Calories count!?

(Karen) #1

I find that i have been keto the last week, OK a bit too much protein, but I slowed on my weight loss. I do know my calories have been HIGH. they count, ya?

#2

All calories are not created equal. Calories do matter. How calories effect body composition can vary tremendously across individuals. Active, metabolically healthy young males have greater flexibility than sedentary, diabetic, post menopausal women.

(Dan Dan) #3

Your Macros are more important than calories but yes calories count (too little or too much) :thinking:

If you would give us an example of your daily meals, eating window, are you fat adapted and your body composition it would be easier to help :grin:

ā€œMay the Force (fat adaption) be with youā€

IF/EF Keto WOE is Self-Discovery :wink:

Good luck and much success in your journey in IF/EF Keto WOE :grin:

(Allie) #4

I donā€™t count them and have been just fine since I stopped doing so. Donā€™t stress yourself out, just carry and enjoy the process.

(Karen) #5

Yay, the downward trend resumed. I was eating keto, but clearly the 24th,25th,26th were too many calories

#6

I donā€™t count calories and Iā€™ve lost 40 pounds so far. But then again Iā€™m a guy and apparently the keto journey comes easier for us.

(Justin Jordan) #7

They definitely count for me. I am perfectly capable of maintaining a 280 pound body on nothing but meat. Iā€™ve heard of this mythical thing called ā€˜satietyā€™ but telling me to eat to it is like telling me to eat until I taste the sound of purple.

(Ross) #8

I think the idea in the hormonal model (which we all follow or we wouldnā€™t be posting here) of obesity is that insulin, not calories per se, ā€œcountā€.

Now, we could get more insulin released (IE slowed weight loss) if we were to say, not only eat more calories but also eat more often over the holidays. It might SEEM like eating more calories was the root cause when in fact it would be eating more often. The same number of calories divided between one, two, three or more meals/snacks should have very different effects.

(Karen) #9

Ross, I think you might be right thereā€¦ I was eating continuously.

K

(Ross) #10

Yeah, I ate a bit more often as well with all the good food stuffs about. Come to think of it, Iā€™m going to have more baconā€¦ :slight_smile:

(jilliangordona) #11

I count because Iā€™ve found that if I donā€™t I will eat too LITTLE calories and slow down my metabolism.

#12

Calories count, but you donā€™t have to count calories.

If you Google the subject, there are several blogs (a quote from Dr Seyfried will be near the top and one from IDM) that mention calories are a greater insulin stimulant than carbs. This initially seems counter intuitive, but upon reflection makes sense. Insulin response is dose sensitive not just macro sensitive. Thatā€™s why fasting is more corrective than a very LC diet.

(Michael ) #13

The insulin response from fat is so minimal that in theory, you could eat 10k calories a day of nothing but fat and not gain any weight. Iā€™m not interested in testing this theory though. Assuming i could choke down that much fat, i donā€™t imagine i would feel well. In addition, the absence of protein would lead my brain to cannibalize my muscle over time for glucose which is counter intuitive to my fitness goals. Therefore, this will remain a thought experiment on the benefits of a high fat diet. As far as the first rule of thermodynamics, I imagine mu body temperature would be high, legs would be moving and probably a lot of ketones passed in the urine. But yeah, you can gain fat on an all meat diet. Protein causes an insulin response so ingesting meat throughout the day can lead to fat gain. Itā€™s much more difficult than if you were to eat sugar. The longer you abstain from carbs or participate in fasts, the better your insulin sensitivity can get, so even harder to gain fat with only protein and fat. This is probably why a good fast can jumpstart weight loss for particularly insulin resistant individuals.