I’m actually debating with myself whether to keep tracking or not. It will be interesting to see exactly what I eat if I’m not trying to hit a calorie goal but I don’t know if still seeing that number on the screen might affect whether I eat or not.

I am very intrigued by this and think that I'm going to give it a go. I was already considering doing my own "Zero Carb Challenge" for August, so think that I might do so in conjunction with this. I do currently track my calories and try to ensure that I remain in a deficit, so this is probably going to be tough for me. But I figure, if I'm only eating meat and eggs and maybe some goat's milk dairy, that maybe I won't feel the need to track. I've got to admit. The concept of not tracking scares me. I find that when I don't track, it's easy for me to go off of the rails. I'm going to do my best. I really need to get this weight off.

FIT_Goat wrote: »

CrispyStars3 wrote: »

@FIT_Goat - I joined the group this morning, but did not seem like the request went through? Please let me know if the request is not there. Want to make sure I am in for Aug. 1st Thanks!

I don't see it. I am going to send an invite. Maybe that will work.

melmerritt33 wrote: »

I’m actually debating with myself whether to keep tracking or not. It will be interesting to see exactly what I eat if I’m not trying to hit a calorie goal but I don’t know if still seeing that number on the screen might affect whether I eat or not.

I had a fairly long response to this, but then I hit "Done" on the top of the app and not the "post reply" or whatever it is under the post. That erases the whole post. I do that more often than I like to admit. The short answer is that tracking everything is fine, as long as your calorie count doesn't impact the type or amount of food that you would eat.

Shame we lost that reply! Thanks, thinking of one of two approaches, Number 1 is to temporarily change my calorie goal really low or really high so that when I see it I know it’s not an actual goal number and will be reminded that it’s not my focus right now. Number 2 is to just not record anything until I’m ready for bed, that might actually work as I’m planning on sticking to meat eggs and dairy so not a lot to remember there!

tayusuki wrote: »

ccrdragon wrote: »

FIT_Goat wrote: »

tifano wrote: »

I eat around 55-60 grams of protein a day. On days I lift I might take it up to 70 just depending on how I feel. The founder of Common Sense Keto has been doing this way of Keto for over 10 years and he's a CrossFit Coach/Athlete. He's shredded and not losing muscle by eating less protein. I think his max protein a day is around 80

Protein is outside the scope of this challenge, but we'e had tons of discussions on why low protein tends to be significantly worse than too much. Too much protein is almost harmless, too little is a major long-term issue. I did google him to see what his advice is, and I hate to say that I just don't agree. There is almost no one who has "too much protein" as a negative issues that is hindering their ketogenic diet (outside of those who are on a therapeutic diet and absolutely must keep blood ketone levels sky high).

I was going to chime in here as well, because I routinely eat 60-70 grams of protein with EACH meal and have no problem maintaining ketosis, weight loss and more importantly to me, muscle mass.

Yeah, 60 feels low to me. I realize people who recommend .8 g/km of IDEAL weight eat roughly that much. I have seen what higher protein alone with no other dietary changes can do for someone, so this whole thing has been extremely confusing. I personally try to average 95g. I remember reading that during weight loss the higher amount supposedly hinders insulin resistance healing -- but I wonder how true that is, I'd only seen a single study on it.

The 60g of protein is what he eats at each meal. If he eats three meals a day, that's about 180g of protein in a day. Probably closer to 1 g per pound body weight. Probably at the top of the moderate protein range.

I've seen a few people who have said they need to keep protein to moderate, or the low side of moderate for their IR. I don't think it is the norm though.

macchiatto wrote: »

nvmomketo wrote: »

I'll join this too. I'm really lazy about logging so I won't need to change much.

For me, this works when carbs are low to zero. I let my carbs creep up this past year and regained some of my lost weight. This summer, I've cut carbs and have been losing again without worrying about calories or not eating when hungry. I'm a believer.

I'm another going for zero carb. I'm just weaning myself off of stevia and protein powder in my coffees. I really am that lazy - I tend to treat those as a small meal's worth of calories or energy rather than cooking breakfast or lunch.

I had carb creep over the past year, too. Ugh. I've toyed with the idea of going close to zero carb for a while but may instead keep it to something simple like (up to 3 servings/day of non-starchy vegetables) and maybe cut back artificial sweeteners to 1/day, then maybe 1-2/wk.

Annoying isn't it?! I wish I could just hit that magic weight and stay there without effort. I almost think losing is a simpler mind game than maintaining. I find it harder to stay vigilant to stay where I want than it is to achieve what I want. If that makes sense.

But I still think starting is the hardest mind game. Something about that is always the most daunting to me me.

macchiatto wrote: »

nvmomketo wrote: »

macchiatto wrote: »

nvmomketo wrote: »

I'll join this too. I'm really lazy about logging so I won't need to change much.

For me, this works when carbs are low to zero. I let my carbs creep up this past year and regained some of my lost weight. This summer, I've cut carbs and have been losing again without worrying about calories or not eating when hungry. I'm a believer.

I'm another going for zero carb. I'm just weaning myself off of stevia and protein powder in my coffees. I really am that lazy - I tend to treat those as a small meal's worth of calories or energy rather than cooking breakfast or lunch.

I had carb creep over the past year, too. Ugh. I've toyed with the idea of going close to zero carb for a while but may instead keep it to something simple like (up to 3 servings/day of non-starchy vegetables) and maybe cut back artificial sweeteners to 1/day, then maybe 1-2/wk.

Annoying isn't it?! I wish I could just hit that magic weight and stay there without effort. I almost think losing is a simpler mind game than maintaining. I find it harder to stay vigilant to stay where I want than it is to achieve what I want. If that makes sense.

But I still think starting is the hardest mind game. Something about that is always the most daunting to me me.

I agree! One of these days I'll get maintenance figured out. I miss being able to wear the smaller clothes in my wardrobe!

I hear you!

I got rid of two sizes worth of fat clothes when I lost weight a few years ago. I actually had to go and buy a pair of shorts this spring because what I had left was too small. That's what prompted me to get losing again. I can thankfully now wear the shorts that were too loose a year ago, although they aren't loose anymore. LOL hopefully I'll be back into all of my 10s and 8s again before next year.

And then I need to ignore figure out maintenance again. Better this time.

Edited to fix autocorrect wrongness.

Argh, dumb autocorrect. So sorry about that. I should have double checked. I meant figure out, and not ignore out. LOL

I'm going to track foods simply to make sure I eat enough. But I'm going to ignore calories as long as there are at least 900.