Calorie counting
 

I thought that the Atkins book says not to watch your calories in the first two weeks? Has this changed? It seems like a lot of peple are counting their calories???? I'm confused???

Hello!

Generally, you're right. The average person, if they listen to his/her body, will consume the right amount of calories naturally.

There are some exceptions:
- you might not be eating *enough* calories if ketosis kills your appetite. This is actually quite common.
- you might be eating too many, especially if you're eating things like big bowls of whipped cream where it's easy to over-do it. Sometimes people eat too much because they eat compulsively, or have lost touch with the sensation of being "satisfied" vs "full"
- Sometimes it's necessary to watch your calories if you're relatively close to your goal. Those last 20 pounds can be stubborn!
- Some people have a very slow metabolism, for some reason or another, and they might want to keep an eye on the calories.
- Some people (later in the process, not induction) have stalled, and decide to watch their calories as part of the "tweaking" process.

*BUT*... during induction, IMHO, it's more important to get your body used to being without carbs, and getting your mind used to how it all feels. Calories shouldn't count. Hopefully, the people on induction who are counting calories are doing it only for reference, so they can go back and check if they're having problems later.

HTH! :cool:

Thanks for the info. Kristine. ALso, after reading your stats, just wondering have you reached your goal? What is the differnce between Protein Power and the Atkins? HAve you ever done the Atkins diet? My goals are not huge (18 pounds) but still not easy. It seems like you started in a similiar place as me, any advice?Again, thanks for the info. on my question.
ps What does IMHO mean? Thanks! :0)

IMHO = In my honest opinion

About the calories when I done Atkins the first time I never consumed enough calories because I was never hungry.