Can someone have a look at my diary...

kelvinmead

...and see if I'm doing something drastically wrong.

myfitnesspal tells me off most days for not eating enough calories.

the aim is <20g carbs a day.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/kelvinmead

GiveMeCoffee

Having days where you only have 250 calories logged .. you either aren't logging everything or yea you need to eat more than that. Another day you had 1251 calories logged and 400 or so came from vodka... protein was too low, there was no fiber, and fat was too low. Those are just 2 days I looked at. And why low carb???

Please read these links

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=logging+step+guide

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

ETA: I eat 1600-1900 calories daily and lose weight just to give you an example. A 37 year old male should be eating more than 1200-1500 calories

_SantaClause

Eat more.

PlasticSunflower

"z

star_craving

Looks like you're doing the keto diet, yeah? Or something very similar.

On the days when you had <1000 calories, it looks like you recorded only two meals. A couple of times even less. Are you sure you recorded everything?

Sometimes I average 700-900 calories and MFP yells at me whenever I'm under 1000. My philosophy is that if I've eaten satisfactorily that day, and I'm not hungry, then I don't care what a mindless website has to say.

If you are regularly eating around 500 calories though, I might reexamine your habits. Not eating enough calories will make you tired, you will lack energy, and very probably be pretty cranky.

(For the obligatory "But you're going to go into starvation mode!" responses, roll your eyes and then read this: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/ )

GiveMeCoffee

Don't skip meals, it makes it really hard to loose weight. Its also really bad for nutrition etc.

" When you eat, your metabolism, works to break the food down into smaller, usable parts. When you skip a meal, your metabolism has nothing to do. When your metabolism does not have to work to break down food, it begins to slow down. Then, the next time you do actually eat something, your metabolism is not able to break the food down as quickly, and as a result the food is stored as fat. "

No. Skipping meals does not make your food store as fat. I eat 1-2 meals a day and my metabolism is just fine

swat1948

If you're trying for low carb then fish fingers with breading are not the thing to eat? But why would you not want to eat a sustainable diet that you can live with? I eat pretty much the same everyday and once in a while I have a day when I eat unrestrained and do not log. It's working for me and I have reached my goal weight.

GiveMeCoffee

Looks like you're doing the keto diet, yeah? Or something very similar.

On the days when you had <1000 calories, it looks like you recorded only two meals. A couple of times even less. Are you sure you recorded everything?

Sometimes I average 700-900 calories and MFP yells at me whenever I'm under 1000. My philosophy is that if I've eaten satisfactorily that day, and I'm not hungry, then I don't care what a mindless website has to say.

If you are regularly eating around 500 calories though, I might reexamine your habits. Not eating enough calories will make you tired, you will lack energy, and very probably be pretty cranky.

You aren't getting adequate nutrition on 700-900 calories. Hunger is not a good gauge. You need to fuel your body, you need to do this in a way that is sustainable. My goal was too find out how many calories I could consume and still lose weight... not how few.

star_craving

You aren't getting adequate nutrition on 700-900 calories. Hunger is not a good gauge. You need to fuel your body, you need to do this in a way that is sustainable. My goal was too find out how many calories I could consume and still lose weight... not how few.

Trust me, I'm getting plenty of nutrition. I know what I'm doing. And I didn't come here looking for advice.

Phrick

Don't skip meals, it makes it really hard to loose weight. Its also really bad for nutrition etc.

" When you eat, your metabolism, works to break the food down into smaller, usable parts. When you skip a meal, your metabolism has nothing to do. When your metabolism does not have to work to break down food, it begins to slow down. Then, the next time you do actually eat something, your metabolism is not able to break the food down as quickly, and as a result the food is stored as fat. "

Complete rubbish. Your metabolism doesn't slow if you don't eat.

GiveMeCoffee

You aren't getting adequate nutrition on 700-900 calories. Hunger is not a good gauge. You need to fuel your body, you need to do this in a way that is sustainable. My goal was too find out how many calories I could consume and still lose weight... not how few.

