BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mesa23]

Hi. It's my third day of induction. Today i learned about BMR. Mine is 2067. That's crazy!!!!!!! My body needs that just to live. What I'm concerned about is that I heard that you should consume calories equal to your BMR or above. Today was a good day. I don't feel hungry now and can't remember being hungry today except for breakfast. That's the biggest change for me, waking up hungry. I never used to eat breakfast. Anyway, on Fitday today the calories i consumed are way below my BMR by about 500 calories. It's only my third day of induction. I wondering if I need to eat more. I dont feel hungry. I keep hearing different things and its getting confusing.Should i just keeping eating, even though i don't want to eat anymore?

My numbers for today were:


cals % totalTotal:3462 Basal:206760%Lifestyle:132238%Activities:732%

Cal 1443
Fat 67%
Protein 31%
Carbs 2%

3462-1443= 2019

You see what i mean
Someone HELP
I know that during induction my main concern should be counting carbs and not going over 20grams but i just cant shake this. If my body thinks that im starving it, then i won't lose weight. (that's what i hear)

[Lyssie]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

Starvation mode is under 1200 calories. As I know nothing about you (weight, height, age, lifestyle) I cannot say whether Fitday would be right or wrong about your BMR. I would google BMR Calculator and go to that website. It also gives you the Harris Benedict numbers on how to calculate what your body actually uses per day in accordance with your life.

P.S. It really doesn't sound like you should be bothered by your numbers though, and in induction the important things are to keep track of carbs, and of course, if you're not hungry, to keep eating at least every 6 hours...

[Jace]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

While we don't go crazy counting calories on Atkins...they still matter in that the basic means of weight loss is taking in fewer calories than our body needs.

A BMR of 2067 means that you need to eat that many calories per day to sustain your current weight. If you eat 2067/day you won't lose anything. So do not worry about eating more. You're doing great with what you're eating.

Best of luck!

~Far la bella figura!

[Lyssie]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

That's not completely true... if you were to lay in your bed all day, and eat 2067, according to Fitday, you would not lose any weight. Since that's your BMR, it's the number of calories you would need to eat to sustain if you were sedentary. It doesn't mean that if you eat over 2000/day that you will not lose. Julie eats like, 2k/day and she's lost about 70lbs since August!

[WarOnTypeII]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember awhile ago reading something along the lines of calculating your BMR for your goal weight and sticking to those caloric requirements.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

I'm interpreting the information I'm learning that the Atkins WOE will consist of bulkier foods that make us fuller and therefore able to stick to lower calories. Whereas by eating sugar foods and simple carbs we could eat and eat not get full but pack on the calories and the pounds.

[Casey999]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been bouncing all over the place but have been trying to keep my calories from going under 1200. I'm just getting over that starvation mode thing. After I quit smoking I began gaining weight so I went on a diet, the weight kept coming on and I kept dropping calories, pretty soon I was gaining weight on 800 calories. DON'T go below 1200!

Thanks for explaining about the BMR, I was worried about how to eat that much.

[julirama723]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

Lyssie's right! If I eat too far below 2000 (like around 1600 or 1700 calories) my body goes into starvation mode...or at least, I stop losing weight. It's very important to check out the Harris Benedict equation. My bmr is 1700, so I thought I was fine eating that amount of calories per day. But after calculating my activity level (Harris Benedict) I found I was eating too few calories for my body.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

But, back to the induction question, during that phase your main goal is to count carbs and stay on track with percentages. Make sure you eat at least every 6 hours to keep your metabolism going.

[Mesa23]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!

Still kind of confused though; do I just stay above 1200 or what? Lots of good stuff here. I'm mostly hearing the 1200 rule but there are a few conflicting ideas.

I think I will stick to the 1200 rule since I'm doing that already.

Today is day four, so far, so good.

[julirama723]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

1200 is the bare minimum. Below that, and you have serious problems. Once you're past induction, I'd suggest focusing a bit more on BMR. But for right now, concentrate on eating at least 1200 calories a day.

[not2late]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

Your body is too smart to allow you to starve! If you listen to your hunger cues and eat to satisfy your hunger, you will notice that some meals and some days you will be "hungrier" than others and will need a few more bites of food, than on other days/meals.

Self-regulation of your food intake is totally normal and totally natural. Watch how a baby eats....when baby has had enough formula, baby won't continue to drink it right? And if you force the baby to drink more, baby will throw up, right? That's because we're all born with the ability to self-regulate our food intake. When we grow older, we develop bad habits like "cleaning our plates of every morsel of food" or piling double or triple portions onto our plates and making sure we eat every morself, eventhough we satisfied our hunger after 4 mouthfuls.

If you re-learn your baby food skills, you won't have to count calories on Atkins, because you will re-train yourself that once you feel "satisfied" feeling, you stop eating. Again, some days and some meals, you'll eat more than others....totally normal and natural.

[Lyssie]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

I can feel completely satisfied eating 900 cal/day, that doesn't mean that I should.

[not2late]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

I can feel completely satisfied eating 900 cal/day, that doesn't mean that I should.

Not everyday, but eating that amount 1 day won't adversely affect you.

Don't forget, the folks on Induction, generally, have an energy surplus---their excessive body fat. When we "burn" or metabolize our body fat, we are using those calories to supply energy for our daily energy needs. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories. If you use up or "lose" 60 grams (about two ounces) of body fat today, that's 540 calories your body has used towards your daily energy needs. And if you ate 900 calories today, your body has had 1440 calories to use for its energy needs.

As you move through OWL and Pre-Maintenance Phases towards your goal, you'll have to start monitoring your caloric intake more carefully---but if you can self-regulate your food intake by listening to your hunger cues, you won't need to count calories.

That calorie counting thing or trying to eat a certain number of calories a day will only work if you do the same amount of activity every single day. I don't know how many people do the exact same motions and exact same activity every single day. The more active you are the more calories your body requires. The less active the less calories your body needs. Also as you lose that body fat, your caloric needs change because you don't have as much body tissue to keep alive.

[Lyssie]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

I meant that as in, I was eating 900 cal/day for months while on induction and having extra fat to burn off and still stopped losing weight.

If you put your daily intake at your BMR, or within 200 calories of it, unless you're sedentary, you should be burning through those calories and more. I don't do the same amount of exercise every day, but I do try to keep my calorie level in the same area every day (1600-1800 calories). Then again, I don't worry very much if I go a bit over but do worry if it falls below 1400.

[Mesa23]

Re: BMR: Is Fitday Serious!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone. Yesterday I didnt know what to do with myself, when my Fitday totals were only 711 calories. I just wasn't hungry yesterday. Today they are 1371 and I haven't had dinner yet. It's strange.