Calories too high? and carbs too low?

[dublin13]

Weights been hanging around 190-193 pounds for last three weeks. Wa seating very little veg and salad. alot less then 20grams a day. have added in salads and veg at lunch and dinner but on puting in what im eating and planning to eat today on fitday my carbs are showing up at 21grams and my calories at 3000. I would have been eating similar foods and quantities last few days. is my calaorie intae too high and carbs too low i know the book says dont worry about calories but always thought that the calorie intake for a man is around 2500 cals per day.

[liv]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

Calories may be a bit too high yes. Atkins does says to not worry about calories but I think if we are not losing weight that may be a think to consider. I think you may get away with a lot of calories if you were exercising a lot or if they came from fat but once they come from protein it may be harder. So keep working on getting your net veggie carb up there and see if you can cut things down a little bit

[Elizellen]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

How tall are you, Dublin? How much weight in total are you hoping to lose and how much have you lost already since you started on induction?
Have you listed your menus in our 'review my menu' forum so people can look for any possible bad food choices yet?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

>>Wa seating very little veg and salad.>>

How many net carbs are you getting in Induction vegetables?

[dublin13]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

Im 5'10 and started out at 206 pounds (14stone10) want to get 160s or aout 11.5stone. When i started induction was eating very little carbs. could be less then 5grams a day. first few weeks had very little veg or salad. Did loose weight during this time. Just got on that fitday site today and eneterd my food for today and the carbs from veg was only 20gram but calories were 3000. Have made food plans on it for rest of week and included lot more veg and got the calories down, so will give a few days and see if anything happens

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

How many weeks were you undereating?

[dublin13]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

probably about 3 maybe 4 weeks i cant remeber, i started back in Janaury and was very anti carb then.

[Georgiana]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

my carbs are showing up at 21grams

Are those net carbs or total carbs?

[dublin13]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

thats total carbs. upping carbs intake form 20 or less to at least 25 from tomorrow. have meal plans done up for week with a lot more veg in it and cut down the calorie intake. will see if any changes by weekend

[T.M.]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

Weights been hanging around 190-193 pounds for last three weeks. Wa seating very little veg and salad. alot less then 20grams a day. have added in salads and veg at lunch and dinner but on puting in what im eating and planning to eat today on fitday my carbs are showing up at 21grams and my calories at 3000. I would have been eating similar foods and quantities last few days. is my calaorie intae too high and carbs too low i know the book says dont worry about calories but always thought that the calorie intake for a man is around 2500 cals per day.

So you know that you maintain around 190 lbs when you eat around 20 g carb and 3000 cal total. (This is your "free feeding" level, if you will and, IMO, a damned comfortable one, at that, but maybe just a bit too comfortable!).

Depending on your age, your BMR is probably pretty close to 2000 cal per day. (To ascertain your BMR, just do a google search for "BMR" and pick a BMR calculator web site.)

I realize that this is Atkins anathema, but just for the heck of it, for two days only, try eating whatever your BMR is (not less) while keeping carbs at 20 g or below, and keep % of total calories from fat at between 60 and 70%.

After the first complete day, right after you awaken the following morning (after a morning visit to the bathroom, if there is one), weigh yourself on a good digital scale.

Please report back with the result. If what happens is what I think will happen, I'll have another suggestion that may be of interest (although, considering what Atkins recommends about carbs after induction, you can probably guess what that will be).

[2big4mysize]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

so did you move to OWL and are havign more veggies or did you just decide to add more then the 3 cups induction allows?

did you change the quantities on fitday to what you were actually having and not the default fitday serving?

did you enter the foods raw as fitday adds ingredients you don't to make its cooks foods like milk to scrambled eggs.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

>>thats total carbs.>>

We count "net" carbs though.

[dublin13]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

reduced my calories down to 1900 per ehich was my bmr. weighed today and have shifted 2 pounds. will give it a few days to see if its for real and not my scales messing around with me but clothes feel a lil looser.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

so you are in ketosis hang on and keep working your Atkins including that madatory exercise part

[T.M.]

Re: Calories too high? and carbs too low?

reduced my calories down to 1900 per ehich was my bmr. weighed today and have shifted 2 pounds. will give it a few days to see if its for real and not my scales messing around with me but clothes feel a lil looser.

Your results match mine of a few weeks ago pretty closely. You probably don't feel as "comfortable" at the lowered calorie intake, right? Not as nice as at 3000 cal.

Atkins mentions that "not counting calories" is not a license to eat too many of them. Specifically, he mentions that one does not see "steak addicts" who are addicted to steak as the vast majority are to excess carbs. Well, I am a steak addict and I can very easily overeat it without being aware that I am overeating. This is exactly where a good digital kitchen scale is vital.

It is good that you had your experience of 3 weeks at about 3000 very comfortable calories, while remaining both in ketosis AND maintaining your same weight of around 190 lbs. That's almost 16 times as many calories as your weight, which is fantastic! I find it pretty remarkable that you did not GAIN weight during that period. When you reach it, you are likely going to be able to maintain your goal weight very comfortably, indeed.

But for now you see what happens to your weight and, most importantly, your comparative feeling of wellness at around 1900 calories with low carbs.

What I did, obviously, was to start raising daily caloric intake to a point where I was comfortable, but still losing weight. While doing this, I kept carbs at around 25. When I approach goal weight, I'll start raising carbs and see what happens.

Atkins frequently refers to how humans evolved and ate in the past. He talks about how humans experienced frequent periods of low quantities of food (fast) and how the body goes into ketosis, etc., to burn stored body fat, which is perfectly logical.

But, interestingly, Atkins does not discuss the eating behavior of those same humans when there was more than ample food to eat - the sitiuation that probably exists for most of the people that post on this forum.

The question that I have is: during those periods of plenty, do humans naturally overeat in order to put on some fat, so that there is body fat available during those inevitable periods of little food? (And, therefore, if humans in fact did not overeat and put on some extra body fat, how did they survive the periods of little food?)

The Atkins dream is apparently that, during periods of plenty, every single one of us has a body that will not "ask" for more food than it needs (when carbs are kept low) and one will not gain body fat. It's a nice dream. Whether it is an accurate reflection of reality is, I think, still up for serious debate.