Cico

(anonymous74) #1

I have a question. My BMR is 1829. As you can see by the picture I exceed that, almost on a daily basis. I never go to bed hungry. In fact some days I feel like a glutton. My dilemma is that I’m worried my calories are too low and my body is in starvation mode and holding on to body fat. I’ve “lost” 4 lbs/ 1.814 kg. in 5 weeks. Can someone just reassure me that I’m on the right path or put me on the straight and narrow? The weight loss isn’t the problem. I just don’t want to damage myself further than I already have. The damage would be from years and years of restricting calories. That’s the only way I would/could lose weight. Help please.

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#2

I am a bit confused - I am getting mixed messages from your post. You talk about exceeding calories but then being worried you are not eating enough?

My advice? Forget about calories.

Focus on keeping your carbs low - ideally <20g per day total (rather than net).

At the start, don’t worry so much on protein and fat levels, simply eat what you fancy when you are hungry. You just need to get fat adapted and get through carb withdrawal. Make sure you always have keto food ready to eat so you are not tempted by carb-laden nasties. Prep well, plan well. Never shop hungry.

It takes a while to find your keto rhythm - some fall into it quickly but others take months. Be patient. Keep a record of how you are doing. I wrote a post about this here…

Calories eaten per day is probably the least helpful measure you can do! Your macros eaten will be useful further along but I wouldn’t worry about much other than carbs in the moment. If you keep a record of how you are feeling alongside everything else, you can look back at this a couple of months hence and start fine tuning your daily diet.

(anonymous74) #3

I exceed my Basal metabolic rate suggested calories of 1829, but I’m afraid that’s too low.

#4

Based on the numbers in your screenshot, you are only averaging 1686 calories over those 10 days. So you are under your BMR.

If you have lost 4 pounds in 5 weeks, your target of 1829 is not too low because that is a perfectly reasonable rate of weight loss.

(ianrobo) #5

remeber a normal bloke needs approx 2200 calories under the old methods for maintenance reasons, under Keto forget this.

If one advice I can give from my own experiment ! is that I do measure calories but there is not pattern to when I lose weight and total calories in and out, none at all.

Just follow Keto WOE, do some exercise (only for general well being and get the body moving as it is designed to) and you will go to a normal body weight for you.

(Alex Dipego) #6

You burn higher rates of energy on keto this burn more calories with less effort.

As far as your calories are concerned. Track them if you want but don’t use them to guide you. Use your hunger and how you feel to guide you. Tracking helps learn the body in a very detailed way. You can track patterns with specific foods, amount of sleep, water ingested, sodium intake. Tracking is great to learn you.

Don’t forget what you’re doing this for, to feel energized, healthy, stable. Let the food do its thing, let your ketones take over. You may not need much food if you’re body is pulling fat from itself, the leaner I get the more I need to eat.

(anonymous74) #7

Thank you all for taking the time to address my worry. From the comments I see that I’m not on the wrong track, but I am worrying for nothing. My main focus now is fat adaptation and keep carbs at 20 or below.
Again, thank you! @Daisy @Kirkor @Abrane @ianrobo

(ianrobo) #8

yes if you believe in Keto and WOE then get fully adapted and once you are there (and you will know it) then experiment a little and see what you prefer.

#9

I get what your concern is, or at least I think I do. If you consistently fall below your bmr your metabolism will slow down and cause additional issues. I recently listened to an interview or talk by Dr. Fung and he stated eating to little is worse than not eating (fasting). Try to target your bmr and see how you feel. As you loose weight you’ll need to reevaluate your bmr.

(Michelle) #10

Hi - When I first started out (about 3.5 weeks ago), it was hard to wrap my head around CICO and keto. Tried to do both, and that was a failure. I was listening to another Keto podcast the other day, and they say this is why most people fail at Keto. My LoseIt App regularly tells me I’m eating too many calories if I want to lose weight. I just don’t pay attention to calories anymore. I regularly go 150 to 300 calories “over” what my app says to lose weight.

The best thing to do is to track carbs (<20g per day) eat some protein, and then eat fat to satiety (just like the 2KD say). This is what I’ve been doing. After I eat a meal, I will ask myself if I’m satiated. If not, then I grab some fat to top me off. Yesterday was the first day that I ate lunch and wasn’t even hungry until after 6pm. So, I think this is all working. Most of my meals (I eat about 2 a day) are around 700 - 900 calories each, most of this is from fat. I really just keep an eye on that carb and protein number (grams not percentages).

Good luck!!! Ditch the historical thinking about CICO and let your hormones do the work.

(Arlene) #11

Michelle, I totally agree. This way of eating couldn’t be easier. I used to think about food all the time. Now I just eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full. Many days I go 24 hours between meals because I’m just not hungry. Other days I eat 2 meals during the day. I haven’t eaten 3 meals/day since I started this way of eating. It’s so easy and carefree.