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Calories & Carbs

Serenityshores
Serenityshores Posts: 16 Member
in Social Groups
I am on Induction and have been on MFP almost a month and I have a set calorie goal of 1720 per day for losing 2lbs a week.Now, every evening when I complete my food intake my calories are nowhere near the range I am supposed to be having.
Does this matter as I am only counting carbs?

Replies

  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    Are you taking in too many or too few calories?
    If too many, Atkins says that for some people, if they overeat protein and fat they WILL convert into carbs and stall weight loss. He says his diet is meant to be individualized , so you have to judge for yourself how your body is going to react.
  • cdgirl
    cdgirl Posts: 158 Member
    That is very interesting! Thank you for that information.
  • hello_kitty3
    hello_kitty3 Posts: 98 Member
    I'm on day 2 of the induction and yesterday and today I've had trouble hitting even 1000 calories. I was spot on with my carbs, but calories are low and I feel so tired. I know I'm probably just adjusting but does anybody have any suggestions on what I can eat to get my calorie count up a little? I can only eat so much meat and eggs, I don't usually eat red meat or fish.
  • tunesntea
    tunesntea Posts: 54
    Coconut oil, high in calories and is a good fat.
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    Kitty, I'm finding having a low carb snack a challenge too. Lately, I grab a turkey pepperette and a slice of Havarti cheese or a baby bell. There are calories, but little carb.
  • hello_kitty3
    hello_kitty3 Posts: 98 Member
    Are you cooking with coconut oil? I've been eating cheese but the calories aren't that high.
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    I usually cook with extra virgin olive oil, mainly because I'm used to it. Now, I'm trying to add more butter to my diet. I use a small pat a day on veggies. I always steam veggies. I'm not good at making stir-fry. It seems that most of the meat I buy is very lean, so I'm trying to add a bit of fat back to the mix. It's supposed to help you lose easier.....we'll see...it's a test!
  • tunesntea
    tunesntea Posts: 54
    Are you cooking with coconut oil? I've been eating cheese but the calories aren't that high.

    I sometimes use it in my eggs instead of butter. Also, when I "bread" my Parmesan cheese pork chops I use coconut oil to rub the chop all over and then put the parm cheese over all of it (then garlic salt).

    Some people put it in their coffee, I haven't tried that.

    If I need oil or lard, I'll use coconut oil. It was easy for me because I never cared for olive oil. I always used veg oil or lard but coconut oil is supposed to be good for you.

    I still prefer real butter on my veggies but you can use coconut oil, too.
  • hello_kitty3
    hello_kitty3 Posts: 98 Member
    I've never used coconut oil to cook, I usually use olive oil or sesame seed oil. I'll have to pick some up next time I'm at the store and give it a try. My mom is doing the Atkins thing and she eats bacon and pepperoni as snacks, and its just not in me to eat things like that very often. I mainly eat turkey and chicken, I can't really see those as snacks. I want to get my calories in but I don't want to eat things that aren't necessarily good for me otherwise. I crashed pretty hard yesterday but today I'm feeling a little better but have a slight headache, its now day 3. I hoping tomorrow is much better as I've read days 4-5 you're supposed to see a big improvement on how you feel.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    I am no where near the fitnesspal goals at all! Usually between 500 to 800 over!

    My settings were 1200, so i changed them to 1600 for the atkins approach, but I come in higher than that every day.

    I worry about more calories, but I cant make the low carb work eating as much fat as I need with the 1200 calorie limit.

    I changed my percentages to reflect the carbs fat and protien of the low carb diet.

    I doubt I could evèr keep to 1200 on this way of eating but i read where so many women do have great weight loss on this plan.

    I just started last friday so we will see how it goes.
  • tunesntea
    tunesntea Posts: 54
    I am no where near the fitnesspal goals at all! Usually between 500 to 800 over!

    My settings were 1200, so i changed them to 1600 for the atkins approach, but I come in higher than that every day.

    I worry about more calories, but I cant make the low carb work eating as much fat as I need with the 1200 calorie limit.

    I changed my percentages to reflect the carbs fat and protien of the low carb diet.

    I doubt I could evèr keep to 1200 on this way of eating but i read where so many women do have great weight loss on this plan.

    I just started last friday so we will see how it goes.

    This Atkins is quite the experiment, isn't it!

    I've been good at staying under 1200 just because I'm sedentary and drink lots of hot tea and the fats make me full.
    My carbs were getting too high so I switched to heavy whipping cream for my coffee,that I drink about a pot of every day to save those flavored sweetener carbs and between that and about half of a rotisseree chicken that I've eaten, I have about 40 calories left (going by the 1200 allotted)-LOL.

    I'm going to be more concerned with my carb count but my low calories were my ace in the whole in case it didn't work for me.

    You know how it says in 5 weeks you should weigh x amount...I hope that's right and this is just a stall week (3) but unless I drop a lot one week, I don't see how staying within those calories are going to get me there in 5 weeks anyway. It's been saying that and now 5 weeks is getting to be 2.5 weeks away!
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    Well good luck anyway it goes i will be hanging on the edge waiting to know your results!
  • sabradog
    sabradog Posts: 2
    I found a great website recommendation elsewhere on this site. It will recommend the amount of fat grams and protein grams for you based on your personal information and your carb goal. Based on the site, I upped my fat grams each day, and I've lost more weight in the last week since I did this than I had in the previous month. The website is:

    http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

    Good luck!
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    This sounds very promising!
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    I am no where near the fitnesspal goals at all! Usually between 500 to 800 over!

