Your opinion: do calories count?
 

To the experienced LC-ers (specifically Atkins). In your opinion, how much do calories come into play in this way of life? I know I must overcome my binging tendencies, but I'm wondering just how much I should be paying attention to my calorie intake.

I think that the closer you get to goal weight, the more you have to watch your calories. This applies also to women over 40, too.... we have to be more careful as well.

So much depends on the person's activity level, age, medical history, medications, dieting history, bingeing tendencies, etc.... there are many variables...but in general, if you are within 20# of goal, I like to recommend 10-12x your ideal body weight in calories. If you're exercising a great deal, you can probably add 300-500 calories a day to that number.....maybe even more.

Atkins says "eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied". Ketosis is supposed to be an appetite suppressant and fat should keep you satisfied longer. So for most people on Atkins, calories are self-regulating. But, as always, there are exceptions. Certain people are extremely carb-sensitive....anything over 10 carbs in a meal and they're hungry in 2 hours no matter what they've just eaten! So the eat when you're hungry rule can be pretty dangerous for them! That was me...and I was eating every 2-3 hours. I was eating too much!! Since I've been paying closer attention to my calories, I've lost a couple more pounds.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is NOT TO EAT BELOW THE 10x level for very long...this will put your body into stress .... stress stalls weight loss. It could even damage your metabolism permanently. It's safest to eat at a higher calorie level for a few weeks (10-12x current body weight)...if you stall out, drop the calories by 100-200 a day and stay at that level for a few weeks. Nothing happens? Drop it again and stay for a few weeks.

Of course, calories are not the only variable to play around with... there's closely monitoring carb levels, artificial sweeteners, dairy, processed foods, vegetable intake, water, etc., etc., etc.

That's my $0.02 on calories.

There are many other viewpoints!! Just wait and see!......

I agree with Teri-

When I was in induction and the first stages of adding small amounts of carbs back into my diet-I paid no attention to calories. I didn't have to. As I have been slowly adding more carbs back in, I have started to keep my calories at a reasonable level. It is hard for me to add carbs without blowing up the calories for the day. What I have found is that before I started Atkins I could count calories until doomsday and I gained weight. After I have healed up my system somewhat paying attention to calories (although I still don't really COUNT them) does give me results. I just try and keep them in a range.

Looking forward to hearing from others!

Paleoanth

I agree with Teri and Paleo, and I'll add that sometimes the calories matter more from certain foods than others due to differences in 'satiety'. Cheese and heavy cream are an example, because many people find it easy to overdo it on these foods. There's no way I could eat 500 calories worth of... say, pork chops in one sitting, but I could easily eat 500 calories worth of pizza toppings (ie mainly cheese.) :exclm: I also could probably eat close to 500 calories worth of whipped cream. :rolleyes:

If you're starting out on Atkins, you don't have to worry about the calories too much *if* you follow the other induction rules: cheese limited to 4 oz, cream limited to 2-3 fl oz, etc.

Since you're talking about concern over bingeing tendancies, you'll want to pay attention to your habits and reactions toward certain foods, and see if the above applies to you. As always, YMMV. ;)

Teri, could you talk about the 10x rule in more depth? Because I'm a little confused about it. Up until now I've done really well by eating around 1400-1500 calories a day. It's a natural amount for me to eat, I feel satisfied and it seems like an adequate amount of food, although it was a bit below 10x my body weight.

But now I've lost enough that 1400 calories *is* 10x my body weight. And I'm getting close to my goal, when people often say they pay more attention to calories. Does this mean I need to lower my daily calories again? How low should I go? I hope not too low, as I'm really comfortable eating this amount from day to day. I am a short person so depending on how well it goes, I might try to get down to 115 or so. But I wouldn't like to be limiting myself to 1100-1200 calories a day in the long term. That sounds like no fun.

I'm just hoping you can clarify what "pay more attention to calories" means for the latter stage of ongoing weight loss. Thank you!! Sarah

Hi Sarah! I would say that if you are losing weight, you should NOT lower your calories. At this point in your journey you should be very satisfied with a 1/4-1/2# loss per week. You may even find that you now go weeks without a loss and then drop a pound ....which averages out over time to that rate. Be satisfied with that, especially if you're happy with your calorie level and menus and don't try to "push" your weight loss by lowering calories too much. Be happy that you are still able to lose at that calorie level and know that you are taking good care of your metabolism!

Hi Teri, thanks for the advice! My losses have actually slowed down a lot in the past few weeks. I had been thinking that it was either because I'd gotten careless with my carb count, or I had been eating too many low-carb products. It hadn't occurred to me that maybe this is the natural rate for me at this stage of the plan.

I am trying to get strict with carbs again, and no more "frankenfoods," for a couple of weeks and see if that makes a difference. If not, then I'll know that this is just the way it is for me now. I was planning to slow my pace when I hit 135, but maybe I should get used to losing more slowly sooner than I had hoped. At least things are still moving in the right direction :)

thanks again, Sarah