Calories calories calories...

Syleyna

I have to track calories to keep myself accountable. I am a recovering snacker, and if I don't keep an eye on them I would just eat cheese all day long. Seriously.
I've been sticking to "eat when you're hungry until you're satisfied" rule with my newfound LCHF. However I find that MOST days I barely reach 1200 calories. Maybe twice a week I'll hit my 1400 limit. And I had one day where I was super duper hungry and ate 2500, keeping my carbs below 40g. I'm losing weight, all is going well. However I've started running and recently got myself a fitbit flex as part of my reward system for sticking to my goals. It thinks I'm burning 2500-3000 calories a day (depending on whether or not I run that day). I'm not finding myself more hungry on the days I run though. If anything, I am less so.
I guess my question is, should I listen to my body (which to me seems the logical thing to do?) and continue to just eat when I am hungry. Or am I doing harm with such a deficit? Should I make an effort to eat more?

ceciliaslater

I think you're better off just listening to your body. It sounds like you're eating a pretty healthy amount of food right now--not starving yourself or anything. As long as you feel satisfied and are staying healthy, why force more calories down your throat?

Syleyna

Awesome, that's what I thought too. Thanks for for the advice

KittensMaster

I count calories

Some on low carb say we don't need to.

I am in that last 10 pounds and it has gotten to where my body is fighting me!!

So I count calories and keep the exercise level up there.

I do believe we have to burn off what we eat. It does not just magically go away because it is lower carb food. There may be some inefficiency converting excess protein to glucose if we are at net zero carbs, but it is not 100%

There are plenty of people low carb does not work for. Some even gained weight.

For me it works great but I do count calories and when I do eat a bit over my calorie goal it is in protein and by only a few hundred calories

Mixed nuts are bad for me to eat over on!

I love love cheese. I don't ever do cheese calories. Another one that can hang on for a day or two.

I guess it gets down to how your body reacts to a surplus of the food types.

And of course how much the surplus is!!

I know I can't eat an excess of 1500 calories of anything and not add some fat and undermine my hard work.

deksgrl

As long as you are not losing too fast and you are feeling good. I would be concerned if you were losing too much weight too fast. (and "too much" depends on how much weight you have to lose.)

CoconuttyMummy

ceciliaslater wrote: »

I think you're better off just listening to your body. It sounds like you're eating a pretty healthy amount of food right now--not starving yourself or anything. As long as you feel satisfied and are staying healthy, why force more calories down your throat?

*nods*

I totally agree with @ceciliaslater - You're doing great. I would continue what you're doing. If you start to feel grotty, re-assess and up your calories, but until then i think you should be chuffed that you're achieving great results and on your way to your dream body! You and your body know best.

KenSmith108

KenSmith108

I'm eating what I like, when I like & losing weight. I have my calories set to 1800 and lately have been hitting around 1500. I eat less than 25g carbs a day. It's taken about 2 months to get this down pat. I still have over 100 lbs to go so I'll be at this awhile. I figure it better be a good fit or it will likely fail.

Do it your own way.

JessicaLCHF

I lose less, slower, when my cals are too low. Not sure if it's my Hashimoto's and crawling metabolism, but I lose better when I ignore them. Visually and mentally. Today for instance I was around 1000, but many days I'm around 1600 - I just let it go. Learn to eat till satisfied not stuffed and focus on my carbs.

Maybe the stress of counting them is what slows me, but either way when I make sure I'm eating lots of fats I do better. Today I just wasn't real hungry.

RockstarWilson

Your body is smarter than you are. My body is smarter than I am. Any diet is just our minds' best guess. Make sure it gets the essentials, and don't eat if not hungry or fatigued (or don't anticipate being hungry). That is all you need to know. Your body will let you know if something is wrong.

Sometimes, I must force myself to eat just because my schedule will have me super busy when I will get hungry.

JessicaLCHF

RockstarWilson wrote: »

...

Sometimes, I must force myself to eat just because my schedule will have me super busy when I will get hungry.

Same here. I learned over about eight months of logging that I go crazy/carb craving and eat all evening on days I skip Bfast.

Some ppl aren't like that but I think I might have NES (night eating syndrome, Marks Daily Apple has a good article on it). I start my metabolism and day by eating at 9am and I try to "close my kitchen" by 7pm even if I go to bed a little hungry, and it always works better for my macros.

I went so far as to set alarm clocks for those times for about a month to set the habit. Cause I would not eat until around 2pm otherwise.

So, Yep. "Results will vary." One of my favorite LCHF catchphrases.