Do I eat till I'm full despite my macro targets?

(Chris) #1

So every macro calculator puts my fats between 100g and 140g. Protein between 100g and 150g. I’m 30 years old 230 lbs down from 260. But I’m finding I est my breakfast and lunch snack which is around 100g of fats and then I hit supper and I could easy devour another 60-100g of fat if I wanted to. I’ve heard just EST till your not hungry but if I do tjat I’ll be way above the targets

(George) #2

We’re pretty close in age and weight, so from experience If i were you I’d skip breakfast, have a big enough lunch to keep me satisfied till dinner, and eat dinner till your full. BUT, if you’re not hungry at dinner time, dont eat.

Don’t worry about macros so much. Just keep carbs low, once you start experiencing slow downs in weight loss then reexamine your macros and adjust accordingly.

I dont really pay much attention to my macros in terms of grams, but overall caloric intake instead. For example, I’m getting roughly 75 percent of my calories from fat, and 25 percent from protein. Carbs are practically zero. Looking at my food yesterday, that breaks down to 2048 calories, 169g of fat, 120g of protein

#3

Early on, hunger is kind of like the body having a “temper tantrum” because it wants the carbs that it’s used to getting. Just feed that hunger fats, maybe a little protein, but as few additional carbs as possible.

You need to keep carbs low to make sure you stay in ketosis. And your body needs proteins for a number of bodily processes. After that, ideally, hunger sets the pace for amount of fats to eat.

Before keto, I was ravenously hungry all the time. No more. But it can take some time to get past the body’s urges for more carbs.

(Carl Keller) #4

It’s the job of our hunger hormones, ghrelin and leptin, to tell us when we should eat and when we should stop. If you want to be free of constant hunger and cravings it’s important to learn how to trust those signals and make the correct response. This is probably a foreign concept if you’ve been eating a SAD based diet and are used to eating 4-5 times a day because you are constantly hungry… but you can change that with practice, patience and trusting what your body is telling you.

Macros are guestimates for what your body will need in a day. Some days you might need more and some days you might need less than is suggested. Let your body decide if more or less is needed.

To be honest, the fat and protein is a bit lower than I was eating when I first began and I started out about 20 pounds lower than you are now. I never ate to satisfy a macro but I did track what I was eating because I was curious about the numbers. Anyway, it took me about 4-5 weeks of eating about 150 grams of both fat and protein per day before my hunger took a vacation and I started eating way less to reach satiety.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #5

I agree with two meals a day… But I would never skip breakfast ! Can’t have my coffee without food in my stomach… And can’t get my day started without my coffee.

My day starts with a bunch of greasy (not drained) bacon, or sausage…or salmon… Or pork loin (which I will spike with butter to keep the fat up… Then 3 or 4 egg yolks…might keep 1 or two of the whites…

Then, as early of a dinner as I can make happen… But two problems with that… 1) I’m often busy until later in the day, and 2) I can go so long before I get hungry, that I often just forget about dinner… And next thing I know, it’s 8 or 9pm.

Best thing for me though, is a big fat breakfast at 9am, and big fat, balanced dinner at 5pm… And nothing after that until the next breakfast.

And plz keep in mind, I have been an overweight pig for much of my 54 years ! I have NEVER been able to go much more than 6 hours without being freaking crazy hungry… Like I was going to die if I didn’t eat. This is SO not normal for me to just feel like I don’t really have to eat. Heck, even after an 18 hr fast, I feel like if their was a good reason for it, I could go another 6 hours.

(Chris) #6

Very interesting. Cuz I was even eating 100g of each for awhile there. Thanks for the tips I’ve been lowering my consumption to force my body to eat it’s own fat

(Chris) #7

What is esrly on? 2 weeks? 6 weeks? 3 months haha

(George) #8

Definitely do whatever you find works best for you!

Reason I skip breakfast, and have found to be common among others, is that our insulin lowers overnight and stays at it’s lowest point in the morning. The longer that stays low, the more fat burning occurs. If I eat breakfast, I disrupt that state, drive my insulin, and as it starts lowering throughout the day, I’ll get hungry, eat dinner, and boom, my insulin is high/higher all day, and only decreasing while I sleep. So, by pushing my first meal till typical lunch time, or 1x/day in the evening, I stay in a fasted state longer, hopefully resulting in additional fat burning while insulin is kept low.

#9

The amount of time to get “fat adapted” varies by individual, but typically 3 to 6 weeks. But, yes, maybe up to 3 months.