Can this be right?

[Georgiana]

Re: Can this be right?

bbb, eat 3 cups of vegetables and enough protein and fat to satisfy your hunger. As Liv said, you can hardly go wrong this way.

Also drink plenty of water, take your supplements and exercise. You should be fine.

[liv]

Re: Can this be right?

By following the rules in the book you numbers will not be way off. That is the beauty of things. The food comes first and if we just follow the rules about food numbers will generally work out.

. Eat meals with protein, fat and veggies we actually end up with good numbers without having to strive for them. Sounds too easy. Well it is.

I never worried about numbers. Except cups of veggies, oz of cheese and cream. Limit of sweeteners and plenty of water - at least 64 oz. Those are the numbers you need.

The percentages somebody came up with later - they are not in the book. The percentages are based on just looking at what a typical Atkins person eats. So eat first - look later.

So what I am saying instead of getting so worried about percentages focus on foods. That is what Atkins tells you to do.

[Kathi22]

Re: Can this be right?

You haven't used up percentages for a day; the math works by grams and then it calculates a percentage of your overall food for each category. If you add some fat to this, like a 4 oz. steak, you will see your protein percentage decrease but your fat percentage increase; but it all still equals 100%.

This AM I had a scrambled egg with an ounce of cheese, a 1/2 tbsp of butter, and 4 slices of bacon . My percentages are 73% fat, 25% protein, and 2% carbs so far for the day. Now when I add my salad for lunch to it, I will be at 79% fat, 17% protein, and 4% carbs. My protein dropped at lunch because I took in more fat grams as a total for the day so far. Now, when I add my dinner to it I will be at 74% fat, 20% protein, and 6% carbs for the day as a final and total. See how it works?

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

ok, something is wrong, I just added 3 thin slices of bacon it put me at 34% protein, so I wanted to take it out to bring my protein down to 30% and it actually took it up to 35% What is going on!

If I decrease my protein, my carbs go up
I took out bacon and my protein went up...

What?

bbb

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

ok, I just took out 4 ounces of pork (chop) to get my protein down (now I've taken out my bacon and pork chop) my carbs went from 7% to 10%!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bbb

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

2 large eggs boiled
2 cups lettuce, iceberg
4 oz cucumber
4 oz brussel sprounts
4 oz Haddock
1 oz cheese
1 tbsp dressing, ranch
3 oz celery raw
1 oz cream cheese
4 oz pork chop
4 thin slices bacon

59% Fat 6% carbs 34% protein

I can't seem to get the day to 5% carbs and 30% protein, can someone tell me how I might change this menu to get those percentages down?

Thanks,
bbb

[Georgiana]

Re: Can this be right?

59% Fat 6% carbs 34% protein

I can't seem to get the day to 5% carbs and 30% protein, can someone tell me how I might change this menu to get those percentages down?

Now that's much better. The percentages don't have to be exactly 65-5-30. Yours are fine. If you want to increase your fat intake, just add another pat of butter, a tablespoon of olive oil or some cream cheese.

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

Georgiana - thank you all for your input, but Georgiana, thank you for being so patient with me. I really want to do this right, you've given me a tremendous amount of information. I am very grateful.

bbb

[Georgiana]

Re: Can this be right?

You're welcome. I'm glad you got the hang of it.

[Peej]

Re: Can this be right?

I would recommend using the percentages as a tool to just see what you are eating. The percentages will always change with regards to what you are eating. Its all in proportion to what you eat for the total day. Its just a balancing act.

My recommendation is to eat (by the book) a full day and then enter the information into fitday. If your fat isn't quite up to 65 (mine hardly ever is), next day try to add a bit more fat into your diet. generally if you are adding more fat, you won't be as hungry so the protein and carb numbers (as long as you are doing it by the book) will fall into place. It doesn't have to be exact, just ballpark numbers.

Generally if you're eating by the book and you're eating when you are hungry, you won't be too far off.

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

I would recommend using the percentages as a tool to just see what you are eating. The percentages will always change with regards to what you are eating. Its all in proportion to what you eat for the total day. Its just a balancing act.

My recommendation is to eat (by the book) a full day and then enter the information into fitday. If your fat isn't quite up to 65 (mine hardly ever is), next day try to add a bit more fat into your diet. generally if you are adding more fat, you won't be as hungry so the protein and carb numbers (as long as you are doing it by the book) will fall into place. It doesn't have to be exact, just ballpark numbers.

Generally if you're eating by the book and you're eating when you are hungry, you won't be too far off.

This really makes no sense, I will enter what I am having the next day, make sure I'm within legal limits and then prepare the food the night before, what you are saying sounds too much like the shot in the dark I've been doing all along. At least this way I know I'm doing it right.

bbb

[Lyssie]

Re: Can this be right?

I have used dailyplate to plan out what I will be eating for the next day - and will enter breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then check the percentages... If something is a little too low/high, I will add snacks that would balance it, or replace a meal with something different.

I think that is what you are talking about doing as well, correct? It does work this way, but you should be entering the whole day's worth of food before seeing what the percentages would be for you to tweak.

[Peej]

Re: Can this be right?

This really makes no sense, I will enter what I am having the next day, make sure I'm within legal limits and then prepare the food the night before, what you are saying sounds too much like the shot in the dark I've been doing all along. At least this way I know I'm doing it right.

bbb

I understand what you're saying, but I feel like if I'm relying too much on fitday, I'm not listening to my body. If you are eating only from the acceptable food list, having your 3 cups of veggies daily, eating fats along with your meals and eating when you are hungry, I can almost guarantee that your percentages will be right on or at least close enough. The thing that gets most people is that they are not getting enough fat.

I'm not saying that you have to do it my way. It was just a suggestion. I don't like the idea of strictly preplanning every meal to try to get perfect ratios. I prefer to listen to what my body is telling me. For me, Atkins is also about teaching myself how to listen to what my body needs while feeding it foods that allow it to actually know what it needs instead of letting cravings take over. Good luck, sorry that my advice wouldn't work for you.

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

I have used dailyplate to plan out what I will be eating for the next day - and will enter breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then check the percentages... If something is a little too low/high, I will add snacks that would balance it, or replace a meal with something different.

I think that is what you are talking about doing as well, correct? It does work this way, but you should be entering the whole day's worth of food before seeing what the percentages would be for you to tweak.

Yes, this is exactly what I am saying, I get the entering the entire day of food and then tweaking the menu. I've go it now.

Thanks!

[basketballbelly]

Re: Can this be right?

I understand what you're saying, but I feel like if I'm relying too much on fitday, I'm not listening to my body. If you are eating only from the acceptable food list, having your 3 cups of veggies daily, eating fats along with your meals and eating when you are hungry, I can almost guarantee that your percentages will be right on or at least close enough. The thing that gets most people is that they are not getting enough fat.

I'm not saying that you have to do it my way. It was just a suggestion. I don't like the idea of strictly preplanning every meal to try to get perfect ratios. I prefer to listen to what my body is telling me. For me, Atkins is also about teaching myself how to listen to what my body needs while feeding it foods that allow it to actually know what it needs instead of letting cravings take over. Good luck, sorry that my advice wouldn't work for you.

I completely respect this, however, this has not worked for me for the past 8 years...listening to my body is how I got fat to begin with, I have to try something different now.

Thanks for the input! I do appreciate it.

bbb