit those who followed his program. I've had these Atkins products and they've suited me fine. If the foods don't agree with them, you don't have to eat them. To characterize Atkins in this way runs afoul of the facts and improperly impugns his motives.

I think Gilibel was talking about the company since the death of Atkins - not the Dr himself. I bought their latest book (the Atkins Essentials: A guide to induction and beyond) that states you should eat 2-3 of their LC products a day in their induction menu planner. I'm sorry but that is ADkin$ and would never have happened pre the death of Dr Atkins who believed in making induction as whole and natural as possible!