Trust me, I'm getting plenty of nutrition. I know what I'm doing. And I didn't come here looking for advice.

I wasn't giving the advice to you, I was commenting so that some one that might read this wouldn't think this is the way to go. 700-900 calories is not enough for an adult. It is a good way to lose your hair, brittle nails...

Patttience

Hi Kevin, if you are going to do low carb, try to work with an model from one of the books like Atkins or paleo. Don't just make it up. And do follow their recommendations.

That said, i don't think 20 carbs is necessary. The difference between 20 and 50 carbs is time. I found that two weeks of even going 40 carbs made me just want to quit at the end of that time. I had started off at 100 carbs which was nice and then decided i wanted to try keto.

I didn't actually feel any different but then by the time i tried this diet i was not overweight. It is a very different relationship with food and i think if you do it right, it can be fine. I didn't like the idea of having to take supplements either so i tried to make sure i was getting enough calcium.

You don't really need to watch your potassium. All you need to do is drink a miso soup daily or similar. And of course the issues with headaches tend to pass once you get settled in.

Fibre is really important. It will help prevent constipation but its also healthy for all over health. See the program catalyst - gut reaction to understand the issues there. its a good program on you tube but it was original shown on australian public tv.

I am not anti low carb in fact i think it might be an ideal diet for diabetics but anyone else, well its only ideal if you like that sort of food a lot. I think you are much better off eating as many carbs as you can get away with in order to get more variety in your foods because then its easier to maintain.

And low carb or not, bacon is a not healthy food and neither are sausages. Try to eat whole foods, not processed foods, and eat more fish.

And definitely try to get above 20 and eat more vegetables. Vegetables are essential for health.

kelvinmead

this is everything logged, and yeah, the fish fingers was a bad choice knowingly as i didn't pick anything up for tea and resorted to the freezer...

i used to eat shed loads, 3 full meals a day, plus loads of snacks... demolishing a full pack of biscuits 3/4 times a week, and progressing to what the NHS say is obese.

my aim is to become not obese, which is around 60-80kg...

i looked at atkins low carb as it seemed like the most interesting to follow, i run 3 times a week, and walk the dog for an hour plus every day.

once i started atkins my hunger levels seemed to just drop off.

i was surprised when the fitness app kept saying starvation mode. do i just need to add some obligatory cheese as snacks to keep the calories higher?

i have only had one day in the past 6 weeks when i felt lethargic, and most of the time I'm happy to go running and the missus hasn't complained about my attitude (i know its hard to judge for yourself so i let her know at the beginning!)

kgeyser

With such inconsistent logging, it's hard to give you accurate advice. Based on what I see, you need to eat more food, period. You need more veggies and fruits for fiber (as I understand fiber is pretty important when doing low carb because it determines net carbs). It also looks like your macros are off - I would personally add more protein regardless since you don't seem to be eating much - but from what the LCHF users on the site recommend, it should be low carb, high fat, moderate protein - your protein goal is higher than you fat goal.

Do a search in the groups for low carb, there are several groups on the site with users who have been eating low carb as a lifestyle who can give you recommendations about how to set your macros, foods to eat, possible pitfalls, etc.

kelvinmead

And low carb or not, bacon is a not healthy food and neither are sausages. Try to eat whole foods, not processed foods, and eat more fish.

ahh, dont knock bacon! i choose the coop finest sausages, which seem to have the least amount of rubbish in them, in comparison, they were 95% meat, where as the cheap ones were like 80% meat.

point taken though!

Austin020

I am not a doctor/nutritionist, so do not take any of my advice; I can only speak from my experience and what worked for me.

I looked at your last week of eating.

Tuesday, you ate ~1000 Calories. That is generally accepted as too few calories, especially for a male. But it will not matter as long as it isn't a long term intake; once in a while will not hurt you. Your normal intake around 1500 Calories is going to be great for losing weight. I would recommend not going lower than that though.

