More calories, lose weight?
 

I have read taking in less than 10x your weight can cause you to stall and other unhealthy things.

I have been doing this WOE for 2 months and only average 1700 calories daily...without trying. 65-75% calories come from fat, and I usually end up consuming about 125-150 grams of protein daily.

I presently weigh 250lbs, and by conventional means the amount of calories I should take in is 10x my weight, or 2500 calories. So far, I have lost 18 lbs and got my diabetes under much tighter control. I also exercise every weekday. alternating strength with aerobics. I rarely take in more than 20 effective carbs a day.

My food intake is simple, usually a flax seed oatmeal and cream, or 2 almond muffins with bacon for breakfast, 4-6 ozs some kind of meat for lunch on LaTortilla wrap, and dinner is 8-10 oz of meat and a safe vegatable or salad with full fat dressing. I snack during the day on hard boiled eggs, 28 smokehouse almonds, 1/2 oz pork rinds and/or 1 oz cheese. I usually have strawberries and cream after dinner.

My burning question: Am I taking in too little calories? I remember reading that you don't count calories on this WOE and I thought that was because calories were insignificant, no matter how much you took in. What I was not expecting was how little calories I take in and Iwant to know if this might be hurting me in some way...

I have put on inches of muscle all over, and lost weight and feel great and never hungry....and 1700 calories seems to be my norm..should I look for some high calories high fat but low carb treat to jack my calories up (what a concept!)?

Not a question I could ever imagine myself asking before....

Scott,
Just my humble opinion...but do what works for you. You are losing weight in what you're doing. As long as you are not dropping down to 800 calories a day, you wouldn't want to starve yourself. But 1700 calories a day is hardly starving. And if it's working for you, don't mess with it. ;) Victoria

This is a Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator. Go and calculate your BMR.... this is the calorie level below which you should never go. Sounds like you're doing just fine to me. :thup: :thup:

Your link did not work but I found another on the net that stated 1500 as the minimum to lose 1 lb every 7 days...of course I am going to ignore the recomendation of no more than 30% from fat...

Thanks everyone....Basal Calculator

Last week I lowered my calories, kept fat high and carbs and proteins lower and am losing 2 lbs every 3-4 days. I weigh myself every 3 days so tomorrow I expect to see another loss. I cannot eat more than 1500 calories to lose - - I have tried many different experiments in the 11 months of doing LC and this by far is the quickest for me - It took me 9 months to lose 30 lbs and 2 months to lose 10 so something I am doing is working. I just had blood work done and my results were great and I noticed my immune system is doing well - even when I got a cold recently I was able to combat it in record time and it was less severe than usual (this coming from someone who would get full-blown bronchitis at least once during winter months).

Got to jump in here. I had gotten down to 1200-1300 calories a day and under 20 net carbs and was on a month long stall. I did a one high carb meal to shake things up and moved my calories up to 1600-1700 per day and have lost 1.5 pounds this week so far. It's a stretch to make it to 1600 calories most days as I really was satisfied at 1200. But you have to do what works for you.
Good luck.

Balderdash!
 

Since when, on any diet, of any kind, does eating less food, fewer calories create weight gain? Since when does eating more create weight loss? If you eat less, you lose weight. If you eat more, you eventually gain weight; even on Atkins.

How someone thinks they are going to lose any weight eating 2500 calories a day is beyond me. There is so much apocrophral nonsense associated with low carb dieting that it would be hilarious if it were not so serious. If you want to lose weight, eat less. Atkins lets us eat comfortably, making the assumption that we will gradually eat less as we go. It is clearly stated in the book. I fear many people propagate the higher calorie idea as an excuse to eat more.

The one problem that all of us have is that we have been eating too much, and too much of the wrong foods; thus we became fat. The only way to reverse that, is to eat less than we need.

I eat right now, less that half of the food volume I ate on the high carb diet. And I've lost over 50 pounds. I have plans to reduce my food volume by another 25 percent as I get further along. If you do not do this, you cannot succeed in the long term.

Good Luck!

I disagree!
 

I stalled and upped my calories to 2400 and the stall stopped. Between 2000 and 2300 is my usual comfort zone of caloric intake.

I think broad assumptions for everyone that should follow specifics is what has caused all this constant tweeking that we all have been guilty of occassionally.

Do what feels right and if you can keep losing and feeling good and liking food.... so be it.

If you are still hungry, try what feels right to your body and if you keep losing and liking food... so be it.

If you can't lose weight or inches and the only thing that has worked is lowering calories and you keep losing and liking food... so be it.

The key is this is a slow weightloss process that you need to feel good about because to maintain the loss and eventually the goal weight, this must be a way of life.

There are some commonalities but we are all different and what definitely works for you may not work for me.

All the best.

Calories - why count
 

The main reason I love eating LC is that I do not have to count calories! I eat very low carb any time I get hungy!! Somedays I may eat three or four meals - others lucky if I get one in.

I am not going to count calories!! :wave: