No way!

[thefemalegreenday]

Okay, so as a fellow obsessor over these boards I found out something kinda weird.
A lady here posted we should eat like 10 times our body weight.
Im 110.22 pounds, so thats 1102 calories.
Ive been eating around that but I just presumed on atkins you should consume more.
Any views on this 10x body weight thing?

[2big4mysize]

Re: No way!

still waiting to see the studies that support the 10 times thing but I'd bet if they exist they are based on high carb eating.

Also 10 times the body weight for a fluffy marshmellow person who doesn't work out would go a lot further providing the needed daily energy then 10 times the body weight for a muscluar person who does work out even if they both weighed the same amount.


Atkins is based on high fat moderat protein and low carbs. Since it takes more energy to process fats then carbs from mouth to energy we will lose more weight eating the same caloric amount on Atkins as we did on high carb. the change from the USDA diet which is 60% carbs 30% fats and 10% proteins to the atkins induction of 5% carbs 65% fats and 30% protein will give you around a 25-30% higher energy burn depending on what your total is becuase it is almost impossible to get the carbs at 5% so usually our protein or fats is a little higher.

that means with your 10 times thingie if it was true you would lose the same on Atkins eating 1375 as that 1102 cals high carb. that is our atkins advantage Dr Atkins talks about but never really explains in details.

so you should work on feeding your hunger and stopping while following the induction rules when you start. During the first few days you will be nmore hungry as your body works to change from being a primary sugar burner to being a primary fat burner. In a few days you will achieve appetite suppression of ketosis ands be foreced to use the 6hr rule to eat cause you just arenot hungry.

List to your body at that point and feed your hunger and stop. you will have some days you are not hungry and eating a little and then days you are very hungry and eating a lot. Both are fine cause you fed your hunger and stopped.

become a picky toddler again and eat only when you are hungry unless forced to have a msall snack cause it is 6hrs since your last waking meal.

[thefemalegreenday]

Re: No way!

Thanks! =] that was really helpful.

[Aways2Go]

Re: No way!

That rough rule of thumb (10x) might work with folks who are somewhere in the vicinity of what would be considered a normal weight, or even overweight, but I find it hard to fathom that at my highest weight ever (morbidly obese) and wanting to lose that I would have helped myself any by eating 3500 calories each day. I don't think I could have physically even consumed that much of healthy food choices in terms of daily calories (would be easy with junk foods and sugar, though) unless I was adding in an awful lot of butter and mayo just to try to get there.

[Georgiana]

Re: No way!

Many nutritionists recommend that one consumes a number of calories equal to at least one's BMR. With the metabolic advantage of a ketogenic diet, one can often consume 250-300 calories more than one would consume on a high carbohydrate diet, while still losing weight. So a good rule of thumb is to consume your BMR plus about 250 calories.

Now, if you take a BMR formula and plug in some numbers, you will see that 10-12 times one's body weight means approximately one's BMR plus a few hundred calories, assuming that one is not extremely overweight or at a very low weight. That's why 10-12 times one's body weight is a rule of thumb that works well for many people.

Like with any "rule of thumb", there will always be outliers, such as people at a very high or a very low weight, people who are very muscular or 2big's "fluffy marshmallow" person.

As Aways2Go pointed out, at 350 lbs, 3500 calories is generally much higher than one's BMR... so depending on one's activity level, 3500 calories might be too much.

At 110 lbs and 5'0", your BMR is likely higher than 1100 calories. Furthermore, since you are only 16, your nutritional needs are probably different than those of an adult. If you are consistently eating only 1100 calories, I personally doubt you are getting all the fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your body needs for good health.

[Desertthorn]

Re: No way!

That is a great post 2big. When your dealing with people, even if those 'studies' existed, we are all so different, it might not apply to us anyway.

[Carbonator]

Re: No way!

Last August I had a resting metabolism test done. I weighed around 262 at the time and my metabolism tested slightly higher than average (only 2% above). The test results indicated I burn 2,650 calories a day before any physical activity. So, that is roughly 10x my body weight. I am 5'11, so I am overweight (okay, clinically obese), but I am not part of the outliers where the 10x factor could be skewed significantly.

But, That was the calorie count to maintain that weight level, which I do not want to be at. I was told that if I wanted to get back down to a certain weight, then eat 10x that weight before accounting for exercise calories. I would like to eventually be 180 to 190 lbs, so I try to stay around 1,800 to 2,000 calories a day. If I work out a lot in a particular week, I tend to eat closer to 2,200 calories most days.

Hope that helps

[atkinsgal08]

Re: No way!

>>That rough rule of thumb (10x) might work with folks who are somewhere in the vicinity of what would be considered a normal weight, or even overweight, but I find it hard to fathom that at my highest weight ever (morbidly obese) and wanting to lose that I would have helped myself any by eating 3500 calories each day.>>

I've seen it work.

[Elizellen]

Re: No way!

I was told that if I wanted to get back down to a certain weight, then eat 10x that weight before accounting for exercise calories.

That makes perfect sense to me (as a very non-scientific person)

[thefemalegreenday]

Re: No way!

The weird thing with atkins is if I do eat more than like 1100 calories, I just feel absolutely sick XP.
I love everyones views on this, its quite interesting =]

[brandywine1241]

Re: No way!

The weird thing with atkins is if I do eat more than like 1100 calories, I just feel absolutely sick XP.

So the moral of the story is to forget counting calories and, as 2big says, follow Dr. Atkins' advice and eat until you are no longer hungry.