Atkins, no hunger, can't hit calorie goal

Depending on how far into doing Atkins you are, I would suggest just listening to your body. If you've been eating like this for weeks on end, I might say to atleast get closer to 1,000-1,200 but just like @VintageFeline said, I also think at some point, you may wake up and feel like you have insatiable hunger, and then it may feel incredibly hard to stay within your calories. But if you genuinely do not have a desire to eat, I think you should just listen to those feelings, just be aware, there may come a day (or a few days in a row) where you feel very very hungry and will have to be mentally strong to stay within a couple hundred of your calorie goal.

BigAnnieG wrote: »

Thanks for replying so quickly!

but I'm feeling so good I'm scared of messing it up by eating more. quote]


I think that can be a problem. That can lead you to start having eating issues, convincing yourself that you need to eat less in order to stay on track. If that comes into play when deciding if you're hungry or not, that's not listening to your body. If you feel hungry, but then decide, nah I'm not thatttttt hungry and I'm doing so well I just shouldn't eat anymore, that's not good.

even if you're not hungry, try something like a spoonful of peanut butter or something like that. Or try oil on your veggies as a way to add more fats and calories without seeming like you're eating more?

At 450 cals that is pretty low to not feel any hunger but I wonder have you properly calculated your cals? If that is not it then I am with the majority to add high fats and protein they are usually high in cals but healthy such as nuts, hard boiled eggs, cheese

BigAnnieG, I was in the same boat as you last week (low cal, no hunger on a keto diet). I'm still doing a keto diet, but have leveled out a bit by going to six small meals a day. It's a tad tedious, especially if you're looking to get enough protein so you don't lose muscle, but I've found that I'm functioning even better!

Then again, perhaps it won't be as tedious for you, if you don't have food allergies yourself or in your household! (Mine has tree nut (me+daughter)/coconut (daughter) issues, which adds a lot of complication.

The meals/snacks should be somewhat consistent (I was eating a big breakfast in the morning, and this was causing some of my troubles). I'm aiming for 1500 calories a day, and am trying to be in the range of 200-350 for the first five "meals" and going a bit smaller on the last one. I've only been somewhat successful (I've found I'm still having 400-450 calorie meals here and there), but it's a lot closer than I was.

Also, for extra calories, something that's been recommended to me (but I haven't tried because I don't like one of the ingredients and I don't keep one of the others in the house due to my daughter's allergies) is "bulletproof coffee." I've been told that it's a good way to get a "meal" in for the breakfast spot but keep your body in "full keto mode." I'm not overly familiar with the intricacies of the whole deal, but figured it's "food for thought."

Also, if you're interested in learning more about macronutrient percentages for keto diets, here's a pretty great page that was recommended to me: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

Listen to your body. After a few days you'll probably be hungry again, don't worry about it unless the issue persists more than a few days.

If you are doing keto because you want it to kill hunger, I think you have to accept that it might and eat for the sake of getting in the calories and nutrition (and not just fat bombs, which aren't really nutritious).

If you feel like you don't need to, that's the keto effect talking, it's still not good to eat 450 calories per day (unless you are fasting and have a scheduled low day).

If you can't possibly fit in more food, something problematic is going on, talk to a doctor.

You have hit on the big secret to why Atkins works. It leaves you feeling extremely sated, so you automatically eat less without really concentrating on it.

Low carbers often approach the macros this way:

Protein is a goal - strive to hit it
Carbs are a ceiling - try to stay under it
Fats just fill in the rest, and quite frankly most of us who use low carb have plenty of body fat without adding in extra dietary fat.

So my advice would be to try to hit your protein goals, and at least meet the minimum. For many women the minimum is around 40-60g per day but a bit more is usually better. Get your 80,90 or whatever grams of protein on most days. If still hungry, eat more fats, or fattier cuts of meat. If not hungry, eat fewer fats and carbs.

I would also advise you to enjoy the lowered appetite. It often doesn't last forever at that extreme. Many find it stays lower than it used to be but most have not problem meeting their caloric goals after a while.

If hunger doesn't return, you need to either force yourself to eat. If it's too unpleasant to force-feed yourself, gradually increase your carb intake until you hit a level that is still low carb but is not affecting your food intake too negatively. You don't need to stay married to any named diet if it means being undernourished or any other negative health concerns. There is a middle ground.

VintageFeline wrote: »

At 450 calories and not being hungry, I rather think it's not okay to listen to your own body.

If it's just a day or two, NBD, if you go 3-5 days and you're still not hungry, it's definitely time to force feed, or adjust the particulars.

When I did induction a few(15) years back, I already had developed the habit of deliberate eating... so breakfast was 2-3 eggs, and bacon, lunch was a salad(lettuce, broccoli, cheese) with a bacon cheeseburger(naked) or 2. Dinner was about the same. Snack during the day might be a half cup of salsa and 10 oz of tuna.

Spread out the eating. Mind the calories and nutrients.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

To me this doesn't sound like it has been going on long enough to be a problem, lemur.

Take some vitamins to be on the safe side until your appetite returns which I expect it will in 1-2 days.

LAT1963 wrote: »

Yeah, probably not.

I always think it's important to stress that absolutely no appetite, as in "I can't choke stuff down, eating seems unpleasant" after 450 calories in day (which is SUPER low, we aren't talking 1000) is NOT normal or good. Usually I think it's that people are used to being hungry all the time or just thought they would be, so are exaggerating "I could eat, but don't feel like I need to, so should I?" -- and if so and you've only had 450 calories, the answer is YES, especially since apparently the goal is to feel that way (that some get with keto, I guess).

THIS, If you're nauseated by the idea of food, that's a problem. If you're comfortable, that's the goal. That being said. set up a plan and eat to the plan.