Calories DOES matter on keto

calories
(Kathrine) #1

Hello guys it’s the dane here…

I had not lost weight for almost 4 weeks.
I only ate when I was hungry, I never ate breakfast even though I was tired and sluggish through out the day…
I only ate around 900-1400 calories a day and i didn’t feel that I could eat more than that…
Then I upped my calories to 1600-1800 over a couple of weeks and I’m losing weight again, (faster than before), I feel much better, I’m happier and I have MUCH more energy!

I think 900-1400 calories was slowing down my metabolism and so many times I have seen people who up their calories and rapidly lose weight again…
Personally I don’t believe that calories doesn’t matter on a Ketogenic diet…
Even though I didn’t have an appetite before I upped my calories, my deficit was too big for my body!.. Be careful…

Other people who have had the same experience?

Newbie- no weight loss HELP! I’m ready to quit!
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15g carbs too few?
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1 week tomorrow
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Arrrggghhhhh can someone give me some clarity!
Another post about not losing weight
#2

Yes.

I find that as soon as I notice weight loss, I think ‘ooh! success!’ and try just that little bit harder - which then halts the weight loss dead. lol. Always because was ‘trying’ by eating less.

On the other hand, when I eat more (while keeping protein moderate and carbs virtually nonexistent, and the fats high) then the weight loss starts again without me even considering the calories.

Edited to add: just coming out of a 30 month stall for precisely this reason. I am now eating virtually zero carb, very high fat, and the number of calories as fat is surprising me!

(Kathrine) #3

Amazing :slight_smile: !

(Ron) #4

If you haven’t seen this video yet it is super informative and easy to fallow. Explains what your talking about.

Appetite & Meal Times or Eat When Hungry
(Kathrine) #5

cool!! thank you very much :slight_smile:

(Trish) #6

Morning coffee while watching a sexy doctor discussing a topic of interest to me. Oh, and the sun is shining and it’s not freezing out. I’d say it might be a good day. LOL.:wink:

(Clara Yang) #7

How are you increasing your calories without going over carbs, fat and protein? I’m hitting goal on fat and protein, staying under 20g carbs but can’t seem to get my calorie count above 900.

(Chris W) #8

The macros are not absolute limits, they are guides. The most restrictive of which is the carb limit. When new to keto you should be able to understand what the amount intake you need is, and how to recognize the signalling you require to get to full and satiety. It takes some relearning for people and often people right out of the gate on keto are calorie restricting. That is almost always a bad idea, you should eat to your macro levels, and then if you are still hungry add fat. Never leave the table hungry when you are eating, or you are setting yourself up for a lower BMR over time. The reverse is true as well, if you eat over the macros to a certain extent your BMR will go up temporarily as your body bleeds off energy. There is timing and insulin spikes that have to be considered in the process but it does work.

(Tina Emmons) #9

I shouldn’t speak for everyone but my take is when someone here says calories don’t matter they mean you shouldn’t be trying to restrict, so the opposite of what you might have been thinking. You’re right, they DO matter as in getting plenty and not keeping yourself in a deficit. Glad you’ve found a “sweet” spot, hehe.

(Kathrine) #10

You can add more oil or butter to your meals :slight_smile:

And yes I add more proteins and fats.
Calculate your TDEE - 20% and you’ll know how much you should be eating.
I was always below 1000 calories, I had no appetite but when I started eating more the appetite came back and my metabolism is faster.

(Kathrine) #11

Yep, but I see so many people here on this website who eat under 1000 calories a day and at the same time we are told to not eat if we aren’t hungry…

The bottom line is that this can be a bad idea because it slows down your metabolism…

I didn’t restrict my calories because I wanted to, I just wasn’t hungry at all.

(Rob) #12

Your goals must be very wrong. Macros should be expressed in grams, they drive calories/energy and the % (e.g. 70/25/5 in calories) is just a lagging result.

Use the ruled.me calculator - USE “maintain” option NOT “Weight Loss” to get macros in grams (that will deliver keto %s in calories)
Check it against a TDEE calculator to make sure you are not under-eating
https://tdeecalculator.net

It will be A LOT more food than you’ve been eating but as you can see from above, it works for many. Try this and if it really isn’t working after a few weeks, try some other approach. It may take some time if you are used to very low calories so give it a chance. You can always ask more questions if needed.

(Ron) #13

I was always below 1000 calories, I had no appetite but when I started eating more the appetite came back and my metabolism is faster.
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Kathrine,
This is good news. Now with this new found appetite continue eating to satiety AND then have a few more bites. This will keep increasing your BMR which should give you a good baseline once you are fully fat adapted with which to begin your weight loss journey.
You are doing great, keep focused and KCKO. :face_with_raised_eyebrow::grinning::ok_hand:

(Kathrine) #14

Thank you so much :)!
You comment is a big help :)!

Great to have such good people on this forum! :slight_smile:

(Kathrine) #15

personally I would recommend you to increase your calories over a couple of weeks :slight_smile:

Normally when people go on ‘‘reverse diets’’ they increase their calories over a whole year!
But the metabolism is way more flexible that that and it can be done in a couple of weeks or a few months…
Some people increase their calories immediately which I also did…
I expected a weight gain but I started losing… :slight_smile:

Good luck :slight_smile:

(Lee Jones) #16

The odd 2 or 3 pound fluctuation aside Ive been stalled for over 12 months now. I’m still in the obese range and the stubborn belly fat refuses to budge. Maybe my problem, like yours, is not taking on board enough calories? What can you do tho’ if your guided by your appetite?

So frustrating!

(Rob) #17

Don’t know your situation but in principle,

“if you broke it, you will have to work to fix it”

The effort may be to eat more, above your appetite which may be set low, long enough to convince your body that it can increase BMR without risk?

(Ron) #18

LOL, almost exactly what I just said on another thread he post about it. Lee, I learned it from this guy, He knows what he is talking about.:+1:

(Kathrine) #19

do you know how much you are eating and what your macros are?
If you are undereating that’s probably why you don’t lose weight…
I thought keto was easy because I just had to listen to my body. Maybe it works for some people but not me…
Do you feel tired and how are your energy levels?

I’m not a doctor or nutritionist and the only thing I got is my own experience :slight_smile: But I would say that you should try to up your calories, if you are undereating, and you will finally feel the benefits of keto…

(Lee Jones) #20

That’s an interesting theory Bob and certainly worth further investigation.

I’m gonna try and increase my fat intake for a couple of weeks to ramp up my calorie intake. I’ll let you know how I get on :+1:t2: