I'm entering my second week of OWL and was wondering do people count every carb in their meal? I see messages where people say "I'm doing 25 or 30." How do they really know it's that much unless you list everything you put in your mouth and look it up in a carb counter?

That's one way to do it, and some people use online sources such as fitday.com to track.

I have a "ballpark idea" of what I'm eating, after being on this WOL since last May (and that is the second time, the first time was several years ago!) I usually have a really good idea, and very close estimate, since I eat similar foods most of the time.

It IS a good idea to track until you're reasonably sure that you can keep it in check without listing everything.

I still do a daily journal of what I've eaten, but I rarely look up the counts any more unless it's something out of the ordinary.

HTH!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

After a few months of logging every thing you eat, the counting and remembering how many carbs is in each food becomes second nature. But that can't happen if you don't do the actual counting from the first.



Always eat your veggies first!
LCE member since March 2002

I probably log about every other day, just to make sure I am on track, or if I am unfamiliar with a food. I use Fitday PC for tracking.

Robin

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Thomas A. Edison

Started Protein Power 10/22/03
Doing a hybrid of PP/Atkins
255/238/140

I'm a firm believer in tracking. I use Fitday.com. I truly believe that it was a big factor in helping me to get to goal and to keep a good handle on how much I can eat both calorie and carb wise. --- And yes, I do still track most of the time.

Judy

180/137.5/135-138
"Even if at first you do succeed, you still have to work hard to stay there." -- Richard C. Miller

I do keep track of everything I eat. I also use FitDay. I would probably stay in the right amount of carbs even w/o counting, but I'm one of those who has to keep track of calories. I also like to be able to see what changes over time.

I also keep track on Fitday, daily. It doesn't take long to learn and I am on the computer and this website every day anyway. It is second nature to me now. All that tracking (and measuring, I might add) has paid off when traveling or schedules keep me away from my computer. I now know pretty well how much I can eat in a day and stay legal. I know what a cup of broccoli looks like or 3 oz of meat or cheese. Occasionally I will double check my measurements just to make sure my eyes aren't cheating on me.

Rave
232/167.5/130
57yo. 5'2"
Started Atkins 6/1/02

I did track every carb for about 2 months, then got lazy. I'm now really close to goal, losing less than a pound a week, and I realize that to stop losing and find my CCLM I'll have to start tracking again. I don't think I'll have any problem maintaining since I've lost these last 15 or so without tracking - I've learned how to eat - but I'll be happier if I know the number. Tracking your carbs, at least in the beginning, is critical to learning to eat without tracking.

Stacie
222/156/150

I am a split personality on counting carbs. Last year for the first 2 months I counted the first 3 days of induction and then just kept eating the protein and veggies in moderate amounts and never counted. Since I was losing so fast I didn't pay any attention.

But when the weight loss started slowing way down I started tracking my carbs. I have a spreadsheet I use. That way I can track the way I want and no one but me has my information. I also track a lot more information. Potassim is one since I exercise I want to make sure I get enough. I can now go back and look at months worth of data. It also now has the exercise page and fats to carb ratio's.

I eat on weekends differently but just protein and veggies. No coffee and heavy cream but sometimes more cheese.

I track monday through friday because the ounces scale and spreadsheet are at the office.

travellost-51 yrs Young
1/20/03 195/145 first time
1/5/04 second time
150/144/135
"I am allergic to carbs they make me break out in fat"

I counted diligently in the beginning. After 11 months on this WOL, I am not as obsessive about it. In the beginning it's a MUST to count EVERYTHING. After you become an old hand at it, you could slack on it a bit. But if you are the type that needs to count and have the feedback, by all means, keep doing it.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

I do count carbs. I have one of those little Atkins 120 day planner type books and my little carb counter book. I have been doing this religiously for almost 5 months now. For me it is essential. The only times I guess or approximate is if I eat out of course.

Good Luck

Early on, it's critical. You can't manage what you don't measure. I used to keep everything written down, but like many others, experience tells me in many ways how I'm doing.

I now only use the counter book when I'm trying new foods, or if I think I've slowed for some unknown reason. It's be silly to say "those low-carb muffin's stalled me!" when in fact I was using more salad dressing or eating more peanuts than normal at the same time.

Given all that, I highly recommend to new low-carbers that they keep track, and do it HONESTLY! Some people feel like they're "cheating" if they hit 22 or 23 on induction and will begin skimping on the logging.

I've always wanted, and hope to go further into developing, a meaningful measure of exercise, carb intake, weightloss and measurement loss in an Excel spreadsheet so new low-carbers have a tool to show visually how all those things relate.

Mikeyrat

Started Atkins 5/30/2003
337/258.5/237 - 6'2" 43 YO
Wife: 224/194/165 - 5'11"