Calories Matter on Atkins?
 

I've seen this idea thrown about in some threads but personally I am beginning to think that my weight loss has slowed to a nil (I was up 3 lbs on Thursday, and this morning I was back down 2 lbs to 171), not because of the carb count but because I was eating too many calories.

That's because I've never been on strict induction--I figure I stayed around 20 about half the time during my 3 weeks but I know I've gone up to 40-50 grams on some days, perhaps more. I still managed to lose 15 lbs because some days I was just not tempted to have anything that was "allowed" so I sat there, even though I was craving something from "mouth" hunger.

But now on OWL I'm allowing myself some berries, nuts, and some sugar free chocolates (only 1 or 2 pieces at a time though) among other things, and I just think I'm eating way too many calories to keep losing the weight.

What do you think? Do calories matter? Do any of you shoot for a certain caloric intake and find that it speeds your weight loss? People think Atkins is all-you-can-eat diet but I'm suspecting that like any other sensible diet, this is also pretty conservative when it really comes down to it in its caloric recommendation.

I'd like to continue losing and lose about 10 more pounds by July 4th, which I do not think is a unreasonable goal...I'm just scared I won't and that I'll get discouraged. =(

Thanks for reading and for your answers!

Have a wonderful Friday~~

I personally think that calories matter, too many and you gain weight, too few and your body thinks it's starving and refuses to let go of fat stores.

You said you looked around before posting this, so I'm guessing that you've seen the usual advice of aiming for 10 - 12 times either your current or goal weight in cals per day?

I aim for somewhere between 1700 - 2100 depending on my activity level, simply because I'm more concerned with not feeling hungry than I am with breaking this 3 month stall I've been in, but I don't want the scale to start going up!

I'm actually considering eating as my lowest cal range (1700) and upping my carbs to about 50 per day and tweaking my fat/protein ratios more towards protein power eating and seeing what happens.

Abbey:

Question....wouldn't there be a pretty big difference between 10-12 times your current weight vs. your goal weight?

Hi Abbey,
Thanks for your answer--I have seen the 10-12 times your current/goal weight idea but do you know where that idea comes from? I don't recall seeing that on Atkins but I have the old version so perhaps the new Atkins for Life has that?
Thanks!

the 10-12 is supposed to be your current weight. It is a simplication of BMR (basal metabolic rate calculations) BMR specifically accounts for age, height, weight, activity and sex, so is much more specific, but a bit harder to calculate (i have the formula on the first page of my journal if You want to see it..). I eat between 1310-1600/ day, most often about 1450. If I eat more than 1600 (unless it is a very good workout day!) I no longer lose. so, for me calories is crutial, almost as much a s lcing is! But, I am very close to my goal, so it might be even a little more crutial than for someone who has more than 6 lbs to go! Best of luck, you are doing great, but 10lbs might be a little high for july 4th? I guess it depends how you deal with not reaching particular goals?

Have a great Friday!

I don't think it came from Atkins. I think it's just something that people in the forum have found works well for a whole lot of them and so has been handed down in forum lore. It's like the 70%+ fat percentages people on here talk about often. Don't know where it came from, but it seems to work for most.

(anyone who knows differently feel free to correct me!)


Armon35:

Yup. There usually is a huge difference, to me it makes sense to eat more if you weigh more because you burn up more cals just moving around than a lighter person. But everyone's metabolism is different. Hopefully someone who knows a bit more about that system will come and enlighten us all :)

I just eat enough to make me not hungry :) I like to keep stuff simple.

I eat about 1200-1600 cals a day and when i counted them for the 1st time I was very surprised that it wasn't more.

Karen :)

erbadger,
Yeah, maybe 10 lbs is a bit ambitious but I do have a ton of weight to lose--I gained about 45 lbs in college!!!! So for me this is not my "natural range" at all and I really want to be back in my size 6's...the other day I fit into a size 8 skirt at Banana Republic and was overjoyed, except then I remembered they run very, very big over there.... :)

It seems like restricting calories IS a good idea...where did you get your BMR calculation done by the way? Fitday?

