Do Calories matter on Low Carb?
Blu3Hea7en
Posts: 45 Member
My LCHF diet is a bit difficult to eat my recommended calories. From this keto diet buddy calculator I was supposed to eat 1338 calories with 20 grams of carbs and 103 grams of fat and like 75 grams protein. The problem is that I can't seem to eat past 1000-1200 calories(before exercise, usually if I execise MFP says i can eat 600+ more calories but I can barely eat what I'm suppose to without exercise). Should I force myself to eat up to 1338? I don't want to under eat and stall and not lose weight or gain weight.
I'm 5"7
Weight 251.4 lbs
Female
27
Not pregnant/breastfeeding
Exercise-30 to 45 minutes cardio 3-5x a week
I'm 5"7
Weight 251.4 lbs
Female
27
Not pregnant/breastfeeding
Exercise-30 to 45 minutes cardio 3-5x a week
0
Replies
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Calories do matter....sort of.
Your body needs fuel. If you don't give it fuel, it can't work properly. However, when you're quite a bit overweight, your body can get fuel from your body fat stores.
Your body also needs nutrients, and if you're not eating a sufficient amount of nutrient-dense food, then you're depriving your body of the nutrients it needs. So, make sure you're eating high quality foods -- meats and vegetables should be the bulk of your diet.
Ultimately, follow your hunger. If you're not hungry, that's generally okay. Your hunger levels will likely change and you'll find some days where you're really hungry and could eat everything in sight. On those days, honor that (this is the important part). Even if it means going way over, remember that you've been way under for several days. You'll very likely find that your caloric intake over the past week or two has worked out to your goal intake. The problem arises when you try to restrict your intake on "hungry days," as well as eating significantly under on "non-hungry days."
Often, when I'm working out intensely, I don't feel hungry on the workout day, itself, and I often eat less than my goal on that day. However, the next day, I'll be really hungry, and my intake on the two days balances out.0 -
I would eat to your hunger. I am guessing that eventually you will get some hungrier days to balance out your low days. As long as your low days don't get too low, I wouldn't worry.0
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If you are restricting your calories it is easy to lose muscle mass as well as fat mass. If you bump up your protein intake and lift weights you can reduce the catabolism of calorie restriction.
The article in this link talks about metabolic slowdown: https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/0 -
If you are restricting your calories it is easy to lose muscle mass as well as fat mass. If you bump up your protein intake and lift weights you can reduce the catabolism of calorie restriction.
The article in this link talks about metabolic slowdown: https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/
Low carb is very muscle sparing. Though there could certainly be some muscle loss (it's not necessarily a given), it's less than on a low fat, high carb diet.0 -
i am not watching my calories right now, but if i start to plateau, i might tighten them up a bit. i'm eating ALOT more calories than i was before. i guess i'm at the opposite end than you.
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@Blu3Hea7en You have a lot of cup, spoon, slices entries in your diary.. Are you positive you're only eating such low calories?
Chances are high that if you're not using a food scale then you are eating more than you think.0 -
@Blu3Hea7en before you eat more, change your logging. Measure everything in grams. No more cups, halves, spoons. Grams only. Make sure you're measuring liquids in a liquid measuring cup or in millilitres. Once you're doing both of those *and* you're only getting 1100, we'll talk about "calories vs. extra weight you're carrying." There is some leeway when you're carrying an extra 100lbs or so, but tighten your logging first. Trust me on this one. At least in a few places with a few foods, I'm willing to bet you're eating more than you think. I logged "cups and spoons" for 3 months and then changed to grams. My cals upped by 400 cals daily on average just by accurately logging.0
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If you are restricting your calories it is easy to lose muscle mass as well as fat mass. If you bump up your protein intake and lift weights you can reduce the catabolism of calorie restriction.
The article in this link talks about metabolic slowdown: https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/
i am not restricting calories, i simply am just not as hungry on low carb. I can't force myself to eat or i get nauseous0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »@Blu3Hea7en You have a lot of cup, spoon, slices entries in your diary.. Are you positive you're only eating such low calories?
Chances are high that if you're not using a food scale then you are eating more than you think.
