counting carbs counting calories
Denimgirl
Posts: 87 Member
HI all,
I am on a low carb diet (basically Atkins) and try to stay under 20-30 carbs a day.
I set my calorie goal as 1400 + I exercise and usually eat all those calories back.
Too many days I'm having a hard time staying under the calorie goal too.
Just wondering what others do. Do you worry about the calories? Is it a worthy goal? Any feedback is appreciated.
I am on a low carb diet (basically Atkins) and try to stay under 20-30 carbs a day.
I set my calorie goal as 1400 + I exercise and usually eat all those calories back.
Too many days I'm having a hard time staying under the calorie goal too.
Just wondering what others do. Do you worry about the calories? Is it a worthy goal? Any feedback is appreciated.
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Replies
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Is that to lose 2 lbs per week? If you go over your calories but not your carbs do you gain? I have mine set at 1 lb per week which is 1700ish. I rarely go over. Maybe relax your calorie goal and you'll find it a bit easier?
I notice my calorie count as I'm tracking carbs but don't worry too much if I am a little over or under. It will take awhile to lose this weight and I intend to make it as pleasant as possible.0 -
I find if you stay truly low on carbs, your appetite regulates itself. If you eat a good amount of fat, you get high fat numbers, but you seem to be less hungry, and after a bit, eat less.
Good healthy fats are key. Protein is important, but fat must be present to provide energy and fat also reduces the glycemic impact of foods you eat along with it.
I would not concern yourself with goals based on 1 or 2 pounds a week. If you are truly that low on carbs, you are going to be shedding fat as fast as your body can. Going over on calories an extra 5 or 10% is not going to slow you down.
Count carbs honestly, count calories liberally. Enjoy
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I am losing weight and staying within my carb limit.
I was just wondering what others did with the calorie count and if I needed more calories or if 1400 was a good goal when doing a low carb diet. 0 -
Like! Kavemans advice.0
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My set-up is under my endocrinologist's recommendations for my unique circumstances...
Per her instruction, I am consuming:
Per day
1600 Calories
no more than 120g of CHO daily...
I have a list of food restrictions and some to keep at the extreme minimum of consumption...0 -
I find if you stay truly low on carbs, your appetite regulates itself. If you eat a good amount of fat, you get high fat numbers, but you seem to be less hungry, and after a bit, eat less.
Good healthy fats are key. Protein is important, but fat must be present to provide energy and fat also reduces the glycemic impact of foods you eat along with it.
YES YES YES!!! be sure to try to eat 6 mini meals so that you are getting enough fat/cal to keep you from being hungry....but depending on how much your current weight is 1400 may be too low.... I eat that much to maintain but I am also at GW of 120....
Good luck!!! 0 -
I find if you stay truly low on carbs, your appetite regulates itself. If you eat a good amount of fat, you get high fat numbers, but you seem to be less hungry, and after a bit, eat less.
Good healthy fats are key. Protein is important, but fat must be present to provide energy and fat also reduces the glycemic impact of foods you eat along with it.
YES YES YES!!! be sure to try to eat 6 mini meals so that you are getting enough fat/cal to keep you from being hungry....but depending on how much your current weight is 1400 may be too low.... I eat that much to maintain but I am also at GW of 120....
Good luck!!!
Not everyone needs to have six mini meals...0 -
The low-carb approach, if done correctly, puts your body into a mode where it must burn fat for energy. Thus, if your carb intake is too high (it varies among folks), then YES, the calorie count will really matter. That is why many people gain weight rapidly when they leave the low-carb diet to return to their normal way of eating. As long as you are in a definite carb deficiency (it takes about a week to get there), and IF you stay there, then there is no need to worry about the calories. In my experience, I had to stay very strict (almost zero carbs) in order to see a fall-off of 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. But, as soon as I allowed myself to ease up to 15-20 carbs (grams) a day, my weight loss slowed or stopped. In my case, if I stay close to zero carbs over a period of days, I can eat all I want of meat, cheese, and eggs. But if I ever include some carb-loaded foods with that, then ZOOM goes the weight gain.
I hope this helps to explain calories vs. carbs.