So this is what I'm going to do:
1) eliminate nuts
2) restrict SF candies to once a week treat rather than daily
3) exercise more (I'm training for an event anyway so I do exercise 5 times a week, but I'm thinking of going a lot more intense--it'll be good for my race results anyway)
4) Keep fat at 70% but lower overall calories to about 1500


But I'm so not a count-happy person, I'll just got with my gut feel with the calories because after years and years of reading labels I have a pretty good feel for them.

Does this seem like a good plan? I just want to be in the low 160 range by July 4th (not bikini ready obviously but I won't be miserable in my racing suit at least!)

:)

Now that I am getting closer to goal I have to watch the calories BUT going to low actually slows me down. FOr me, 1500-1900 seems to work best with higher fat %.

Wow Yvonee, impressive stats! Congrats on sticking it out--how long have you been LCing? Toms River--I just drove through it last weekend on my way to Cape May (I live around Princeton).

:) Good luck the rest of your way!

If I ate 10 times my goal weight I would only be eatin 1,150. That seems a tad low to me. Right now I'm just trying to stay below 2,000

TRIATRIM - proudly LCing since April 6, 2002 - 14 months today! Love this WOE and will never go back to the "old way".

The 10-12 figure ...
 

I'm not sure where it comes from but I saw it discussed on alt.diet.support a long time ago ...

the Numbers they used were 10-11-12 for women and 11-12-13 for men.

the total was applied to your goal weieght.
The idea being you will LOSE if you eat less than what your body currently needs to maintain.

ALSO, as you lose you learn to eat at the correct level that your body will need to maintain when you get there.

You'll slow down your loss rate as you go since the difference of calories needed to maintain the weight your at will decrease and slowly reach the target ...

The meaning of the three values are meant to relate to your exercise levels ... sedentary - normal - athlete

So, at 290 and the fact that I work out an hour or more a day I can consume 13 * 290 = 3770 calories and maintain my weight

But, I want to be 240 ... so 13*240 = 3120
By lowering my calories to my goal weight maintenance level I should be able to lose ~800 calories per day or 4550 per week ... about 1.3 lbs.

As I lose weight the difference will slow down my weight loss as I zero in on my target.

so at 260 (3380) the diff is 260, or 1820 per week ... about 1/2 lb a week.

Thats the theory ... whether the numbers jive may vary per person.

Iwould think if you believe it's too hard to hit the target calorie intake NOW at the high weight ... then pick a mid point weight and continually adjust ...


As with any GENERALIZED system each person is an individual and individuals vary!

The only way to find your TRUE multiplier is to find the number of calories it takes for you to MAINTAIN your current weight ...

Say I decided to eat 4000 calories a day for 1 month and at my current exercise level it allowed me to MAINTAIN the weight I'm at ... 290 ... well then ... I could divide 4000/290 = 13.79 ... I have my multiplier!!!

if I maintained this weight eating 3600 calories a day 3600/290 = 12.41 ...

There really are so many factors for each individual that the multiplier really is a guess.


I think the bottom line is regulate your diet correctly ... ie. low carb 75% fat + 20 G carbs (induction) ...

If you don't lose weight ... eat less (or exercise more) ... but always maintain the percentage of fat and the low carbs!

My 25 cents ...

Larry

It does make a difference to me.
 

I've stalled for the last 6 weeks until I added the following things which helped, not sure yet which helps me.
I drink at least 6 glasses of water (before maybe 3)
I jog 5x's a week.
Count calories 1200 -1500 a week.

I made these changes and boom dropped 5 lbs since last week.

If those are 8 oz glasses, add more. You should be having at least 8 8oz, and generaly for losing weight and being on a duretic diet you need even more. Dehydration can lead to a stall and excess water weight as your body clings to what it gets.