Yes I am positive. I am a chef. I use food scales and measuring tools0 -
@Blu3Hea7en before you eat more, change your logging. Measure everything in grams. No more cups, halves, spoons. Grams only. Make sure you're measuring liquids in a liquid measuring cup or in millilitres. Once you're doing both of those *and* you're only getting 1100, we'll talk about "calories vs. extra weight you're carrying." There is some leeway when you're carrying an extra 100lbs or so, but tighten your logging first. Trust me on this one. At least in a few places with a few foods, I'm willing to bet you're eating more than you think. I logged "cups and spoons" for 3 months and then changed to grams. My cals upped by 400 cals daily on average just by accurately logging.
I see what you're saying, however, my calories are super low. So I wanted to make sure that I wasn't eating too low to avoid weight loss. Liquids are measured in a liquid measuring cup always but I'm not always around access to my food scale i.e. if I am at my moms house, all she has is measuring cups & spoons etc. I'm sure I am eating more than I think which would actually be great considering 1000-1200 calories is super low for my weight. I'll try grams though. Thanks0 -
@Blu3Hea7en before you eat more, change your logging. Measure everything in grams. No more cups, halves, spoons. Grams only. Make sure you're measuring liquids in a liquid measuring cup or in millilitres. Once you're doing both of those *and* you're only getting 1100, we'll talk about "calories vs. extra weight you're carrying." There is some leeway when you're carrying an extra 100lbs or so, but tighten your logging first. Trust me on this one. At least in a few places with a few foods, I'm willing to bet you're eating more than you think. I logged "cups and spoons" for 3 months and then changed to grams. My cals upped by 400 cals daily on average just by accurately logging.
BTW why grams. I usually prefer ounces. a lb is a lb no matter how you measure it. Grams is usually used for science like baking. In culinary school we didn't use grams too often. Curious to know why you chose grams for measurement0 -
maybe she's not from the US hence grams. In europe food in packaging and for cooking is measured in grams.0
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Grams is more accurate than ounce so i hear. I'm in Australia and have always used grams, I have no idea what an ounce is.Blu3Hea7en wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »@Blu3Hea7en You have a lot of cup, spoon, slices entries in your diary.. Are you positive you're only eating such low calories?
Chances are high that if you're not using a food scale then you are eating more than you think.
Yes I am positive. I am a chef. I use food scales and measuring tools
Oh ok. Your food diary doesn't reflect that..
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Blu3Hea7en wrote: »My LCHF diet is a bit difficult to eat my recommended calories. From this keto diet buddy calculator I was supposed to eat 1338 calories with 20 grams of carbs and 103 grams of fat and like 75 grams protein. The problem is that I can't seem to eat past 1000-1200 calories(before exercise, usually if I execise MFP says i can eat 600+ more calories but I can barely eat what I'm suppose to without exercise). Should I force myself to eat up to 1338? I don't want to under eat and stall and not lose weight or gain weight.
I'm 5"7
Weight 251.4 lbs
Female
27
Not pregnant/breastfeeding
Exercise-30 to 45 minutes cardio 3-5x a week
@Blu3Hea7en it sounds like you are trying very hard and I think you will be just fine.
I was 63 when I started this way of eating to try and manage my joint and muscle pain. Actually I was just trying to get into eating a ton of coconut oil and for sure had never heard of LCHF.
The first 90 days turned out to be an uphill learning curve then it leveled out and now 18 months later eating 80% of my calories from fats is totally normal and doable as well as eating under 50 grams of carbs while keeping the protein in the 70-90 gram range daily.
Think of it as learning how to drive a car. You do not have to be an expert the day you get your learners permit or a month or two later. Six months later typically the art of driving starts to feel 'normal'.
Getting into nutritional ketosis, losing pounds, etc are NOT IMPORTANT for the first 90 days. Some lose weight after 3 days. In my case it was on day 43 before I lost my first pound but I did drop one pant size during that six weeks.
I was in the process of dying so I just stopped eating because I was hungry and started eating to live longer. Not for others to do but I went off sugars and all forms of grain to test if it would manage my pain without Rx Meds. It worked in 30 days. That was Nov 2014 so ever sense I have just been tweaking the way I move.
This Low Carb High Fat thing can be very different from person to person in fine details.
But for most all of us we MUST eat <50 grams of carbs from all carb sources. Most need to eat 70-80% of calories from fats. I eat out most of the time daily and one meal is often at McDonald's.
Eating in or out and eating LCHF is very doable but like driving a car the first few months is stressful then it starts to become easier.
