I worry…"if you eat too little, you slow your BMR” theory

(Cindy) #1

So I’m really enjoying (for the most part), trying to adapt to a ketogenic diet. My only worry is the whole “if you eat too little, you slow your BMR” theory. I’m really, really, really trying to focus instead on eating when I’m hungry and not eating when I’m not. But that means my calories are low. I don’t track, but still, I know they’re low.

For example, Tuesday, I wasn’t hungry all day. At dinner, I had a ribeye (probably about 8 oz), and some sauteed green beans. Later that evening, I had something for a snack…can’t remember what now but it would have been protein/fat…oh, an Applegate hot dog and a few olives.
Yesterday, I was hungrier. Had 2 eggs and bacon for breakfast, then a hamburger salad for dinner (with full fat Ranch dressing, cheese, ham, lettuce) and then 2 pieces of pepperoni and about 1 oz of cheese later.
Now, today, after eating more yesterday, I still haven’t eaten.

In a way, I guess it’s a moot point. I cannot force myself to eat more. Been there, done that and what happens eventually is that I just quit. If I make myself eat without being hungry, that particular food becomes very gross to me…it’s why I rarely eat chicken breasts these days…it was a staple food while doing Body For Life many year ago.

Back in my Lapband days, we’d say “ride it till the wheels fall off,” because, at this point, I have plenty of extra fat for fuel. :wink: So I guess I’m just wanting reassurance that if I keep mixing it up according to my hunger signals, it’ll be ok?

(Cindy) #2

Oh, and I AM trying to increase calories by adding fat…that’s why, if I’m feeling particularly snackish at night, I’m eating a small protein/fat snack. Eventually, I want to cut out that snack, but right now, I’m eating 1 or 2 meals/day so I’m just telling myself it’s a really, teeny, tiny meal. :smiley:

(Matthew) #3

Why did you write just ‘I worry’ in the title without additional information?

Why didn’t you write,“I worry…if you eat too little, you slow your BMR” theory.

‘I worry’ is too generic and brief and wastes lots of people’s time who come in based on a partly sensationalist title.

(Candy Lind) #4

Eat when you’re hungry, don’t when you’re not. You’re doing fine. I don’t have good satiety signals, so I have to be more mindful of how much I’m eating. Consider yourself lucky that yours are good!

BTW, if you want to edit your topic name (post-snark), you can. There’s a little pencil up there just for that. :wink:

(Stephanie ) #5

Why do you feel the need to even make a comment about someone else’s title? If you don’t want to comment about said subject then move along.

(Robert C) #6

Remember that if you are truly fat adapted, you are not getting too few calories because whatever you do not consume comes from your stored fat.

Infrequent and spaced far apart keto meals will allow very low insulin and lots of body fat burning.

Frequent and non-keto meals keep insulin high - making body fat usage impossible - THEN you can slow your metabolism with too few calories (because you can only use your dietary calories).

(Running from stupidity) #7

Yah

This.

(Cindy) #8

Sorry about that. I’ll edit it.

(Cindy) #9

Candy, I do have an advantage. I have a LapBand for about 7 yrs that seriously curbed my appetite. Some crazy negative feedback with that if you eat too much. When I had to have it removed, I converted to the sleeve. Unfortunately, I’ve never really felt the affects of a sleeve, I think because I was so used to the band. So not a lot of hunger signals, but I certainly picked up the weight because carbs could be eaten JUST FINE. I was also telling myself that I needed to eat, so I’m loving NOT eating. Hubby even said last night “Uh-oh, you’ve found your way to not eat and still be healthy.”

(Cindy) #10

Robert, I think I’m fat adapted at this point. I’ve been eating very few carbs. I don’t track, but except for what’s in greens, tomatoes, etc, I’m not eating any. And even of those, I’m not eating a lot. I can happily be a carnivore. I did have 4 strawberries yesterday. They were so sweet! Hubby didn’t think so, but he’d just finished eating ice cream. LOL

(Justin Jordan) #11

If you’re getting the results you want*, don’t worry about it. That’s a thing to worry about when you aren’t getting results.

*Assuming the results you want are at least kinda reasonable

(Cindy) #12

Wait, wanting to lose 50lbs in 2 weeks isn’t reasonable? :wink: Actually, I don’t weigh, so haven’t a clue what I’d like to lose. My goals right now are 1) Stay on a ketogenic diet at least until March 1, and 2) see a difference in my clothing. There’s plenty of other “minor” goals, such as not waking up in the morning with stiff joints, but I think that’s already gone away! I’m not on any meds, not diabetic, etc, although I’m sure I was heading that way if I kept living off of sweet tea.