I keep reading that I should be eating 10-12x my weight in calories. It also says to increase the fat to achieve this. Can anyone give me ideas for increasing my calories with fat? I don't know if my body is in starvation mode or what. I am 280 pounds, probably eat about 1300 calories per day, exercise daily and am not losing weight.

Welcome. Do you write down everything you eat? You can plug it into Fitday.com and see exactly where you stand instead of guessing that you are "probably" 1300 calories. An article in the Wall St. Journal (Tues., Apr. 23, 2003) said that dieters who write down everything are much more successful than the others.

The article also mentioned a study of dieters who complained that they couldn't lose weight on 1200 calories a day. "Researchers found there was nothing metabolically unusual about the patients. Instead, the study found the group was eating, on average, 47% more than it claimed and exercising 51% less. The deception isn't always intentional. 'If you ask someone to recall what they ate that day, I guarantee you a handful of M&M's is forgotten.'"

In addition to forgetting things, it is also easy to misjudge portion size. So write it all down & try out Fitday.com -- you might be surprised.

If you are eating every day and aren't hungry, then you are eating "enough".

Don't count the calories, Atkins is about quality not quantity. Stick with the legal foods and you'll be just fine!

Although, if you must, you say you are eating 1300 calories a day and exercising. You are actually not eating ENOUGH food to lose weight!A trick that works is UPPING the amount of food you eat. Try adding a handful of macadamia nuts to your daily diet.

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have been having a hard time keeping my calories up. I certainly do not want to get into a starvation mode. I enter everything into FitDay right after supper, and if I feel I need more calories I will have a low carb snack even if I am not really hungry.

I find this so amazing considering that I used to eat tons of calories before I started this WOE and now I find myself less hungry than before and eating things I love too!

Michelle

Butter is your best friend. Butter adds a nice chunk of fat to everything you eat. Also as somebody else noted, Macadamia nuts are around 200 calories PER ounce! And most of that comes from fat, which is good. The only downfall is I have trouble eating just an ounce, I usually consume 3 or 4!

It is quality, not quantity, however calories do count. Eat too many and you will gain weight..even on low carb. Eat too few and you will slow your metabolism almost to a halt and your body will go into starvation mode and begin consuming it's own muscle before it's fat as a survival mechanism.

10 - 12 times weight is a scientific calculation that allows you to determine what your body needs to function at optimum preformance while still being able to lose weight. I agree with using Fitday.com. It is an invaluable tool. I think you will find it most educational.

The whole idea is to build muscle. Some people have deprived themselves of protien before starting this WOE that they gain muscle just from their meals alone.

Eating 1300 calories, in my opinion, at your weight is far too little. I know I would feel very deprived. However, if it works for you and others...so be it. Remember, this is not a race...a mistake many of us have made. I talk about this in another thread .