A calorie is not the same in keto

(Kitty) #1

I’m in “weight maintenance” and have found I feel better with a bit higher amount of carbs (45g NET in the form of berries, veggies, and sometimes a TINY bit of white rice. I don’t know how to maintain my weight yet so for now I do a very flexible calorie counting plan. I notice I need more calories in a day if I eat 20g carbs than if I eat 45g. Since I also know calories aren’t the same on a keto diet, I’m wondering if I will experience weight gain by eating a higher calorie amount along with the higher carb level. Anyone have any thoughts or experience on this? I hope I don’t make people mad by talking about “calories”, but I have to have “general guidelines” for myself to keep my “emotional eating” in check.

(Naomi Brewster) #2

Hi Ashlee - well done for getting to maintenance mode - did you start there or get there via keto after loosing weight? No reason - just curious.

My understanding is that the carbs (especially white rice) will also make you hungrier as it spikes insulin etc (with the subsequent low a couple of hours later). Perhaps a different low glycemic grain instead? Or if that is what you need - make sure to cover in good fat

(Kitty) #3

I lost the weight doing LCHF Paleo and keto mixed in. Lol. It sounds weird, I know but it took my body a long time to adapt to fat burning so I had to lower the carbs very slowly and now I can get down to 20g, but lost the weight at more of a 50g average.

(Sarah Herlihy) #4

I am in maintenance too and struggling with hunger. I am starving majority of the time but am mindful of eating extra fat as i dont want to gain fat back?? Finding it a bit tough at the moment. Maybe your advice of increasing carbs could help?

(jilliangordona) #5

If you’re staying low carb and you’re hungry, eat! Your body knows better than anything else how much food it needs

(Rob) #6

Well it’s your own fault for being so successful and not having enough body fat to see you through the hunger! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.
Just kidding, big congrats for getting to maintenance! I wish I had your problem. Do you know your real BMR (from one of those doctor supervised breathing machines or something more accurate than an online calculator)? That might give you a good idea about calories needed. I can’t believe that moving from strict Keto to merely low carb should be the driver of major problems but nothing about our individual bodies’ reactions to specific stimuli surprises me any more.
Good luck.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

According to Dr. Phinney, as long as we are eating fat to satiety, our calorie intake will naturally increase as we move into the maintenance phase of this way of eating. At the beginning, people with a lot of excess fat to get rid of stop being hungry when they’ve consumed around 1500 calories, he says, but that’s because the body is providing the missing 1000 to 1300 calories from stored fat. As our fat store drops, we naturally find our calorie consumption going up, since it will take more fat to satisfy us. Once we are at our body’s natural weight, all our calories have to come from our diet, so our calorie consumption will eventually rise to the 2500 to 2800 that people generally burn in a day. But the key, Dr. Phinney says, is to be eating enough fat to stay satisfied.

Of course, if all you want out of the keto way of eating is fat loss, it’s not as important what you eat during the maintenance phase, as long as you’re not regaining the weight. But those of us seeking metabolic healing want to stay in ketosis, so as to avoid the damaging effects of sustained high insulin levels. So we find it important to continue to keep carbs as low as possible, regardless.

(Consensus is Politics) #8

Sounds like you aren’t eating enough fat. If your body tells you to eat more, and you’ve eaten enough protein, then just eat more fat. I keep a bag of pre-cooked bacon in the fridge for occasional snacking. But I rarely need it now.

Eating fat doesn’t cause you to get fat. Unless you have insulin ushering it around. Keep the carbs low (I shoot for zero, but I’m aware of incidental carbs sneaking in. Those damn <1 gr per servings. I just play it safe and count them as two.

I just did a 44 hour fast without realizing I was even doing it. There was no hunger. I did get a funny seasick feeling that was fixed by a bullion cube in hot water. Few minutes later feeling gone. The Keto experience is like living with a miracle every day.

(Kitty) #9

Thank you for that, a good reminder I need to read that book. I think it’s the only keto book I haven’t read yet.
I also have to remember most things I read about keto are coming from people who want weight LOSS, not maintenence. It’s VERY different in maintenence. I’ve been here for a year and it’s a whole new animal!

I do want to stay in ketosis because I’m using it for treatment of ADHD, depression, anxiety, and emotional eating.

(Duncan Kerridge) #10

I’ve been in maintenance for six months and i’ve found the easiest way to do it is intermittent fasting, eating 18:6 I found eating makes me hungry so now I just ignore food until 5pm and then not worrying about what I eat in the evenings takes all the stress away and i’m never hungry during the day.