Should I force myself to eat if I am not meeting my macros? I’m not doing keto to lose weight, and I exercise, and don’t want to stop because I have fitness goals. And I don’t feel a lack of energy. I am just not hungry.
While I have some fat to lose, I don’t want to lose it until I can replace it with muscle. I want to gain some weight, but I feel like my body is in a state where it doesn’t feel the need to eat since there is a fat supply? Maybe I have the science wrong… also, it should be noted that I suffered from an eating disorder so my hunger triggers are not what they should be anyway.
I feel like to achieve my goal of gaining weight I should be eating more, which means I’m going to have to eat even though I honestly do not feel the urge. Today I’ve had 1417 calories, yet burned 538 according to my exercise app. I can go into the kitchen and force myself to eat, but that begins to make this lifestyle unappealing.
Even without the workout 1417 isn’t enough to sustain someone of my age, weight, and height. Any help is appreciated.
Edit for info… today:
2 eggs, 1/2 tbsp butter, chia seeds, flax seeds, 4 slices of bacon, 1 tbsp MCT oil, 1 tbsp ghee, 8oz coffee, serving 90% dark chocolate, 1oz walnuts, 8oz chicken breast, 1 tbsp olive oil.
1417 calories
119 fat
78 protein
14 total carbs, 3 net
Not hungry - I know, why am I complaining?
I had this same problem, (look for eating to satiety). The biggest problem is that until you are fat adapted your body can view this as calorie restriction and slow down your metabolism. I didn’t find find a firm answer. So I ended up going every other day. One day I would eat just until I was full and the next day I would toss in a little extra fat. Once you are fully fat adapted you don’t need to worry as your body will pull the extra calories from you fat stores. When you are fat adapted is another thread, in can take from 2-6 months.
Unless you have medical reasons otherwise just fast as long as you need to. It might become that you eat once in 2 days. That’s fine.
Generally, no. However, I later read this important tidbit.
This is a big deal. I don’t know how long you’ve been fat-adapted, or at all, but low-carb living helps to right our hunger and satiety mechanisms. On the Standard American Diet, we effectively kill our body’s feedback mechanism on satiety. However, there are other factors that influence what we perceive as “hunger” and that’s a dimension all it’s own. It’s a worthy journey, regardless.
Check out Dr. Ted Naiman. He’s focused on nutrition and exercise performance. The doctor also lives what he practices. He also relishes standing directly under focused lighting.
I fail to form words that express my contempt for these calorie calculators. They are an epic waste of time. (Noted: I closely tracked my caloric intake since 2011, with MFP, and other less complex methods prior. Stopping this has been vital to my success on LCHF.)
You know yourself better than an app on a small device. Learn to listen to it, not an app.
Since you mentioned recovering from ED and having fitness goals, please listen to the Keto Woman podcast with Erin, I think you will find it helpful :
FWIW in my first year of lifting I did have to make some effort to eat more calories & cut back some on the cardio. The extra calories weren’t a huge deal for me - a little extra salad dressing or mayo here, swap lean protein for fattier protein there - that sort of thing. I managed to gain 1 1/2 kg over the year & I guess I lost a bit of fat as my measurements barely budged.
In my second year I focused more on getting sufficient/extra protein & eating intuitively (probably similar calorie amounts to the first year) & while I didn’t gain any actual weight I did gain 1 kg of muscle & lose 1 kg of fat.
I seem to have hit a new set point both in terms of weight & calorie level (I don’t count calories as such but I do track my macros/micros so know where I am in calorie terms) so am just going to see where it takes me.
Again, I’m a bit further along in my recovery than you so YMMV but I just thought I’d share how it’s working for me.
Thank you guys so much. Really. I’m going to look into all of these podcasts, and hopefully gain some insight into what I can do to further my recovery and make sure I’m doing this right.
I am going into month 3 of my first time doing keto. And at first I was always hungry, actually. It has only been the last couple of weeks that I’ve begun to notice the change of waking up and knowing I need to get those calories in, but really not having the desire to do so. I urine test and am always moderate to high, and have been since week 2, although that’s when I first started testing. Perhaps I shouldn’t focus on counting calories through my app. I do feel with my ED that it can become slightly obsessive. The stress of “what have I eaten, do I need more” doesn’t help me mentally. Maybe for the next few weeks I’ll just let my body do it’s thing and just test my ketones and go from there?
Being in ketosis isn’t the same as your satiety signals working and you’re “hearing” them. This is where the beauty of Dr Westman’s approach kicks in. He has documented what you can eat with limits and specific quantities, and what foods you should avoid. No tracking, no macros, none of the noise. He calls it his “Page Four” as it’s the fourth page of his diet write-up his patients received. I am one of his patients. His Heal Clinics has a version, here: https://healclinics.com/dr-westman-page-4/ I strongly recommend your checking it out.
I became LCHF under his guidance, and recommend the same for anyone, particularly someone struggling with compounding issues. Believe me, I brought plenty of my own baggage. 
Stress & other hormones can also mess with your hunger/satiety signals so anything you can do to reduce stress may in fact help you be more in touch with & better able to hear these signals. Stress kills my appetite dead. The second half of my cycle ramps it up. I knew none of this 20 years ago because I’d overridden/ignored the signals for so long.
Take care 
