Getting enough, but eating to satiety?

newbies
fat
metabolism
calories
(Rebecca) #1

Hi all, I am in my 4th week of solid keto (no cheats this time). I am having some trouble. I was doing lazy keto the first few weeks, but still making sure to keep carbs under 20g. A few weeks in I started feeling cold and tired. From what I found, these are signs that I’m not getting enough fat. So I started tracking my intake in MFP, and sure enough I was only getting 80g of fat when my deficit macros call for almost 150g. So I’ve tried upping the fat and have been getting at least 130g of fat every day, but am still struggling to get enough fat in a day and sometimes have to force myself to eat more. I am still cold and tired!

Also, I am just flat-out confused because I seem to find two conflicting pieces of advice - if you’re cold or tired, eat more fat/calories, which will also increase your metabolic rate. However, I always read people say you should ONLY eat to satiety and nothing more. When I was doing that I think my metabolic rate slowed down and I gained weight and was tired.

Looking for help, advice and clarification. Thank you, all! :smile:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

How much protein are you eating? If you’re cold and tired, you probably aren’t getting enough protein. The recommendation is to eat around a gram of protein for each kilogram of your lean body mass. Your body has to have a moderate amount of protein; too much or too little will cause problems. Then keep your carbohydrate low to avoid stimulating insulin secretion, and then eat fat until you’re not hungry. Doing it that way should give your body enough energy and allow it to burn stored fat.

#3

You may want to look at your electrolytes

Sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium. Some people recommend a multivitamin as well and possibly vitamins D and K

(Rebecca) #4

@PaulL I am DEFINITELY getting more protein a day than that! That would put me at about 68g of protein and I get anywhere from 80g-120g. Could my problem be too much protein?

And thank you for the reply, @Saphire! From now on I’m just going to assume any issues I have are caused by electolytes because that seems to be the answer to everything lol! I am taking magnesium which should be enough, I think my problem is with potassium. I’ll track it more diligently and see if that turns things around.

(German Ketonian) #5

Too much protein is an issue if you don’t eat enough fat. It’s a demand-driven process, meaning that you don’t want your body to offset the calorie deficit by turning to proteins, thus initiation gluconeogenesis and potentially kicking you out of ketosis. Make sure you keep your macro ratios to 75% fat 20% protein 5% (max) carbs.

One trick how to pimp your macros: I eat cheese in combination with butter. Take a slice of cheese and just spread that sucker with all the butter you can handle. Delicious and a great way of augmenting your macros. Same goes with sausages, meats, nuts, pretty much everything. If olive oil is more your thing, then by all means go for that. But make sure you eat enough fat, especially the first 4-8 weeks, I’d say!

(Rebecca) #6

Thank you, I wonder if that is my problem. I used to track my protein but I’ve been doing lazy keto and this is what I get haha!

I’ll definitely try the butter and cheese, thanks for the tip!! My biggest struggle has always been getting enough fat. I add all the butter and bacon grease I can to my meat each meal and that’s about all the fat I get without forcing it. I used to like salad plain and now I force myself to at least use caesar dressing. Guess I’ll see if I can get down some mayo, sour cream, and any other fat and oil I can.

Thanks so much, everyone!

(Doodler for @KetoKailey) #7

@sporadical Thank you for starting this thread. I have similar symptoms and a week behind you.

I do not find myself hungry either, but I eat!

The @Zimon cheese trick worked this AM, and the heavy cream/butter in coffee.

Thank you all!

(German Ketonian) #8

Yes, Mayo is a great fat source too, but try to make it yourself, rather than buying the processed cr*p. It usually contains horrible fats, such as soy, sunflower, or canola oil (and not the native ones!)