Calorie intake

(Michael) #1

Hey everyone! I started on my keto diet Monday. I had a tough time the first couple days, but today I have felt amazing. My question, though, is about my calorie intake. MyFitnessPal is saying I should have 2100 calories a day to lose weight. This was always a problem for me on other diets, but since starting eating keto I have only been eating 1300-1700 calories each day. I feel full all day so I’m not starving myself. Is this big of a deficit bad in the long run? Will is negatively affect muscle mass despite hitting my protein goal thus far?

Thanks for any input!

(Carpe salata!) #2

Listen to your body. <20g carbs, requisite protein and fat to SATIETY.

Satiety says you are doing it right. Keto is ad libitum. That means it might vary, but you decide your satiety is reached or not. Calories don’t come into it (so much).

(Michael) #3

Thanks for the reply. The calculator I used says 100 grams of protein and I’ve averaged right at that the last 4 days. I was just worried ab the seemingly low calories I was taking in. I chocked it up to the higher fat filling me up and keeping me full, I just didn’t know if it would have a negative affect down the road.

(Carpe salata!) #4

100g of protein is ok, some would say 70-80g is better. Personally I don’t do any calculating, just keep the carbs way down. Long term, you are already on track. If you feel like you’re hungry, top up on fats. :slight_smile:

#5

Hi, Peter. I think you may have accidentally exchanged the words “carb” and “protein” in your last post?

(Carpe salata!) #6

Yes I did - nice pickup … I’ll see if I can edit…

Post edited to correct that , thanks Fiorella :slight_smile:

(John) #7

This trips up a lot of people. When you are mostly eating carbs and have high insulin, the energy you use (plus some if you were gaining) has to go through your mouth. The point of keto is to lower insulin so you can use your own stored body fat. Your body will get the calories it needs from somewhere, but if it isn’t making you hungry then it is likely getting it just fine from your fat stores.

Lot’s of folks in the beginning as they start becoming adapted really lose their appetite quite a lot, it seems to come back pretty rapidly for most, but not near the level it did before.

(Siobhan) #8

As long as you are eating to satiety youre fine. My appetite dropped to basically nothing for about 2 weeks and then slowly returned over time (to keto normal, not old normal).

As other have said: <20g carbs, 1-1.5g protein per kg of lean body mass and fat to satiety.
We arent robots so how much we need to reach satiety will change day by day wgich is why its better to listen to your body than some arbitrary number.

#9

I agree with the other replies - listen to your body. The more weight you have to lose, the bigger a defecit you can sustain by keeping insulin levels low enough for your body to access its fat stores. If you’re not hungry, don’t eat, and don’t worry about calories. :wink:

(ianrobo) #10

I too use MFP but since been Keto I only worry about calories from showing people I now eat far more than I used to - calorie wise and yet lost not put on weight !!!

Just use MFP purely for the nutrient % is my advice, ignore calories, that is outdated thinking now.

(Valerie Hughes) #11

Thank you still learning. I use fitnessPal to track macros and it keeps telling me that my calories are too low. But I feel full when eat my meals even though there have been a lot of days lately where I am around 800 and today 661 and I started looking around for something to bump up the calories but I couldn’t find anything that interested me. I worried that my metabolism will slow down and so will my weightloss.

(Rob) #12

Feeling full is a better indicator than a CICO app. If you calorie restrict on a CICO plan, you will feel hungry all the time - that is what tells you ‘it is working’ and also that you are killing your BMR (basal metabolic rate). If you are not hungry on low calories, either you are fat adapted and happily using body fat or… the hypnosis worked!! :flushed:

As long as you are not getting any of the other symptoms of starvation - cold extremities, sluggishness, brain fog, hair falling out, slow healing etc. then you should be fine. Some of those are like keto flu but you are almost certainly through that already if you are fat adapted.

(Valerie Hughes) #13

Thanks for the reply. Will keep calm and keto on.

(Jeanne Wagner) #14

Rob - I think I’m pretty keto adapted after 5 months in, but I’m having an alarming amount of hair loss. And it’s been happening for a good 2-3 months. It comes out in a fistful in the shower. This is easily 5 Xs more than normal. When I used to have 5 or 10 strands come out, this is like 50. I have to dig the hair monster out of the drain every week. For me, it’s a large change. I am at a loss if it’s too little protein or thyroid issues.