Calorie requirements

(Brian Miller) #21

Strictly speaking for myself I’ve only been Keto for two weeks and primarily interested in weight loss and currently having no problem losing while consuming an average of 2,400 calorles/day with moderate exercise. No day has been below 2,000 calories and at least one day as high as 2,700 with 6.5lbs dropped over these 2 weeks.

(Erin Macfarland ) #22

I have 12% body fat and weigh 125 at 5’7 " and technically I could meet my energy requirements at 1300 calories per day. Granted I’m very active but I probably consume at least twice that amount. I think throwing around that “1200 calories per day” recommendation, especially for women, is irresponsible and detracts from cultivating a more intuitive approach to appetite . We’ve been told our entire lives women only need this tiny amount of food , and are encouraged to be small in every sense. I think one of the best things about keto is it flies in the face of everything our society has propagated about health and nutrition. Rather than listening to some external source of knowledge we’re finally able to understand what our bodies really need, rather than shoving some arbitrary number or dietary "requirements " at them. So if my body wants a pound of fatty steak I’m gonna eat it. Despite that meaning I’m “over” my calorie “limit” for the day.

(Scott Shillady) #23

@Brenda I’m not very active, I work as an accountant, and do not exercise much as of yet. I have 2 tbs of fat in my coffee in the morning, and eat one meal at night, mostly meat and cheese, portions are small as I’m just not that hungry anymore. Last night all I had for dinner was 2 oz of brie. so yesterday was only 400 calories I don’t feel like I am starving myself at all. @Emacfarland I’m sorry I missed the part about maintenance. @larry Yes I do have significant stores to draw from

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #24

N=1 kiddo
As long as you are comfortable

#25

The way I interpret this situation is that I have a choice:

  1. learn to follow “expert” opinion, or
  2. learn to follow your satiety signals

since (1) is so confusing, so many conflicting “expert” opinions, I’m trying my best to figure out what I should be eating naturally and work towards eating (2) scenario.

(Alix Hayden) #26

Yeah, you’d think so. Keeping in mind all of his research is in animal models, he compared some form of SAD to KD to a calorie restricted KD, and found better response with the latter. Of course, the extrapolation of this to humans is open to interpretation.

#27

YES. Listen to your body and give it what it wants. It sounds to me like you are getting a fantastic handle on this woe and weeding out the crappy advice. This is one of the reasons I don’t like tracking. If you don’t track you don’t have that annoying critic sitting on your shoulder telling you you are eating too many calories!

(Erin Macfarland ) #28

Heck yes! I find that after years and years of listening to “experts” and their advice about how much is “ok” to eat, I am so in tune with what my body wants now that I have no guilt about eating because the guilt only comes from believing you cannot trust yourself. Now, I am blessed in that i don’t have any metabolic issues so I think my hunger and satiety signals are fairly reliable. So when I “overeat” I know it’s because my body needs the energy. Then amazingly my appetite responds the next day by being virtually nonexistent. There are times when I probably eat 5,000 calories and I can’t seem to get enough to eat. But then after I eat to the point where I’m really satiated it’s like I couldn’t care less about food. When you finally get your body’s systems functioning in a healthy way you don’t need someone telling you to eat 1,000 calories. You listen, literally, to your gut!

(Pete Shearer) #29

I have the same situation as @BaconNectar. I’m still considerably overweight (5’10", 285 lbs), not very active, and often eat less than 1200 Calories. I stopped logging food in MyFitnessPal because it wouldn’t let me close my diary every day because I “didn’t eat enough”.

4 months in, I’m certain I’m fat adapted and pulling down energy from fat. According to the 31 Calories per pound of fat per day metric, I can get over 4,000 Calories of energy from my fat per day. I definitely eat when I’m hungry, but - especially when I do IF - I just don’t often eat very much. Some days as little as 400-500 Calories, sometimes as much as 1500-1800.

As you said, N=1, but especially for sedentary, obese, fat-adapted folks, I don’t find the experience too strange.

When I need energy and am active, I have plenty to burn. I never feel sluggish and I’ve been losing pretty steadily.

(Erin Macfarland ) #30

That’s amazing! It sounds like you’re doing great. What fascinates me is that keto resets your hunger signals so well that you become incredibly in tune with what your body needs. And it changes as you progress. As you become more active and have more lean muscle mass your body will adjust its needs and let you know exactly what it wants. And you trust it! It’s not being skewed by insulin responses

(Jake P) #31

I started at 402, now down to 346, According to my BMI I should be consuming 2800 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I set my calorie limit at 1700. Normally I get around 1100- 1400 I’m not very hungry at all. I have a little snack like beef jerky and cheese, then dinner. I still struggle to max out my fat requirement. Going to start making some fat bombs to keep on hand.

#32

If you are losing bodyfat, you don’t need to fill any fat “requirement”. Just eat until you’re not hungry and the rest will come from your fat stores.

(Jake P) #33

Usually, my total fat grams are about the same or just a little higher than my protein. Is that an issue?

#34

It’s not an issue if you are actively burning bodyfat as fuel. The things you must have are quality proteins, micronutrients, and essential oils like EPA and DHA from fish oil. Adding extra fat if you’re not hungry isn’t necessary.

(Jake P) #35

Thanks. I was kind of worried about my fat and protein macros lining up; carbs are always under 20g. I’m still losing, so I wasn’t sure if it was an issue or the calorie deficit.

(Larry Lustig) #36

Dude, you’re doing great! Do not worry about that percentage macro thing. You need to restrict carbohydrates (to less than 20 grams, or whatever you’ve decided), approximately hit your protein mark (again, whatever you’ve decided is appropriate) and then eat enough fat so you’re not hungry. That sounds like exactly what you’re doing.

You’re still “eating” all the fat that your body needs – just some of it is stuff you ate years ago and are only getting around to using for fuel now.

(Ashley Haddock) #37

I will pound a fatty steak with you!

(Ashley Haddock) #38

My starting weight was 402 as well! Of course I’m a woman who is only 5’ 4" so I probably have a lot more to lose than you. :slight_smile: You’re doing great. Listen to your body!