    My settings were 1200, so i changed them to 1600 for the atkins approach, but I come in higher than that every day.

    I worry about more calories, but I cant make the low carb work eating as much fat as I need with the 1200 calorie limit.

    I changed my percentages to reflect the carbs fat and protien of the low carb diet.

    I doubt I could evèr keep to 1200 on this way of eating but i read where so many women do have great weight loss on this plan.

    I just started last friday so we will see how it goes.


    I think that 1200 calories a day is what mfp recommends for a lot of people. I couldn't do it. I usually eat a couple of hundred over my limit of 1500 (that mfp gave me), and I'm still losing weight. Atkins says not to look at calories. He says "eat until satiated, but not stuffed". That's what I'm trying to do and it's a learning process as it's taking me a while to realize when I'm actually hungry or not. I used to eat out of boredom or frustration, so I really messed up my natural hunger.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    Mel,

    I can relate! My eating has really been skewed by years of severe calorie restriction, then trying to recover from that which in my opinion just led to overeating.

    So I'm also have problems eating normally. I hope this will give me a chance to eat more calories and learn how to eat like a human being again.

    The good news, which I read about, is that even if a person doesnt drop weight on the low carb plan, rarely if never do they gain!

    I'm really looking to increase calories and get back to eating three good sized meals with 2 light snacks a day.

    I started the low carb last friday and today is the first day without cravings, headache and weakness. Relief!

    I thought maybe i wasnt going to be able to do this.

    Maybe I am feeling better because I increased fat yesterday, that has been

    a foreign concept, I kept automatically grabing food with more protien instead of thinking of more fat for the first few days.

    Thanks so much for your support.

    I think knowing your cal intake is also up there will save me giving up and returning to restriction before the ketones do their work.
  • SwedishMel
    SwedishMel Posts: 95 Member
    I have been on this diet for about 3 weeks and so far I've just been paying attention to my carb intake. But reading this discussion has been very educational. Thanks everyone! :smile:
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    This is my 3rd week of Atkins..still doing induction as I'm feeling 100% better than I have for the last year! Today, I stopped taking my high blood pressure completely, as my BP is normal now. I even bought a 'cuff' to measure it, and it is often at 'optimum' range. I will bring the results to my doctor next week as I've been tracking my BP since I started ATkins. That's a HUGE benefit to my health...I'm not nearly as 'dizzy' or lightheaded as I have been in the past. I think I'm starting to feel normal again.
    That said, I didn't lose any weight with Atkins this week, but I did lose inches..and I feel smaller. This is a way of life for me and I fully intend to stay the course.
  • tunesntea
    tunesntea Posts: 54
    This is my 3rd week of Atkins..still doing induction as I'm feeling 100% better than I have for the last year! Today, I stopped taking my high blood pressure completely, as my BP is normal now. I even bought a 'cuff' to measure it, and it is often at 'optimum' range. I will bring the results to my doctor next week as I've been tracking my BP since I started ATkins. That's a HUGE benefit to my health...I'm not nearly as 'dizzy' or lightheaded as I have been in the past. I think I'm starting to feel normal again.
    That said, I didn't lose any weight with Atkins this week, but I did lose inches..and I feel smaller. This is a way of life for me and I fully intend to stay the course.

    That's so great! 3rd week was a stall for me, too. I started Jan 7th. This morning I lost 3.7 pounds, so you may lose a lot quickly next week.. Not that it matters, water weighs a lot and that's probably why we fluctuate but if the trend is down, that's good. Being healthy is what it's about. Congrats.
  • MistressPi
    MistressPi Posts: 514 Member
    I'm on day 2 of the induction and yesterday and today I've had trouble hitting even 1000 calories. I was spot on with my carbs, but calories are low and I feel so tired. I know I'm probably just adjusting but does anybody have any suggestions on what I can eat to get my calorie count up a little? I can only eat so much meat and eggs, I don't usually eat red meat or fish.

    You were experiencing "Induction Flu", a common set of symptoms people experiencing when starting Atkins. To alleviate the symptoms, increase your sodium. "New Atkins for a New You" authors suggest you do this by either drinking a cup of broth (not low sodium) twice a day, or just measuring out some salt and adding it to your food throughout the day.

    Also, remember that Fat is Your Friend. :) Add butter, coconut oil, lard to your diet. Use olive oil and nut oils on your salads. Use mayonnaise in chicken salad, or in recipes for salad dressings, etc.

    HTH.
  • hello_kitty3
    hello_kitty3 Posts: 98 Member
    Now that I'm starting week 2 I'm feeling a little more energetic. I've found that I'm also never really hungry which is a weird feeling for me. Its pretty awesome and I lost about 7lbs in my first week which is way more than I expected! I've already been tested a couple times with going out to eat but did really well, I don't think the waiters were amused with all my substitutions but oh well! My MIL is on the diet with me and she's loving it too. I can't bring myself to eat lard lol but I've been using butter and oils more than I used to. I'm still not hitting my calorie goal everyday but I'm getting closer, and I figure if I'm not hungry I must be ok.

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