Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

[carcol29]

Hi,
Please help me out with this one, I just dont get it.
I am starting week 4 of Induction...I've only lost a total of 4lbs, measurements stayed the same....I havent done atkins 100% so I cant be too mad at the results.

My question is the Atkins bar. I have a sweet tooth and that has been the challenging part. I bought the atkins chocolate coconut bar and have been eating 1 a day. I also have 1 Atkins shake.

Question is this:
what is the total carbs or net carbs for 1 bar?
The box says (on the fron) its "only 3 Net Carbs"
but when I put the calculation of the nutrition facts into Fitday.com, it comes out to be 19 Carbs....well, 19Carbs-8Dietary Fiber=11 carbs?

Am I calculating this right? I am getting so frustrated that I am about to try to quit the bars all together....

Please help me understand this.....THANK YOU!

[Moss]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

The bars have sugar alcohols in them, which you subtract as you would dietary fiber.

Do a search for sugar alcohol, many people here don't much care for them, mostly due to the laxative effect it has on some people.

[carcol29]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

THANK YOU MOSS!
ok, got it...I should also subtrat the sugar alcohol which is another 9...so that makes it 3...which is what the box says...now I got it...
I thought maybe I was calculating it wrong...I love those bars....

I know the book and the box says it's induction safe but should I keep eating it? I am going to try to cut all sugar (in my decaff coffee and tea)....just so I can limit myself...but darn, I cant shake the sweet cravings.....

[liv]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

The shakes and bars can keep a person from losing weight. Some people may do OK but many seem to have problems with them so I would suggest cutting them out to see how that works. Atkins really wanted us to eat whole foods and our carbs should come from veggies not from whatever that stuff is they fill those bars with.

The carb count on the front is sort of right. They add a sweetener called glycerine to the bars and it has carbs but the Atkins company argues that glycerine carbs do not get absorbed so they do not have to count them. But the labelling law does not allow them to subtract them from the nutrition list on the back.

Glycerine is not really a sugar alcohol and will not have a laxative effect and may be OK to eat as a sweetener.

But for most of us eating all this sweetened stuff is not good. We just cannot lose weight. I had to cut out shakes on induction and then things went better. I have now introduced shakes and bars as an occasional emergency or convenience food (maybe a couple a month) but I can not eat them AND lose weight.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

>>should I keep eating it?>>

Not if you want to get rid of your sweet tooth.

[Elizellen]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

Apart from the glycerin/net carb question you need to look at the ingredients in the bars. Nowadays they are made from different ingredients than they were when Dr Atkins recommended them.

For induction you should be eating foods with ingredients from the allowed foods list. What ingredients are in your bars? If they are not all on the list then they are not induction-suitable.
So if they have coconut in them as the name implies they would not be suitable till you are at the level/rung of OWL that allows coconut.
If they contain soya (which I think most of the bars do) they would not be suitable till the level that allows soya (legumes).
If they contain wheat product (which some of them do) they would not be suitable till you reach the last level/rung of OWL (whole grains).

[Georgiana]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

Nowadays they are made from different ingredients than they were when Dr Atkins recommended them.

Atkins bars had non-Induction ingredients in 2002, too.

[Georgiana]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

As it was pointed out, eating sweets, even low carb sweets, will not help you break your addiction.

I am going to try to cut all sugar (in my decaff coffee and tea)....just so I can limit myself...but darn, I cant shake the sweet cravings.....

Did you try a dill pickle? For some people, it helps with cravings.

For more sweet vegetables, you could have red peppers, Brussels sprouts, jicama, tomatoes...

Craving sweets can also indicate that you are deficient in certain nutrients, so make good choices for your foods and also take a multivitamin without iron.

[Georgiana]

Re: Help!! Atkins Bar confusion!

the box says it's induction safe

Actually, if you read Atkins Essentials, it does say there that some people may be stalled by them.

And DANDR does not say the bars are "okay" to feed your sweet tooth.

They are meant for emergencies, when better options are not available.