How To Count Carbs With Atkins

A study cited in the "Journal of the American Medical Association," July 2007, compared four popular diets, including the Atkins diet plan. The findings concluded the Atkins plan produced a higher weight loss over the study's 12 months. With the Atkins diet, carbohydrates are counted and not calories. Protein intake is increased and used to boost energy but is not part of your daily count. Sugar is used sparingly and counted. Fiber is gradually added to the diet and is counted as carbs, but only after you have subtracted the grams of fiber from the grams of carbohydrates.

Step 1

Locate the food on the carbohydrate calculator for which you want to calculate the carbs. Most meats have zero carbs, but check anyway until you become familiar with the foods.

Step 2

Select the amount of carbs for the item of food. If the amount shown is for more or less than what you have eaten, determine the equivalent number of carbohydrate grams for the amount of food. Example: one slice of Italian bread equals 15 g of carbs. You ate two pieces. Therefore 2 times 15 equals 30 g of carbs in total.

Step 3

Using the fiber count for the food selected, determine the grams of fiber. Example: One slice of Italian bread has 0.8 g of fiber. You ate two slices. Multiply two slices by 0.8 for a total of 1.6 g of fiber.

Step 4

Subtract the total grams of fiber from the total grams of carbohydrates. Example: Two slices of Italian bread have a total of 30 g of carbs and a total of 1.6 g of fiber -- 30 subtract 1.6 equals 28.4. Therefore, the two slices of Italian bread have a net carbohydrate count of 28.4 g of carbs. This is called the net carb count and is used to determine how many carbs have been consumed for the Atkins diet.

Tips and Warnings

Atkins offers a carbohydrate counter online that subtracts the fiber from the carbohydrates, giving you the net carb count automatically.
Fiber, glycerine and sugar alcohols do not break down in the gut and need not be counted as the total net carb allotment. If you do not have a carbohydrate and fiber counter that takes that into consideration, your net carbs may be slightly off.