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter0 -
If you're doing Atkins, you really shouldn't need to restrict your calories like that. I lost rapidly on around 2200 cals a day. I just followed induction to the letter and the weight dropped off without restricting calories. As rarwood says, if you're cutting carbs, you don't need to worry much about calories, but if you're going above your personal carb limit (as Atkins explains in his book) then you'll need to watch calories or you'll gain.0
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This might be the best place to ask this...
Atkins, I find the diet a little scarey to be honest, when I've dieted before in my life I've counted the kcal (with quite low aims of 500-800 I'll be honest) I watch the food kcals go up when I fill in the food diary on here, and I see it rise over the kcals I'd usually diet with. Do kcal make much of an impact with this type of diet if you stay under 20 carbs a day? The food I eat doesn't feel like a diet (must admit I got excited when I realised peanut butter was allowed today lol)
I'm slipping in to trying to keep the kcals low AND being on the Atkins with the lowest carb figure I can manage, could my body just start storing all the fat instead if I allow myself to do that with low kcal's?
My trouble is I get satisfaction with low kcal figures and a past diet obsession with it I guess lol.
Do kcals matter with the lowest carb intake, should I eat a certain amount of kcal for the diet to work?
Note, Please don't judge me as I'm not anorexic etc.. I've always been scatty and eccentric and always create aims that most people find stupid/unhealthy with many things I do ..low kcal diets being one of them in the past. I've bumped up to a size 14 lately and unhappy, I truely am just asking for advise, my whole life aim is ultimate healthiness. Thanks hope my questions arn't too silly.0 -
This might be the best place to ask this...
Atkins, I find the diet a little scarey to be honest, when I've dieted before in my life I've counted the kcal (with quite low aims of 500-800 I'll be honest) I watch the food kcals go up when I fill in the food diary on here, and I see it rise over the kcals I'd usually diet with. Do kcal make much of an impact with this type of diet if you stay under 20 carbs a day? The food I eat doesn't feel like a diet (must admit I got excited when I realised peanut butter was allowed today lol)
I'm slipping in to trying to keep the kcals low AND being on the Atkins with the lowest carb figure I can manage, could my body just start storing all the fat instead if I allow myself to do that with low kcal's?
My trouble is I get satisfaction with low kcal figures and a past diet obsession with it I guess lol.
Do kcals matter with the lowest carb intake, should I eat a certain amount of kcal for the diet to work?
Note, Please don't judge me as I'm not anorexic etc.. I've always been scatty and eccentric and always create aims that most people find stupid/unhealthy with many things I do ..low kcal diets being one of them in the past. I've bumped up to a size 14 lately and unhappy, I truely am just asking for advise, my whole life aim is ultimate healthiness. Thanks hope my questions arn't too silly.
On Atkins, all you need to concern yourself with is net carbs and getting in your fats and proteins. That's it 0 -
Do kcals matter with the lowest carb intake, should I eat a certain amount of kcal for the diet to work?
Within reason, no. I've lost eating over 3000 cals at times and I average around 2000. Everyone has a different metabolism so you might not be able to tolerate that many calories but if you're hungry, eat. Read the Atkins book, read Gary Taubes. They explain it much better than I could.0 -
I am on an atkins like diet, 20 carbs daily, and I can't get my calories in. I guess I could be eating more meat, cheese seems to slow weight loss somewhat and I think I'm restricted to 4oz on my diet.
I've been losing up and down, and have Saturdays planned for cheat days, and I'm checking after with keto sticks to see if I'm still in Ketosis.
I want to low carb to lose the bulk of my weight, and then transfer over to medium carb (100ish) when it's time to maintain. (Slowly.)
MY QUESTION: How do I add in more calories while keeping my carbs down? I'm not hungry but I get to around 8-900 calories. Rarely 1200...
Any tips/foods/products?0 -
I don't count calories but I tend to fall around 1400/1500 a day and that works for me.
Adding more calories - drizzle your salad with some olive oil or whack some more butter in when you're frying your chicken/beef/lamb/fish/vegetables :-))0 -
Thanks. I've been adding butter to my stuff, or olive oil. When I can remember! :P0
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pfeiferfit - sounds a lot like me. I log here because I like to keep track of what I eat. I am not supposed to be counting calories. my carbs, sugars, and sodium are kept low (k cept today had two cookies we baked). my diet right now is very strict, until i get a few more pounds off.0
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