Carbs and calories

kdgbng22
kdgbng22 Posts: 5 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve been on the keto diet for a little over a week. What I’m finding is that I’m not hungry. So I’m not meeting my 1200 calories per day, or at the very least , struggling. So my question, I know regular dieting, if you don’t eat enough you store what you do eat. If I’m eating and keeping carbs around 15, fats around 65 and protein 20: am I still going to lose weight ? I’m usually coming in those percentages and between 800-1000 calories.
This diet confuses me A LOT. Please help.

Replies

  • gaylemhorton
    gaylemhorton Posts: 2 Member
    edited January 2018
    Add more Keto-approved fats--butter, avocado, egg yokes, cheese and brazil nuts. You also need to increase your protein, so you lose fat and not muscle. Are you doing total carbs or net carbs?
  • kdgbng22
    kdgbng22 Posts: 5 Member
    This is just tricky for me, but I find I can stick to this easier than any other diet or “healthy eating”. I need to find a day by day menu I like. Thanks!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    kdgbng22 wrote: »
    I’ve been on the keto diet for a little over a week. What I’m finding is that I’m not hungry.

    I think this is common and will probably go away, so I'd keep trying to eat more, but not worry about it too much (except as noted below).
    So I’m not meeting my 1200 calories per day, or at the very least , struggling. So my question, I know regular dieting, if you don’t eat enough you store what you do eat.

    This is not true. The risks are that it's bad for health (but over a longer period of time) and that it's likely if you eat too little that eventually you will blow your diet substantially or binge or otherwise give up. Just keep trying to eat more and make foods that fit your diet available. Sometimes with a dramatic change it's hard to think of what to eat -- you can increase portions of the things you ARE eating, as one way to start. You can also drink some calories and (on keto) eat things that have lots of cal in a small portion, like cheese.
    If I’m eating and keeping carbs around 15, fats around 65 and protein 20: am I still going to lose weight ? I’m usually coming in those percentages and between 800-1000 calories.

    Keto is like any other diet, you lose weight based on calories consumed. You'd lose on 1200, you will lose on 800-1000, but the latter is not good for you.

    Another concern is that 20% protein is kind of low even on 1200 when you are on a deficit. I think that to maintain muscle you want to be eating around .65-.85 g/lb of your healthy goal weight, and contrary to claims that it does not matter on keto, the evidence is that it's even easier to lose muscle eating very low carb. If you are eating 20% of 800-1000 cal, that's only 40-50 g, which is really quite low if you wish to maintain muscle, especially as low cal tends to make muscle loss more likely (which is why protein becomes more important).

    Can you maybe try eating a bit more of your protein sources?
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    edited January 2018
    I struggled to get enough calories the first week of keto, but you really do need them. You’re not going to get enough micronutrients without them, and long-term you’re going to feel awful. Eat a spoonful of unsweetened peanut butter here and there, or an avocado (I sprinkle a little lemon salt on each half and spoon it right out of the skin). Eggs are good; eggs with a hearty sprinkling of Parmesan cheese are even better. My diary’s open if you need some ideas—we’ve got test strips and I’m definitely in ketosis. :)
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    BTW the numbers I’ve seen for keto are 5-10% of calories from carbs, with 60-75% coming from fat. Dietary fiber isn’t digestible and so doesn’t count toward calories, which means you subtract fiber from total carbs, multiply the result by four (carbohydrates have 4 kcal/g), and that number should be less than 10% of your calories for the day. 30g = 10% at 1200 kcal; if you’re eating 2000 kcal you can net up to 50.

    Aiming for 15% may be too high if you’re counting net carbs, or too low if that’s your total carb intake. Eat your fiber and eat your fat and the calories will start to climb back up toward your target. :)
  • kdgbng22
    kdgbng22 Posts: 5 Member
    Seems like I was going by: less than 20 total carbs.
    About me: I’d eat every meal as dessert. I like anything, everything sweet. I. HATE. EXERCISE. And I don’t like a lot of veggies and fruits. But I like the keto diet, even giving up all sweets, I love cheese, I love beef, I love bacon- so I find this diet the best I can adhere to. But I also find it very tricky figuring the numbers. I guess my theory is eat less, vs mess it up. I will look at your diary- so appreciate the offer (if I can figure out how to!) and thanks fir your input!!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2018
    IMO, it makes sense to ignore percentages if you are doing keto. Pick a reasonable calorie goal, pick your carb goal (if you are doing net, remember the MFP goal won't be net so it can be a little higher -- I personally think 50 g total is easily ketogenic and the push for ever lower carb #s is overkill, but whatever works for you). Then set a reasonable protein number (.65-.85 g per lb), and the rest is fat.

