Low Carb & Atkins Diet

enchilada81 · Established Member Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 31

I'm a bit concerned I may not be eating enough. I've never been a big eater so I knew I'd struggle with this but what do you think?

Today:

2 egg omellette with a rasher of bacon.

Tin of tuna with mayo and a few leaves of spinach.

That's all I've had today but I have no appetite. I had to force myself to eat the tuna.

For dinner I'll be having chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese with a side of broccoli and asparagus.

That's probably all I'll eat today.

Is it enough?

Tril · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:50 pm Post subject:

Pretty hard to say... how big are you? M or F, height, weight, activity level? For some people that would be a starvation diet. For others, they'd gain weight. So is it right for you? I guess you need to determine that. One thing I WILL say... you're not eating enough vegetables if you're following Atkins.

enchilada81 · Established Member Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 31

I'm female, about 5ft 10", average activity level some days, lots others ...

I was worrying about the veg actually, I don't think I'm getting anywhere near 20g of carbs a day. More like 10g.

I will up the veg and salads.

JohnDoe · Senior Member Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Posts: 391

Weight, age, and activity levels plays a huge role in figuring out a good target calorie level.

As unbelievable as it would be to those that know me, I struggle with this myself at times. I have definitely found that I have a tendency to drift towards eating too little which has a negative impact both on weight loss and energy levels / overall feeling.

The more we know about you, the more we can help. However, if you're unwilling to disclose your age and weight, I would at least suggest the following self-sanity check:

Go to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and use the BMR calculator, and then apply the Harris Benedict equation ( http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/ ) to the result.

My advice, based on my own personal experience, is to never eat less than your BMR requirement, and additionally never eat less than 1000 calories per day less than what the Harris Benedict equation says.

Example:

------------------------------
BMR = 2134
Activity Factor = 1.55
Average Daily Calories used = 3307 (2135 * 1.55)
Max safe calorie daily deficit = 1000
Calories burned - max deficit = 2307 (3307 - 1000)
------------------------------
Number to actually use = 2307 (The bigger of 2134 and 2307)

In the past, I found that my intake often fell to 1500-1600 calories a day, because I was never that hungry, and because I don't really like to cook that much. I personally believe this had a negative impact on both my weight loss itself, as well as my athletic performance (wow, it's a trip to even say that phrase in relation to myself. A year ago I was barely able to get off the couch).

For what it's worth, I have never experienced a strong correlation between eating more carbs and better results - it's usually the other way around. Your body is capable of producing all of the carbs you need to survive.

Please don't misinterpret this. I am NOT encouraging you eat less vegetables in any way, just asking you to look at it in a slightly different light - the way I look at it, I try to eat "12-15g of carbs worth of vegetables". I don't eat them because of the carbs, I eat them because they're the most efficient way to get important vitamins that are hard to get in other ways (and the fiber doesn't hurt).

I hope this information helps you (or anyone else who stumbles on this post).

enchilada81 · Established Member Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 31

Thank you. I'm 28 and currently weigh 155lbs

Tril · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:52 pm Post subject:

At 5'10 and 155, you're at your "ideal" weight right now. What size pants do you wear? What are your wt loss goals? You're going to lose VERY slowly because you don't have much extra to lose. 1/2# a week at most. Just concentrate on eating for health and getting fit.

enchilada81 · Established Member Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 31

I'm a UK 12 (I think that is a US size 10). I have quite a small frame though so I am "flabby". I mainly want to lose weight from hips and thighs. I used to weigh 145lbs and I'd like to get back to that Smile