Learn. Practice. Learn some more. Practice some more.
By the way calories DO count. In my case as long as I keep my carbs <50 grams daily and get 80% of my total calories from fat I can eat all I can hold and more or less maintain my weight. In my case if I eat a bunch of carbs they just call more and I eat all the time because I am hungry all of the time.
Dieting is not normal behavior among humans or animals in general. I grew up on a farm the our cows weighed more or less 1000 pounds. Never did one get to weighting 2000 or 3000 pounds even when they had more food than they could eat. In short they never had to have food restricted to help their weight to stay around a 1000 pounds. 0 -
I would replace your two Atkins shake snacks with a meal since the few days I looked at you have skipped a meal.
If you have just recently started LCHF, then you may find that eventually you can eat a bit more.0 -
i always use grams with my scale. i find it to be much more accurate. with my scale, i can get down to (example) 1.5 oz. but with grams, i can get to .18 grams (i know these are not equivalent, just an example)
cups vary. i found one of my measuring cups that was actually very close to 1 1/4 cups.
and especially tsp and TBSP.
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Christine_72 wrote: »Grams is more accurate than ounce so i hear. I'm in Australia and have always used grams, I have no idea what an ounce is.
ounces are tricky. a liquid/fluid ounce is one thing, and the weight of an ounce is another. i find grams to be much more accurate, even with liquid measure. even babies are measured in grams on scales when they are born - more accurate.
one fluid ounce does not necessarily WEIGH one ounce. i hate that!!!
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Hi,
I found LCHF diet much more satisfying and satiating. You might have a few days you just don't feel that hungry...I would just go with it as long as you are eating healthy foods. One study I found on Atkins on why people lose weight...it was because proteins and fats don't stimulate insulin and people stay fuller longer on this type of diet and naturally lower their calorie intake without counting calories. I will look for the study.0 -
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Christine_72 wrote: »Grams is more accurate than ounce so i hear. I'm in Australia and have always used grams, I have no idea what an ounce is.Blu3Hea7en wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »@Blu3Hea7en You have a lot of cup, spoon, slices entries in your diary.. Are you positive you're only eating such low calories?
Chances are high that if you're not using a food scale then you are eating more than you think.
Yes I am positive. I am a chef. I use food scales and measuring tools
Oh ok. Your food diary doesn't reflect that..
My food diary does. If you look at the entries some of them have grams or ounces in parenthesis next to the cup or half or spoon or slice. Some entries I couldn't find in grams and so I just chose what came up first. I tend to over estimate just in case .0 -
MyPrimalLife wrote: »i always use grams with my scale. i find it to be much more accurate. with my scale, i can get down to (example) 1.5 oz. but with grams, i can get to .18 grams (i know these are not equivalent, just an example)
cups vary. i found one of my measuring cups that was actually very close to 1 1/4 cups.
and especially tsp and TBSP.
Thanks ! I'm going to try grams now.
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MyPrimalLife wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Grams is more accurate than ounce so i hear. I'm in Australia and have always used grams, I have no idea what an ounce is.
ounces are tricky. a liquid/fluid ounce is one thing, and the weight of an ounce is another. i find grams to be much more accurate, even with liquid measure. even babies are measured in grams on scales when they are born - more accurate.
one fluid ounce does not necessarily WEIGH one ounce. i hate that!!!
Thank you for the helpful tip !!0 -
Calories matter for me
I eat low carb and a couple days a week I will do a hard defecit related to exercise.
It does help
I ate heavy and lifted hard over the winter and added about 18 lbs. so far in two weeks I have lost 7 pounds of some water related to carbs.
Dropping weight happens best for me when a few days are even and a few days at defecit. Exercise is the magic pill for me. Without it I don't enjoy eating as much as I like to. A 700-1000 calorie burn leaves me lots of room to enjoy a larger steak or chunk of Swiss cheese!
YMMV0 -
Blu3Hea7en wrote: »@Blu3Hea7en before you eat more, change your logging. Measure everything in grams. No more cups, halves, spoons. Grams only. Make sure you're measuring liquids in a liquid measuring cup or in millilitres. Once you're doing both of those *and* you're only getting 1100, we'll talk about "calories vs. extra weight you're carrying." There is some leeway when you're carrying an extra 100lbs or so, but tighten your logging first. Trust me on this one. At least in a few places with a few foods, I'm willing to bet you're eating more than you think. I logged "cups and spoons" for 3 months and then changed to grams. My cals upped by 400 cals daily on average just by accurately logging.
