I checked my menus for carbs minus fiber and found that reduced my carb intake quite a bit. Does anyone have any tales to tell about following Atkins's direction on deducting fiber from carbohydrates? I was naturally selecting high fiber foods with carbs in mind and was quite surprised at the difference in carb count. Does this lower number show on the ketosis sticks? Thank you.

As a youngster I asked my pilot dad, "how fast do you have to go to take off?" he said, "It depends"

I didn't like that answer. He went on to explain that there are a lot of variables involved. That's how I perceive your question as well. I wish there was a simple answer, and one has been tossed out a lot and that is 20 total carbs or less. This number pretty much assures that you'll be dipping into fat or protein to fuel your body and maybe show signs of ketosis

Is it the right number for you? We can't tell you that but you can sure start there and see how you feel after a month or so.

Also a note, as a net carb counter, is that I deduct fiber from natural foods like Bok Choy and tomatoes and stuff. An extreme example of what not to do would be to eat 100g of sugar and mix it with 100g of psyllium husks and call it "0 carb" I, like you, tend to eat the foods that have a low net carb count - they just also happen to be at the top of the lists of recommended vegetables for low carb eating.

I agree. I notice how I feel after eating foods. If my carb addict cravings come back ( constantly hungry, crabby or thinking about food way too much), I worry. Definitely sign too much carb for me.

Some folks do, some don't. I think many who don't, eat a higher number of carbs (but certainly not all do!).
So if a person eats 35 carbs a day, but doesn't subtract fiber, if the person did subtract it would be say 20net carbs a day.
I don't think it matters- you just have to find your critical level of carb consumption and stick to that using whatever method makes more sense to you.

I do subtract, as they don't increase my blood sugar (I'm a diabetic).

But either method works.

Thank God for forums that inform on the Internet of occasional nonsense. Thanks for the good answers.

That's exactly what I do! If a food makes me hungry instead of satiated, it is not working like food.