Appetite Decrease & Balancing Portions Question

[punker]

hey people! congrats to everyone who has made this great step forward in their WOE!

i have a question now.

i have ended my first week of induction, before this full week of pure induction eating, i had been building up towards eating only induction foods by decreasing the amounts of carbs i was eating, so i may have been in a semi-state of ketosis as i entered into induction in the first place. now that i'm in induction, i plan on staying that way until i am a few steps away from my goal.

i have noticed that my appetite has decreased majorly also i noticed that i don't necessarily need a 'meal' anymore, i'm much more suited towards munching on some vegetables here, some meats there, etc etc. which is great but troubling also because i also know that i have to maintain a good level of fat and also vegetables in my diet. i have been trying to eat fattier foods like eggs, pork, a little more butter and sour cream here and there too. but at the same time, i'm so excited about this new control i have over my way of eating. so how should i go about balancing this new lowered appetite of mine and also maintain levels of fat that will inhibit ketosis during this phase of my new eating habits?

is it a good thing that my appetite has decreased? and should i take advantage of that?
or should i be forcing myself a little to eat that extra portion of rib?
or should i just maintain what i'm doing now.

i'm in the middle of reading dr. atkins' book, but i havent reached anywhere yet where he mentions if this type of problem might pop up.

any info or advice would be great!

good luck and congrats to everyone here! we're all sooo cool!

[Elizellen]

Re: Appetite Decrease & Balancing Portions Question

Welcome to our ADBB family

It is exciting to discover we can gain control of our eating, isnt it, well done

Dr Atkins advises us to eat to satisfy our hunger but not to go more than 6 hours without eating something. So continue as you are doing but try to plan your eating so you eat a balance of fat/protein/carbs.
So instead of nibbling on just veggies, add some cheese or mayo or sour cream dressing etc to it so as not to have carbs on their own.

You will find you get some days when you are not hungry and have to use the 6-hour rule and then others where it seems you are always hungry. this is normal, so just go with it.

Many of us use a website like www.fitday.com to log our food intake and see how we are doing in regards to getting our ratios right and our nutrients in.

A good ratio of fat/protein/carbs for induction is about the 65%/30%/5% mark - why not log your last few days in fitday and see how you did?

When I found fitday I had been on induction for several months but I found that my normal daily eating worked out at around the correct ratios even though I hadnt been aiming at any specific numbers apart from staying below 20 net carbs following the rules of induction.

There is a good 'sticky thread' called 'how much fat do I need to eat' on this forum http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ad.php?t=17102 which explains how to alter your ratios by adding or subtracting just half a spoonful of dresing etc which you might find interesting and helpful.

[punker]

Re: Appetite Decrease & Balancing Portions Question

elizellen! thanks so much for the info! yep i've been trying to eat every six hours definitely. as well as a munch in between every once and again too. i just joined fitday! thanks so much for the link!
your pic looks terrific! that black leather motorcycle suit is WAY chic! congrats on that!
once again, thanks so much!!

-alfonso

[boonie stomper]

Re: Appetite Decrease & Balancing Portions Question

I hope that was a typo "inhibit ketosis"! It is the ketosis which is checking your appetite, giving you the metabolic advantage to lose more weight eating more than you would lose if you were not in ketosis, giving you extra energy, etc. Because of the effects of ketosis it is natural you will feel full after eating less than you normally would. Stop when you are satisfied, so long as all is going well, and you'll lose more than if you force the extra rib. The induction percentages will help you more on a meal-by-meal basis if each meal contains some of all 3 categories.

One thought, though - try not to be too concerned if your 2-week weight loss figure doesn't add up to normal people's expectations and book calculations along the way may not be accurate either if you were already in ketosis and losing before you started...A typical induction begins with a dramatic shift in metabolism as well as an initial loss of water and intestinal bulk before fat burning is really underway.

[punker]

Re: Appetite Decrease & Balancing Portions Question

thanks much for the advice susan! i trust it! yeah, i've been eating regularly throughout the day and filling up on small portions. seems sensible to simply stop when i'm full. i will trust what my body tells me! thanks again!

-a