Dragonwolf wrote: »

bluets2011 wrote: »

LizinLowell wrote: »

Hi! Sounds like you are doing great! You may need to tweak something to be more comfortable but overall you sound successful at this way of eating. I didn't take a look at your diary yet, just wanted to get my first thoughts down.

I don't have a lot of hunger either. I'm 5'8", 47 yo, CW 187. I figure my body is getting what it needs from my body fat. I've asked a question about eating too few calories a million times in various forums & my main takeaway from all the advice is if you aren't hungry don't eat. If you have lots of energy & you just don't have an appetite then don't sweat it. If you feel lousy (cold, fatigued, irritable, losing hair) then you'll know your metabolism is slowing & things are going wrong & you need to eat more. My hunger & satiety cues were so screwy for years that it's hard for me to trust them now. Whenever I'm good & truly hungry I go aha! That's it!

I've never heard of net calories but net carbs refers to the way the US records carbs with fiber included. Since fiber doesn't appreciably raise blood sugars, it can be subtracted (some say) to achieve net carbs. I try to stay around 20 net carbs per day, some folks can only achieve ketosis at 20 grams carbs TOTAL. We are all different.

As for the always thirsty, this may sound counter intuitive but are you getting enough salt/ other electrolytes? This diet drains the fluids out of us & takes all our salt with it.

Also, as I'm sure you are aware, excessive thirst is a marker of type 2 diabetes so if it doesn't resolve, that's a thought.

Hang in there!

Thank you Liz! Weight loss I'm really pleased just don't want to damage myself eating so little. So yes makes sense that my body is using its own fat even though the ketosis sticks do not show I'm in ketosis. I'll add some more salt to my diet then. I've been tested for diabetes and it's clear. Must be the electrolytes then. And maybe I'd need 20g total to get into ketosis. At the moment under 30 not sure it's happening.

Ignore the ketosticks. If you're eating low carb, you're in ketosis. Because you're currently eating low carb and low calorie (even if not intentional) plus exercising, you're definitely in ketosis. Your body just isn't wasting any via urine (which is what ketosticks measure -- waste ketones).

If you want to monitor your ketone levels, you'll want either a blood or a breath meter (I prefer the blood meter for better accuracy since you get an actual number and it measures what's circulating in your body, but it depends on why you're measuring to begin with). Blood ketone meters are simply blood glucose meters with the added ability (with special strips) to measure ketones. Either way, I'll stake money on those tools registering ketosis for you.

Regarding the extended hunger suppression -- try eating more frequently. It sounds counterintuitive, but for some people, the act of eating itself can stimulate hunger in particular circumstances (I'm one of those people -- I can go 16-18 hours without food and be fine, then be ravaging after the first bite). Even if you don't feel hungry, grab a cheese stick or something and see how you feel.

bluets2011 wrote: »

kpk54 wrote: »

Egads. I'm guessing you have set MFP for weight loss and perhaps at sedentary? If this is the case, the 1200 calorie target includes the deficit to lose "x" per week. If you eat only 700 calories a day you have a double deficit. The deficit built in when eating 1200 and another 500 of the allocation MFP provides. (1200-500=700).

Furthermore MFP is designed to eat back exercise calories in order to fuel your body and provide your body with the nutrients it needs for everything from hair health to heart health. You are eating back nothing.

Yes. You are eating far too little. Eat some high calorie, nutrient dense foods such as avocado. Your body doesn't ask for much except to provide it with the nutrition it needs. Eat. You were correct in posing your question. Follow your gut instincts. That red number you are seeing at the end of the equation on your newsfeed is telling you what you need to know. Eat.

@kpk54 yes I do know I'm not eating enough, and I asked the question here because I know this can be a result from keto eating. I'm not eating this little on purpose. I love my food!! I've been vegan and vegetarian for most of my life mainly eating bread and carbs, so I think my body is adapting to this amount of protein. I eat eggs and fish and dairy now, everyday, this is quite new to me. I think my body will adapt and meanwhile I'll try adding these nutrient dense foods you mentioned. But if we think of my weight loss, I'm not eating that little, I never lose more than 2lbs a week so far.

The body goes to great lengths to adapt to intake and avoid losing weight, especially as we get closer to our body's ideal weight/body fat level. Weight loss rate is actually a pretty inaccurate marker for whether you're eating "enough." Some doctors have found that the body will adjust the "calories out" part of the equation by as much as 40% in order to avoid giving up stored fuel. I wouldn't be surprised if after an adjustment period, you would still lose 2lb per week even at 1200 calories (500 more than you're eating now, which, according to the math, would halve your weight loss rate).

nvmomketo wrote: »

I'll just ditto all the others.

Ketostix are rarely positive with me. I get a faint positive if I fast for a day, otherwise I am often negative - even on days where I've eaten almost no carbs. Either I am not spilling ketones into my urine or my liver is making huge amounts of glucose. My guess is the first option.

I would mostly go with hunger when eating. If you are getting in your protein, I would just go with it. Like others, my hunger started to come back when I was within 15 lbs of goal. It will probably return somewhat soon.

And congrats on your success so far.