To watch or not to watch calories - that is the question???
dperri471
Posts: 29 Member
I'm sooo confused about calories. I have read different blogs and reports regarding Keto including Dietdoctor.com and Dr. Attia which have been great resources but I'm still confused when it comes to calories. On some sites it says I should keep calories in mind as well as my macros and others say to watch my macros and eventually my calories will be low anyway from being so full eating higher amounts of fat. So which is it? I know I'm supposed to feel really full on this type of diet but really I'm hungry a lot of the times after I eat because I'm worried about my calories. Not sure which way to go right now...... Any thoughts???
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When I started Keto, I didn't really watch calories nor exercised for first 3 weeks. I was watching carbs and started under 20g of carbs a day. My biggest thing was to get keto adapted and get through the tough first 2-3 weeks. I ate 3000-3500 calories in the first 3-4 weeks and lost ton of fat. Now I eat around 2000-2500 cals even with exercise. My main reason for doing Keto was to stop snacking and to trust my body to eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I am glad I did that because, I shouldn't be eating the cals recommended by MFP with out medical supervision, which was confirmed by metabolic testing.0
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I'm just going to hang out around 1800-2000 a day depending on my lifts/workout, but at this point I'm not going to worry too much about calories. If early on in my keto adaptation process I go a little overboard with butter or bacon or heavy cream or something, I'm not going to worry about it. I think it's important to eat more if you're really feeling hungry, and also to drink a ton of water.
I tried keto a while ago just for a week to see how I felt (I liked it... dunno why it's taken so long to get it through my head that this lifestyle may be what works best for me), and drinking broth really helped sometimes when I wasn't sure if I was hungry or not. If I drank a cup or two of that and still felt hungry 10 minutes later... then I would eat. Do what works for you, experiment a little!
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Since eating LCHF, I have watched my carbs first. When I felt a craving I would eat a tsp of coconut oil and WOW my craving would go away, and I would feel totally sated. I also discovered Heavy Cream to put in my black coffee. YUM. I have been averaging 33 carbs for the last 4 days...it isn't hard at all. My calories are over 1200 PLUS because of the High Fat and Protein...AND I am in Medium KETO since today. That is exciting to know I am burning fat instead of carbs...and I am not hungry
The goal is NOT be hungry...I am finding eating good FAT is doing just that for me. Good Luck, Deb :drinker: 0 -
I think the general idea is not to over eat too much. Don't eat if you aren't hungry in a nutshell. Conversely, don't starve yourself.
I've done 1000 calorie fat fasts, and eating over goal a few times and truth be told, it really doesn't make a difference. As long as the long term trend is down, not up you are doing it right.0 -
I know myself well enough to know that if I don't keep an eye on my calories I could easily go a few thousand calories over my maintenance calories every day, even on keto. I can't imagine I'm the only one who drinks 50ml of heavy whipping cream with Splenda and thinks "Gosh, I'd sure like to drink the rest of the carton that way!"
So for me it's important to keep an eye on things. I set my goal at 1000 below maintenance but if I want to go as much as 500 over my goal I'm allowed to (no feelings of guilt, this is part of my plan). That gives me some leeway but it also acts like that little blinking light that comes on when your car is low on gas. Yeah, you can make it a bit further, but keep it sane.
I usually don't go over, but today I'm already 125 over and I might use up a bit more of that cushion. I went to a beach concert and resisted all the awesome beach food but it took its toll on me psychologically. I might drink another cup or two of almond milk, I might just have a few hundred calories of real food, or after I drink some water I might decide I don't need the calories.
In short, I think it's really about what works best for you. Dietary guidelines are just that, guidelines. The way it becomes sustainable is by tailoring it to work for you instead of you working for it.0 -
When I first started, I didn't watch calories at ALL for about 2-3 weeks. I ate when I was hungry, as long as it kept me within my carb limit. I didn't start exercising either for about a month...you probably won't want to anyway until your body enters ketosis and stays there.
