Have you increased your calories?
second_try
Posts: 4 Member
I'm a 30 yr old, 5'9" F and I started Keto Jan 3 at 214 lbs and after about 3 months (and two cheat meals) I've lost 25 pounds and am down to 189. I don't exercise, and drink at least 4 L of water a day.
Over the past two months I have consistently lost about 6 pounds a month (usually in whooshes every week or so). The issue is that I have reduced my calories to 1,000 per day (allowing myself to sometimes go over up to 1,200) but I am losing about 1.5 pounds a week instead of 2 pounds a week. I'm wondering if I should increase my calories to a steady 1,200 but I am afraid that it will stall my weight for a few weeks and that I will get discouraged.
I typically eat when I'm hungry but some days I will be hungry but not want to eat too many calories so I drink water instead. So, have any of you increased your calories? If so, why and what happened?
Over the past two months I have consistently lost about 6 pounds a month (usually in whooshes every week or so). The issue is that I have reduced my calories to 1,000 per day (allowing myself to sometimes go over up to 1,200) but I am losing about 1.5 pounds a week instead of 2 pounds a week. I'm wondering if I should increase my calories to a steady 1,200 but I am afraid that it will stall my weight for a few weeks and that I will get discouraged.
I typically eat when I'm hungry but some days I will be hungry but not want to eat too many calories so I drink water instead. So, have any of you increased your calories? If so, why and what happened?
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Replies
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After you get that initial big drop in weight, you will typically slow down in weight loss. This is OK, and is another instance of "slow to gain, slow to lose". If you're eating 1200 cals/day then you are doing FINE. Actually, MFP is trying to tell me to eat at least 1700 cal/day which would still get me losing 1lb/week but I have trouble getting there because keto food is so filling.0
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1.5 lbs a week actually sounds great, since 1-2 lbs a week is a healthy rate to be losing.
Keep in mind that as someone gets smaller, an absolute number of pounds (2 lbs a week) becomes a greater percentage of weight loss. By focusing on the number of pounds, you're actually setting yourself up to fail by expecting to lose more of yourself at the same time that there is less of yourself to lose.
Rather than fiddling with calories, I think your expectations are what needs adjusting. Don't be a slave to your scale and don't stress about something that is unrealistic. You'll get there, just keep doing what you're doing because it's obviously working!
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What solid points. I hadn't thought of it as expecting to lose more of myself as I get smaller. That makes so much sense. I get so goal oriented that I forget to take a step back and just keep living my life. Thanks, it's nice to get a new perspective.0
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@ destructive_de really, that is an awesome way to look at it!0
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Weight pounds can be deceiving, and unfortunately a poor way to judge progress. My weight hasn't shifted dramatically, but my body composition has. It seems my body type is to build muscle while burning more fat, so the body fat % has shifted instead.
Also, for me, I think have been under eating unintentionally. I used to eat only twice a day (Breakfast and dinner), because I was not hungry in my day. I recently started eating a "lunch", which is just usually a single high fat bratwurst. Even with that, I was still hitting around 2000-2200 calories. In doing some research, I think I might need to up my calorie count to be closer to 2500.0
