DANDR Induction questions

[marc998]

Hey Every one,

I've got a bit of a newbie question. Should my calorie intake when in inductions be higher or lower than what is normally recommended by the food and drug administration?

I've not started Induction yet but have my date set for Friday. When reading DANDR I noticed that the Doc mentions that you will have a higher intake of calories than other low fat diets. But when taking what I've learned and trying to plan out meals I've noticed that the calorie count is right around 1200. I know the FDA says it should be around 2000. (I plugged into fit day to visualize) I know Atkins is not about calorie counting but this just kind of popped out at me and I thought I'd ask and if y'all say forget about calories, then it's forgotten.

Second questions is about something else in DANDR where the Doc said it's not about the ratio of carbs to protein that you should worry about but carb's to fat (I could also have that mixed up). I've been using fitday to try and visualize and eating lot's of raw spinach (I love spinach salad). So the break down is 54% Fat – 5% Carbs – 41% Protein – 0% Alcohol. Is this good for induction or am I a little out of wack and what is a good breakdown.

Thanks everyone in advance.

[Desertthorn]

Re: DANDAR Induction questions

It's generally higher as we eat the big percentage in fat, about 65% of our diet. Your calories will go down though and be lower because once your in ketosis, your appetite goes down and your just not as hungry/

But don't over think the WOE or worry about calories. Focus on carbs and making sure your getting the proper foods.

Glad you found us and joined.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: DANDAR Induction questions

A rule of thumb is to eat 10-12 times your current body weight in calories.

Another rule of thumb is to eat 250 calories above your BMR, which you can figure here:

BMR Formula

Undereating in calories, or in net carbs is counterproductive with Atkins.

[Elizellen]

Re: DANDAR Induction questions

But don't over think the WOE or worry about calories. Focus on carbs and making sure your getting the proper foods.

Absolutely
Some people need to look at their calories when they are approaching their goal or if they find they are consistently eating at a very low calorie level, but if you eat to the allowed foods list, getting most of your 'up to 20 net carbs' from your veggies, eat when hungry and till no longer hungry and drink enough water you should be fine.

You will probably find some days when you are not very hungry and others when you are hungry enough to eat a lot more food, but try not to focus on getting any particular number of calories.

If you want to focus on any number apart from your net carbs look at your ratios of fat/protein/carbs (65/30/5)

[not2late]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

In addition to what Elizellen says, if you are used to counting calories, this will be an odd transition.

Your body won't let you starve. When we were babies, we were programmed to eat only the amount of food we needed to sustain our typicaly baby activities. And for the most part toddlers do the same thing---eat the amount their bodies need to eat. Somewhere along the line, a well-meaning adult freaks out that we are eating "enough" and increases our portions. If we eat the larger portions, it was taken to mean we had "good" appetites. If we remained stubborn and only ate what we needed to eat, we were considered "picky eaters" with "poor appetites" and we became the constant worry of our adults who were scared we would die of malnutrition.

Dr. Atkins wanted us to relearn that inborn skill of eating only what our bodies need. And yes, it seems wacky and scary---if you are used to counting every calorie you ingest. But if you give listening to your body a try, you will be surprized to find that you'll relearn those hunger cues and you won't overeat or undereat.

[poobears1972]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

Maybe you can post a sample of your menu you have planned here so we can see if needs tweaking before you start. Good for you planning things out ahead of time, that will definitely help in the long run.

[2big4mysize]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

yep listen to your body and feed only your hunger. become that picky toddler again and you will be fine. Some days you will be hungry and eat a lot of the legal foods like fats and proteins with your 3 cups of veggies. Other days you will not feel hungry and should be using that 6 hr rule you read about in DANDR and having a small snack with some fat some protein and some of your vegies.

Since we don't do the exact same thing each day we should not need the exactr same amount of food each day. Have your foods ready and proteioned out in your frig so when you are hungry you can eat and when you aren't you can get a small snack at the 6 hr mark.

Make sure you learn that healthy fats like butter are your friend in losing weight and as Desertthorn said about 65% of your total cals should be from fats.

BTW spinach is restricted to 1 cup raw during the 14 days of induction. you can dream those spinach dreams when you move to OWL and can add back 5 more net grams of carbs worth.

Be sure you take your body measurements too so you can see you are shedding body fat when the scales don't validate your hard work.

[not2late]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

Since we don't do the exact same thing each day we should not need the exactr same amount of food each day.

Precisely.

For those BMR AMR calculations to be accurate you will need to expend the same number of calories every single day. That means, you will need to take the same number of steps, same number of breaths, same number of eye blinks, etc. day after day after day.

So feed your hunger.

I find on the days I'm more active (like shoveling 30 inches of snow off my driveway!), I am hungrier than the days I'm not as active.

[marc998]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

Thanks for the feed back everybody. And good to know about spinach I would have guessed it was allowed. I've replaced it with Romain.

Here is the sample menu i'm working with. I'm still working some things out and still reading DANDR. I need something fast and simple for lunch as sometimes I need to work through my lunch. it really seems like a lot of food compared to what I eat now.

Breakfast
3 Egg's
Beef Sausage link

Snack
Jell-O sugar free

Lunch
2 cups of Romain Lettuce
1 Can of Tuna, Chicken, or Salmon
Cucumber
Celery
Italian dressing (still working this one out)

Snack
Cheese

Dinner
2 cup Romain lettuce
Cucumber
Celery
chicken breast
Cauliflower
Broccoli

[2big4mysize]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

you got too many veggies in there for induction. 3 cups from the acceptable veggies lists

[marc998]

Re: DANDR Induction questions

Ok, I think i got this thing figured out.

Thanks everyone for the feed back. I'm starting on This Friday so Tomorrow is my last free carb day.