Hi Everybody,

Recently I have been getting this feeling of hunger alot. I do eat breakfast, eggs, bacon, strawberries. Lunch is Ceaser salad with chicken, dinner maybe hamburger patty and a few strawberries. I have been running now about 3-4 miles outside at the track about 2-3 times a week and going to the gym about 2 times and doing weights and cardio. My carbs are about 15-25 grams a day and I usually only eat about 800-1200 calories. I know that 800 is not enough but it's really hard to keep the calories up!! I feel terrible sometimes and feel so hungry. I don't think this is normal. I am finally losing so I don't want to increase carbs too much. Any advice?? Thanks.

Kat

You need to EAT. You said you are hungry, so why is it hard to get your calories up? Eat two hamburger patties at dinner. Get some macadamia nuts to eat as snacks throughout the day. There are easy low carb ways to add fat and calories to your diet.

Ditto on the above message. If you're eating less than 1000 calories, you will be hungry- no doubt about it. Plus, if you're active, you'll require more calories to keep your body happy and out of starvation mode. Remember, we're supposed to eat until satisfied on this plan-- doesn't sound like you're that satisfied.

Add some more veggies!! I don't think it would hurt to have a salad or some other legal veggie at dinner time. The carbs are minimal, the fiber is wonderful and you'll feel full. If you're worried about adding carbs, back off on the strawberries a tad to free up some carb space and add in other things (remember, on average 1 strawberry = 1g carbs.).

Best of luck!
Nikki

Hey Kat:
Yup, what they said, you need to eat. Your email had conflicting info - you feel hungry but you only eat 800-1200 calories. You do know with calories that low your body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose a bloody ounce don't you? You have to keep up the calories and particularly the protein because you are exercising.
Starving yourself leads to mental diseases association with dieting - this is not what Atkins is all about

Please eat enough and love yourself enough to want to be healthy like Dr Atkins is trying to teach in his books - you are worth the time it will take to patiently wait for the weight to come off. It will slip off of you and then you will have put more miles between you and the fat, making it more permanent with new HEALTHY ways of eating.

Use Your Atkins Noggin' and never again will you have to be fat floggin'

I agree with the others that you should add more calories/fat and maybe that will help you feel more full. Good luck!

Yes, yes, yes--more food, especially all those glorious veggies. And don't forget to drink your water!!

I have had a few low cal days, but don't have any trouble getting enough cals and being right around 20 net carbs. I don't really think about the numbers much, I know what I can eat. When I input the numbers on my fitday, it usually works out pretty close to what I want to see. I don't try to do the 10 x your body weight in cals though.