Do I force myself to eat?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

>>I am not hungry and it is unnatural for me to force myself to eat if I am not hungry.>>

Do you have hunger cues?

Yes, sometimes you do have to eat even if you're not hungry ... as was noted in earlier posts.

>>Do I freaking eat a stick of butter just to get more calories in?>>

More fat will certainly up your calories.

However, you don't have enough net carbs either.

There's a learning curve to doing Atkins ... and you're just at the beginning of the curve ... if you plan your food out, and keep accurate track, you'll do fine.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

hi.

Atkins is a high fat moderate protein low carb eating plan. we need dietary proteins for growth repair and for making the glucose for the body parts that can't metabolize fatty acids nor ketones and to keep our blood glucose levels from getting too low.

so to get more cals in you need to pick some nice fatty protein sources like you have for breakfast. what could you add to your salad to increase the protein and fat? 1/2 a chopped egg and dressing isn't enough fat nor protein. adding the cheese might help with the fats but it isn't much protein.

Was your fish a high fat fish or a lean piece? did you use a high fat sauce like tartar or a nice garlic or dill butter with your fish? what did you use for your asperagus?

that said some days you will not be hungry and should use the 6hr rule to eat a small snack of some of your carbs with a protein/fat. Listen to your body and it will tell you when it is hungry and needs more fuel.

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

My fish was ocean perch which only had 4g of fat. I am cooking for others in the house so am trying to find a balance so I only have to cook one meal.

The fish was baked in olive oil and butter. The asparagus was grilled but drizzled with olive oil throughout the grilling process.

Last night I had a more fatty meat... I did a beef pot roast, the cut of meat wasn't especially lean. I braised it in olive oil and then cooked it in the crockpot while I was at work.

Tonight we have the boyfriend's kids. I am baking chicken drumsticks and making macaroni and cheese for them as a side. I'll have a side salad and a cup of mixed veggies (broccoli and cauliflower mix). For lunch I'm planning some chicken salad and a side salad. For breakfast today I'm having eggs and bacon.

I'm losing weight but I don't want to stall out.

[dyjack]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

Sounds incredibly yummy! Question about your roast. Did you have it in the crockpot with any other liquid? I've been struggling with crockpot cooking as I'm so used to using a cream type soup when slow cooking.

I have a few Atkins friendly "cream of" soups but haven't gotten around to trying them.

[not2late]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

As 2Big wrote, Atkins is a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. It's the fat to carb ratio that gets you into ketosis and it's the fat that provides calories. Fat has alittle over twice the amount of calories per gram than either carbs or protein. So, you don't need to eat a stick of butter or drink glasses of olive oil

Additionally, your body isn't stupid: it won't let you starve. Some days you will be hungrier than other days, so you will eat more food. Some days you won't. For example, yesterday I couldn't eat enough. But this morning I woke up feeling "full". Did I eat breakfast? Sure, but I didn't eat my "usual" amount of food (and I probably won't be eating the "usual" amount for lunch either because I'm still "full".) That's completely normal.

Babies and toddlers have the ability to eat only that amount of food their bodies need to do their activities. During toddlerhood, some well-meaning adult freaks out because the child is "only" eating 1 tablespoon of meat and 1 tablespoon of veg for lunch. So they double the portions for dinner and they push the child to clean that plate. Eventually, the child unlearns all those natural cues and begins to associate being "satisfied" or "full" with an empty plate---no matter how much was on that plate.

On the days you aren't as hungry, make sure follow the 6 hour rule, which states that you should not go more than 6 waking hours without eating. So eat something that combines fat, protein and carb, like a devilled egg, or finger-sized peices of cooked meat and veg dipped into a mayo-based sauce or an olive-oil viniagrette.

Feed your hunger, not a number.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

>> I'm losing weight but I don't want to stall out.>>

Don't forget that starvation diets do work ... and you can, quite easily, put yourself in famine mode doing Atkins.

That can/will happen with not enough calories and/or not enough net carbs.

Been there, done that.

[Newfun4me]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

Additionally, your body isn't stupid: it won't let you starve. Some days you will be hungrier than other days, so you will eat more food. Some days you won't. For example, yesterday I couldn't eat enough. But this morning I woke up feeling "full". Did I eat breakfast? Sure, but I didn't eat my "usual" amount of food (and I probably won't be eating the "usual" amount for lunch either because I'm still "full".) That's completely normal.

Hey, don't mean to hijack the thread, but thanks for posting this! I'm new to this diet, too, and yesterday I was so hungry and it was the first time I felt that way (started induction 2/15)! I didn't understand it. Today, I feel fine (so far) so it is nice to know that's normal.

[not2late]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

It's more than normal---it's natural. As I wrote babies and toddlers have that natural ability to recognize how much is truly enough. And they lose that ability when they become "good" or "healthy" eaters. As opposed to the the children who remain "picky" and don't have a "healthy" appetite.

Nutrition researchers have done some interesting experiments on toddler eating behavior. There's one experiment where they put a big bowl of mac and cheese on a table and allowed the child to serve himself/herself from it. Almost consistently, they found that the portion the child took was an age appropriate serving size. Even if there were other children at the table, the children consistently served themselves an appropriate serving size.

And there is another experiment where they served slightly older children 1 serving of a food. The first part, they gave a "normal" size (I can't remember the exact size, but for argument's sake, let's say it was 8 ounces. The children ate the serving. Then they increased the size, the children still ate that larger size. The conclusion was the children were no longer eating to fulfill their energy requirement, but eating to fulfill a an amount. It's like those "super sized" fast food meals: people can eat that as easily as they can eat a happy meal----because they aren't looking at it as a super-sized burger versus a regular sized burger: they only look at it as a burger.

If you try to relearn how to eat for your physical needs (your energy requirement), you'll find that your appetite will fluctuate: some days you won't be as hungry as other days. And that's totally okay.

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

I used a can of chicken broth (1g carbs), a can of hot rotel diced tomatoes, 2 beef bouillon cubes and a quarter of a cup of soy sauce. Don't know if it's all phase 1 allowed but they were all low in carbs.

Sounds incredibly yummy! Question about your roast. Did you have it in the crockpot with any other liquid? I've been struggling with crockpot cooking as I'm so used to using a cream type soup when slow cooking.

I have a few Atkins friendly "cream of" soups but haven't gotten around to trying them.

[Georgiana]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

I used a can of chicken broth (1g carbs)

Where are the carbs coming from? What are the ingredients?

[Georgiana]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

2 beef bouillon cubes

Did you check the ingredients in these?