Do I force myself to eat?

[kcerica]

I am in my first week of the induction and I think I am not eating enough calories? For the most part I have been eating about 1000 calories, 20g carb from green veggies and low carb veggies and 70g protein.

Should I force myself to eat more food if I am not hungry? I have heard that if you don't eat enough calories it may make your body want to hold on to what it's got. Is this something I should be worrying about in induction?

It's been a few years since I've done the diet... hence why I am back.. I gained weight.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

>>For the most part I have been eating about 1000 calories,>>

You're right ... that's not enough.

Eating at about 10-12 times your current body weight is more likely to help you lose.

>>I have heard that if you don't eat enough calories it may make your body want to hold on to what it's got. Is this something I should be worrying about in induction?>>

You need to pay attention to that regardless of what phase of Atkins you're in.

>> Should I force myself to eat more food if I am not hungry?>>

Do you really know what your hunger cues are?

You could eat by the clock ... make sure you eat something every few hours.

One of the side effects of ketosis is appetite suppressant ... and we do have to eat through this.

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

I pretty much knew the answer but mainly wanted some feedback I guess. I'm doing great with getting in my 20g of carbs.. in the past I was bad about making sure I got that in.

I am going to add a few calorie dense foods in to my diet like maybe a tablespoon of sunflower seeds on my salad at lunch. I know the Omega 6 from the seeds is good too.

I also haven't been eating much cheese. I think if I add in a couple ounces of cheese a day as a snack that will be good.

[dyjack]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

kcerica - i still have this problem and I've been doing this for a couple of months now. I do just as atkinsgal suggested - I eat by the clock. The days I don't do this I've found myself sitting around at 8pm having only eaten one meal. (That's only happened twice) Not eating enough can slow down your weight loss so it's best to schedule until you can work through it or it becomes routine.

Good luck!

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

>>I'm doing great with getting in my 20g of carbs.. i>>

It's NET carbs ... so you could be undereating there, too.

If you one to post a typical menu, we can take a look.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

>> I am going to add a few calorie dense foods in to my diet like maybe a tablespoon of sunflower seeds on my salad at lunch.>>

Not allowed on Induction though.

You are reading the book, Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (2002), right?

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

I've read the book several times.... but I don't have it memorized.

My typical breakfast:

2 scrambled eggs
2 sausage patties

Lunch:

2 cups of salad w/2 tbsp of blue cheese dressing

Dinner:

4 oz of meat (last night it was 6oz of fish)
1 cup of green vegetables (last night it was asparagus)

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

You might want to use Fitday to enter your food.

That's not enough food, nor enough vegetables.

What exactly is "salad"? Is there anything else other than lettuce?

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

I use lifeform to enter my information.

My salad yesterday was 2 cups of romain lettuce, 1/4 of a tomato, 2 tbsp chopped onion, 2tbsp chopped green pepper, 1/2 chopped hardboiled egg, 3 sliced olives, 1 tbsp shredded cheddar. Plus 2 tbsp blue cheese

Today it was 2 cups of romaine, 1/2 a tomato, 1/4 of a red pepper, 1/4 of a green pepper. Plus 2 tbsp blue cheese.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

How many net carbs of Induction vegetables have you had today? Yesterday?

How many calories today? Yesterday?

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

Yesterday: 24g carb - 3g fiber = 21g Net Carbs 1028 Calories
Today: 21g carb - 4g fiber = 17g Net Carbs 943 Calories

My carbs need a slight increase but pretty much I'm on target... I just need more calories.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

Can you show the carbs/fiber for each of the foods one day? I'm not seeing how you get the number of carbs from what you ate.

Thanks.

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

Yes, this looks like it is coming in a little low when I add it all up... comes to about 12g net carbs. Looks like I need to add a cup of some other veggie to go along with my lunch salad and maybe double my serving of vegetables at dinner.

2 Eggs = 1 Carb/0 Fiber
2 Sausage Patty = 1 Carb/0 Fiber
Romaine Lettuce = 1 Carb/1 Fiber
Sliced Mushrooms = 1 Carb/0 Fiber
Onion = 4 Carb/1 Fiber
Olives = 1 Carb/0 FIber
Blue Cheese Dressing = 2 Carb/0 Fiber
Shredded Cheese = 1 Carb/0 Fiber
Ocean Pearch = 0 Carb/0 Fiber
Asparagus = 3 Carb/1 Fiber
Olive Oil = 0 Carb/0 Fiber

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

>> Romaine Lettuce = 1 Carb/1 Fiber>>

This isn't accurate ... 2 cups of chopped romaine would be .55 net carbs.

You might want to check your carb counts against http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

It appears, then, that you're not eating enough net carbs or calories.

[kcerica]

Re: Do I force myself to eat?

Ok.. now that you're done grilling me how bout some words of encouragement....


My main concern has not been addressed.... I am not hungry and it is unnatural for me to force myself to eat if I am not hungry. Do I freaking eat a stick of butter just to get more calories in?