For now, don't worry about the calories. Eat fatty foods when you're hungry. You're right, eventually, you'll get to a place where it will be tough to get in 1500+ calories because you won't be hungry as much. I would use your TDEE and and a 20% reduction once you get into ketosis and feel better.0 -
Thanks everyone... I will try not watching my calories and just focus on keeping my macros in line and staying in ketosis. My keto sticks show that I have been in ketosis for 2 weeks straight now and from reading soo many articles I know my energy level will increase so I will feel like working out. Right now all I want to do is sleep. I will try eating till I'm full and not eat just because the clock on the wall says it's lunch or dinner time. I will start the new way of thinking this week and see how it goes. Thanks for helping me with this question!!!0
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Thanks for the question, Deb...so many of your responses from our group members have open diaries, as do I :happy: ...and now being sooo low in carbs...it is NICE to get ideas of what others are doing. You will get through this period where your body... just needs the REST! I am happy to say for ME - LCHF is working like clockwork...and I only Seriously started lowering my carbs in the last week....versus...month now when I first read Grain Brain. Have a great day, Deb and Everyone. 0
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I know myself well enough to know that if I don't keep an eye on my calories I could easily go a few thousand calories over my maintenance calories every day, even on keto. I can't imagine I'm the only one who drinks 50ml of heavy whipping cream with Splenda and thinks "Gosh, I'd sure like to drink the rest of the carton that way!"
You'd be surprised, actually. The night before a weigh-in, I decided to drink 240ml of heavy cream (sweetened with sugar-free syrup), so I could hit my minimum calories for the day but not have a bunch of food hanging out in the gut for the weigh-in. Don't ask. This is how my mind thinks. I am a person who can do a shot (15-45ml) or sweetened heavy cream and want more. Figured that I would have no problem drinking a cup full. About 3/4ths of the way through, I wanted to stop. My body was practically screaming, "STOP, I've had enough!" I did finish the whole cup (took almost 30 minutes). You could not have paid me to drink another that day. And that was just 800 calories. If I was trying to get fat on just that... I would need to be drinking more than 3 of those a day (2500 calories is maintenance for me).
Outside of the keto areas, on here, I pretend that my diet works only because I consume less calories than I burn. That is true, in a sense. I average about 1,800 calories a day and burn around 2,500. But, that is not really how it's working. I eat until two conditions are met.
1. I am over my minimum calories for the day (1,650 calories).
2. I am not hungry.
That is all. I don't have a set maximum for the day. I've had a day where I ate almost 3,700 calories. I was hungry that day. I stopped eating when I was no longer hungry. The days before/after that tended to be lower than normal (even lower than my goal) only because I wasn't hungry. The average of the week around that time... 1,775 calories. Even with that big day.
I find that I am hitting my deficit without even trying. I don't "need" to count calories. Do I? Yes, but only because I track my macros and that automatically tracks calories with it. I only pay attention to them as a minimum amount to reach. I don't want to eat too little, for an extended period of time, and risk losing more lean body mass than I otherwise should. I'm trying to maintain as much lean body mass as possible (so far, so good... down almost 17kg and only down 1kg [+/- error] of lean body mass).0 -
I'm sooo confused about calories. I have read different blogs and reports regarding Keto including Dietdoctor.com and Dr. Attia which have been great resources but I'm still confused when it comes to calories. On some sites it says I should keep calories in mind as well as my macros and others say to watch my macros and eventually my calories will be low anyway from being so full eating higher amounts of fat. So which is it? I know I'm supposed to feel really full on this type of diet but really I'm hungry a lot of the times after I eat because I'm worried about my calories. Not sure which way to go right now...... Any thoughts???
Personally, I entirely believe that calories are important. The difference for me on keto is the calories are effective and different.
The better answer to your question/s might get answered if we had more info. I can see that you want to lose a fair amount of weight. Why are you heavy to begin with? For me, I'm heavy because I'm an emotional and binge eater. Sometimes what I think is hunger is just me wanting to eat.
How long have you been doing keto?
You sound like me so much. But I have to say that when I look hard at myself I realize I'm always looking for a reason to behave badly. YMMV
How are you feeling today? If you are in the beginnings (Today marks two weeks and one day on keto) it takes time to get adjusted.
Hang in there girl!0