Same goes for Sunday, but I assume you did not track everything you ate that day, or you ate severely too little.

So, enough of that, to address your question directly, if you are eating approximately 1500 Calories per day, you are doing fine. You will lose weight eating that.

Warning: bodybuilding perspective in the following paragraph, not important for losing weight!
I am also impressed that your protein intake is as high as it is. This is going to help you spare some muscle so you don't end up a twig. Adding weight training (perhaps you already weight train) will minimize muscle loss and allow your body to burn more Calories throughout the day. But, it is totally optional, and you are not going to lose all of your muscle if you don't.

Ok, if you feel fine in your day to day life and can function normally, ignore the following paragraph:
I see you are trying to eat a low carb diet. Some people tolerate this well, others do not. You are in a weird place because you are almost going into ketosis, but not fully. Some people would report incredibly low energy levels, and generally feeling horrible. Your body uses carbs for energy, and stopping eating carbs will force your body to produce ketones for energy instead. But because you tease your body with a few carbs, it can't get to ketosis, but it does not have enough carbs to function normally. If you start to feel like %$^& you could try increasing or decreasing your carb intake, meaning you could go zero carbs, or more like 75 or more grams of carbs. However, if you are not having issues the way you are eating, by all means continue! It will be great for weight loss. Just ensure you do not also drop your fat intake. Your body needs all the fats, especially on a low carb diet.

In summary, eat 1500 Calories or more per day. Keep your protein and fat intake high (like you already are) while on a low carb diet. Adding weight training will increase your caloric deficit (lose weight faster) and spare more muscle on your body, but will it make a noticeable difference to your physique? Most likely not.

Remember that in the end, all that matters is consistency; keep tracking and eating below caloric maintenance and you will lose weight.

If you have any other questions, let me know, and good luck!

_Zardoz_

Don't skip meals, it makes it really hard to loose weight. Its also really bad for nutrition etc.

" When you eat, your metabolism, works to break the food down into smaller, usable parts. When you skip a meal, your metabolism has nothing to do. When your metabolism does not have to work to break down food, it begins to slow down. Then, the next time you do actually eat something, your metabolism is not able to break the food down as quickly, and as a result the food is stored as fat. "

Now thats funny

star_craving

once i started atkins my hunger levels seemed to just drop off.

This is actually really common on low-carb diets as your body adjusts to a different way of getting energy and you basically just live off your fat reserves.

Eventually it's going to even out and you'll get hungry more often, though still not as much as when you relied heavily on a diet of high carbs as is recommended by most government agencies.

_Zardoz_

And low carb or not, bacon is a not healthy food and neither are sausages. Try to eat whole foods, not processed foods, and eat more fish.

I don't eat meat but to dismiss a food as not healthy is just silly food is just food it all has its place. Food is just food as long as you are having a balanced diet (which I'm afraid low carb isn't) any foods in moderation are perfectly nutritious

star_craving

I see you are trying to eat a low carb diet. Some people tolerate this well, others do not. You are in a weird place because you are almost going into ketosis, but not fully. Some people would report incredibly low energy levels, and generally feeling horrible. Your body uses carbs for energy, and stopping eating carbs will force your body to produce ketones for energy instead. But because you tease your body with a few carbs, it can't get to ketosis, but it does not have enough carbs to function normally. If you start to feel like %$^& you could try increasing or decreasing your carb intake, meaning you could go zero carbs, or more like 75 or more grams of carbs.

You don't have to eat zero carbs to go into ketosis. It varies per person, but 20 is right around perfect for keto.

willodawisp85

If I'm not too hungry then I don't force myself to eat more just to hit a target. You won't go into starvation mode by occasionally under eating. On the other hand if it was me I would probably add more veg and fibre, but it's very much what works for you. Consistently under eating could effect you energy and workouts in the long run, but I would listen to my body and adjust my calories accordingly.