BTW why grams. I usually prefer ounces. a lb is a lb no matter how you measure it. Grams is usually used for science like baking. In culinary school we didn't use grams too often. Curious to know why you chose grams for measurement
Using grams is a bit more precise than using ounces, because there is less rounding in the number. It's also easy, when using grams, to look at the nutrition data for 100 grams of whatever you're thinking of eating, and see instantly what the percentages of fats, carbs and proteins are...if there are 80 grams of protein and 20 grams of fat in 100 grams of ground beef, for example, it's 80% protein and 20% fat - super easy!
To answer the original question, I count calories. I don't want to regain lost weight, and I'm not taking any chances. I don't think that eating under your calories will make you stall. Most likely, you'll have some days that you eat over, and some days that you eat under.0 -
I do VLCHF (<50 grams of carbs) for better health and do not compute math as long as my bathroom scales shows my CICO results that make sense based on what I am eating and doing.
It is just the fact in my case as long as I do not eat sugar/grain containing foods I can eat all I want and maintain. This way of eating is awesome/enjoyable because there is not restraining physically or mentally because I can eat until I am full.
While I maintain at about 2500 if I counted and came up with only 1700 one day but was not hungry I still would not force myself to say eat a 8 oz/225 grams of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I might drink a cup of green tea and a few sticks of celery and go to bed.
I am not against counting at for anyone because I had to do it for awhile but on a daily bases eating to hit numbers that at best are wild guesses would not be of a high concern in my mind. Computer software and charts are great aids. The bathroom scales will compute the net results of CICO without fail.
Keep in mind I am 65 and will use to way of losing weight that I will not do daily until my death. I yo yo'ed for 40 years and wrecked my health in the process is the reason I stopped dieting forever to lose weight. I am down 50 pounds and for the past year on VLCHF have maintained at 200 pounds and gained better health.
@Blu3Hea7en it sounds like you are doing great. Just keep a check from time (annual physical, free screening, etc) and stick with your plan. Remember if fat is leaving the body it is being burned so that is about 3500 calories. Say one is losing 1 pound a week and it is 25% lean and 75% fat that is giving you perhaps another 700 calories a day.
You are very active and young so you have a huge edge over someone like me. Keep up the good work so you do not wind up like me. I was 63 when I stopped eating in a way leading to a premature death and started eating for better health.0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »I do VLCHF (<50 grams of carbs) for better health and do not compute math as long as my bathroom scales shows my CICO results that make sense based on what I am eating and doing.
It is just the fact in my case as long as I do not eat sugar/grain containing foods I can eat all I want and maintain. This way of eating is awesome/enjoyable because there is not restraining physically or mentally because I can eat until I am full.
While I maintain at about 2500 if I counted and came up with only 1700 one day but was not hungry I still would not force myself to say eat a 8 oz/225 grams of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I might drink a cup of green tea and a few sticks of celery and go to bed.
I am not against counting at for anyone because I had to do it for awhile but on a daily bases eating to hit numbers that at best are wild guesses would not be of a high concern in my mind. Computer software and charts are great aids. The bathroom scales will compute the net results of CICO without fail.
Keep in mind I am 65 and will use to way of losing weight that I will not do daily until my death. I yo yo'ed for 40 years and wrecked my health in the process is the reason I stopped dieting forever to lose weight. I am down 50 pounds and for the past year on VLCHF have maintained at 200 pounds and gained better health.
@Blu3Hea7en it sounds like you are doing great. Just keep a check from time (annual physical, free screening, etc) and stick with your plan. Remember if fat is leaving the body it is being burned so that is about 3500 calories. Say one is losing 1 pound a week and it is 25% lean and 75% fat that is giving you perhaps another 700 calories a day.
You are very active and young so you have a huge edge over someone like me. Keep up the good work so you do not wind up like me. I was 63 when I stopped eating in a way leading to a premature death and started eating for better health.
I just had my physical Monday . My doctor wants to monitor me because when I started at 271 I had very high cholesterol and she's concerned with the high fat intake .0 -
Most doctors have concerns like this but more are grasping the old old way of looking at fats. Let us know how your numbers look over time.0