    At a lower calorie level, your fat percentage will be lower, because you are getting a bunch of fat by burning your own body fat.

    Example:

    Say your goal is 1200 (I think it likely can be higher for most, but it's an easy illustration).

    Carb is 50 g (IMO) or, if you prefer 30 g (since you should have some fiber to bring you to 20 g net). I'll do it with 30.

    If goal weight is 130, protein goal would be ideally between 85 and 110. Since the calories are low and it's a MINIMUM, I'll use 85.

    I'd personally just try to eat below my carb goal (in grams), hit or exceed my protein goal (again, in grams), and eat fat to satiety.

    But if you want to convert it to percentages, you'd do this:

    85 g protein x4=340, so you want 340 calories (at least) from protein or roughly 340/1200 (rounded up to 30%).

    30 g carbs x4=120, so you will cap carbs at 120 calories. 120/1200 = 10%

    That gives you (at 1200 calories) about 10% from carbs, about 30% from protein, and the remaining 60% from fat.

    Again, if you want you could likely eat more carbs and stay ketogenic, but I'd also recommend that they be mostly vegetables (plus avocado and maybe some berries if you can fit them in) and nuts and some dairy.

    But anyway you don't care what I recommend you eat, just about macros, and I think that's a good way to approach the macros.

    Really good source is http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    I hear you; I love sweets, too! I could eat nothing but empty carbs all day and think nothing of it—in fact, at some point I probably have.

    I don’t think I could manage 20 net—wow! I found it’s been a lot easier to get enough calories once I started looking at net carbs as a percentage of calories rather than a fixed number. I was avoiding even “keto-approved” veggies at first because I didn’t want to add the 1 or 2 extra carbs, and it just didn’t feel right. I usually wind up between 6-8% by the end of the day (today is higher), and that makes it much easier to, you know...eat. ;)
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    Maybe it might be easier to help meet your calorie goals if you try to gravitate toward meals and snacks that have a higher calorie value and fits in with keto? Maybe that'll help you get above the 1200.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    kdgbng22 wrote: »
    I’ve been on the keto diet for a little over a week. What I’m finding is that I’m not hungry.

    I think this is common and will probably go away, so I'd keep trying to eat more, but not worry about it too much (except as noted below).
    So I’m not meeting my 1200 calories per day, or at the very least , struggling. So my question, I know regular dieting, if you don’t eat enough you store what you do eat.

    This is not true. The risks are that it's bad for health (but over a longer period of time) and that it's likely if you eat too little that eventually you will blow your diet substantially or binge or otherwise give up. Just keep trying to eat more and make foods that fit your diet available. Sometimes with a dramatic change it's hard to think of what to eat -- you can increase portions of the things you ARE eating, as one way to start. You can also drink some calories and (on keto) eat things that have lots of cal in a small portion, like cheese.
    If I’m eating and keeping carbs around 15, fats around 65 and protein 20: am I still going to lose weight ? I’m usually coming in those percentages and between 800-1000 calories.

    Keto is like any other diet, you lose weight based on calories consumed. You'd lose on 1200, you will lose on 800-1000, but the latter is not good for you.

    Another concern is that 20% protein is kind of low even on 1200 when you are on a deficit. I think that to maintain muscle you want to be eating around .65-.85 g/lb of your healthy goal weight, and contrary to claims that it does not matter on keto, the evidence is that it's even easier to lose muscle eating very low carb. If you are eating 20% of 800-1000 cal, that's only 40-50 g, which is really quite low if you wish to maintain muscle, especially as low cal tends to make muscle loss more likely (which is why protein becomes more important).

    Can you maybe try eating a bit more of your protein sources?

    This is a good point. I agree that if you are only eating 800-1000 kcal, you want your protein to be more than 20%. More than 60g of protein would be wise while losing so you can help preserve your muscle mass a bit better.

    If you are hungry, eat more. But if not, consider eating a bit more protein to cover your basic needs. A bit more meat or eggs would do the trick.

    Good luck. :)

  • Jushere018
    Jushere018 Posts: 23 Member
    I do keto/low carb. I don’t do it by the book though. One day I might have 50g of carbs. The next I might only have 5g. It’s ok to not do it the same every day. This works for me. I lost 60 lbs in about 4 months back in 2014. I had a rough couple of years, with my ex boyfriend and my mother passing away. I got very lazy both with diet and exercise. I’m back at it now, and doing good with the way I’ve been doing it. Just do the best you can, and don’t sweat the small things:) Pinterest has a lot of good recipes too
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