At 224, that would be 2240 calories, and I'm at 1400-1500. I need to cut my fat a some more because of gallbladder problems. Am I going to stall if I cut calories more? I'm eating all I want, just know my calorie count because fitday shows it. I'm 13 days into induction and plan to stay on induction for a lot longer.

Thanks. I have lots of questions, I know, but I find these forums so helpful and friendly.

Cutting your calories too far back can put your body on "starvation alert". In other words, it feels like it is not getting enough, so slows the metabolism down to hold on to any extra you have. That is why the 10x. Eat! As long as you stick to protein and lc veggies, you should be fine.

It is generally recommended that you don't go under 1200 a day, at the very lowest. That doesn't mean you will necessarily stall at low levels, but a lot of us do. Counterintuitively, you may also lose faster at high caloric levels.

Make sure you're speaking with your doctor about your diet and gall bladder issue. Low carb is by default a pretty high fat diet and functions better with an ample amount.

Hope you can find something that works for you!

I emailed the Atkins Center about this. The reply I got back was that we should have 10-12 x our GOAL wt. in calories.

I couldn't figure out how in the world I would stuff in another 1240 calories a day.

Thanks very much.

Hey susanka.

I see you have your response already.

You are right about the calories....it sometimes feel difficult to ensure we get the correct quantity .. especially on the fat intake.

My only advice (something I am trying to figure out myself) is to try and mix as much as possible and get a full meal each time.

Use FitDay to help you count everything. I try and log as often as I can but most people do manage to maintain it on a daily basis, enter all theri foods and compute their nutritional values...

Good luck. I will have a look at your journal if you have one

Ciao

I don't get it.

Say my goal is 150. I should eat 1,500 calories a day?

You do your goal? or do you do your present weight?

That's correct (according to the Atkins center), but I would consider that a minimum amount of calories to prevent your body from going into "famine" mode. 10x your goal weight, assuming that it's a reasonable one, if the minimum amount of calories that you require to support your basal metabolism; you also have your daily activity level to consider as well as how much lean body mass you have. If you go below that your body starts thinking that food is scarce or a famine has begun and will adjust your metabolism downward to help you conserve energy and survive the famine.
For some people it can be a fine line. You don't want to eat so little that your metabolism gets lowered making it even more difficult to lose weight, but you also don't want to eat so much that you don't lose either. Having said that, most people on low carb don't have to worry too much about counting calories. Counting carbs is enough to keep the scale moving downward and the inches coming off. I would only worry about counting calories if I thought I was eating too little (and Fitday showed my calorie counts were consistenly low) or I wasn't losing at all for several weeks and Fitday showed I was eating far too much. A low or high day here and there aren't going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

I haven't really looked at the journal forum more than a glance, don't think I have time to write that much. I am using fitday, which I find very useful.