Struggling with fat/enough calories

(Rachel Hamm) #1

I am brand new to keto (started 5 days ago). I am 5’3 and weighed 216 lbs to start and down 8lbs to 208lbs. Soda has always been my biggest vice and late eating/ low exercise did not help. My weigh increased gradually over 20 years 3-4 lbs per year, but I never considered food as my big problem and so far, I have not been tempted by the carbs. I figure weight I have lost is all water and I am concerned if I am in ketosis. I have ulcerative colitis and cannot eat nuts and not coming close to my fat or calorie goals. I am typically ending the day 500 calories short, I am meeting protein and carb goal and avg 80g fat of 153g goal? Is this a huge deal?

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of folks here who have been where you are and can offer specific advice. All I want to say is, yes, it can be a big deal to eat too little. The most important thing about keto is to keep net carbs sub-20 grams per day. That keeps you in ketosis and for the first several months to a year, staying consistently in ketosis is very important. A lot happens when you start keto and you have to give yourself lots of time for it to happen and to adapt to it. Second, you need to give yourself sufficient energy to do so. Eating a big calorie deficit won’t do it but will slow down your overall metabolism, something you do not want to do.

The good news is that by staying in ketosis consistently you will soon eat less, not feel hungry, satisfy your daily energy requirements - and lose weight. All the while getting healthier overall. The not-so-good news is that keto is not a quick weight/fat loss diet so it may take longer than you thought or hoped. Weight/fat loss is not a linear process and you can expect ups/downs/remains. There will be times when other stuff takes priority.

So be patient, stay in ketosis, eat when you’re hungry and stop when your not. Keep it simple for a few months until you get comfortable. Best wishes.

#3

Sounds OK to me, as long as you’re getting in the proteins you need.

My take is that keto is simply “Minimal carbs. Adequate proteins. Fats as needed (for satiety).”

When you’ve calculated your macros, keep in mind that the proteins macro is a lower limit, while the fats and carbs macros are upper limits. Don’t worry about calories. They flow from the macros.

So, two priorities:

  • You need to keep carbs low to stay in ketosis.
  • You need to make sure you get enough proteins. Your body needs them. Being significantly low on them over an extended period can cause the body to get it elsewhere. That may mean break-down of muscle tissue. Not good.

After that, ideally, it should be hunger that determines how many fats and additional proteins (and thus calories) that you need to be eating, if only because leaving yourself hungry all the time means keto won’t be sustainable. You don’t need to eat all of the fats macro if you’re not hungry, because the body can make up the difference with stored body fat.

If you’re getting less than 20 net carbs per day, you’re in ketosis.

(Allie) #4

Are you hungry, or eating to your appetite? That’s the key thing. If you’re eating to your appetite and not feeling hungry, chances are you’re getting what you need from food and body fat stores combined. It’s when people deliberately limit food leaving themselves hungry that the issues arise.

#5

500 kcal below your maintenance calories (not like we can have a good idea about it unless we figured out somehow and nothing changed)? That’s a nice deficit (unless it’s too low-cal. it’s somewhere around 1500 kcal for me on a not active day, it’s fine. if it’s 700 kcal for someone, that’s not fine, I would think - but you still have 80g fat so it’s better. but maybe not enough for you, I can’t know).

As the others said, you should be satiated. But it’s not necessarily enough to eat only that much as people are able to starve themselves while not being hungry and very low-carb food is often very satiating. I can seriously undereat or seriously overeat on keto, it’s just about my food choices and number of meals (but it’s true that I never did either for longer term, probably could, at least the latter but my goal is eating properly so I put effort to achieve that).
And it would be a huge mistake to wait for hunger with my meals. That’s not for everyone. I still feel when I need fuel, it’s just often doesn’t feel like hunger and my appetite may stay zero too (I am obsessed with food but they aren’t connected, it seems). We need our nutrients even if lowering carbs and eating fatty protein is extremely effective for satiation. And not all of us can get away with big deficits, I suspect I don’t have the necessary extra fat for that but it can’t be calculated so it’s just a guess. People with huge fat reserves may have huge deficits (like what I would have eating nothing :)) without a problem, probably there are conditions but there are such cases.

But you don’t need to eat all your fat macro. I don’t even have a fat macro, my fat intake does whatever it pleases as long as the others are fine and my calories vaguely too. Too low cal never worked for me even if I was very satiated all the time for a (little) while.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

At 208 lbs. (94.55 kg), and assuming 70% (or 66 kg) 22of that is lean mass, you should be eating an amount of protein in the range of 66-99 grams a day, more if you are trying to build up your body. Since most meats are around 25% protein, that means you should be eating portions of meat that add up to 264-396 g, or roughly 9.5 to 14 oz. That is a reasonable range for protein intake.

Keeping your carbohydrate intake low is crucial, because the point is to lower serum insulin to a more reasonable level. It is the continually elevated levels of serum insulin and serum glucose that result from the standard American diet (SAD) that cause metabolic damage and obesity. When insulin is high, fatty acids are trapped inside our fat tissues and cannot leave.

However, even in a low-carb context, the body will still hang on to its excess fat store, if it thinks there is a famine going on. The signal for a famine is short rations; i.e., restricted caloric intake. So it is risky to try to eat at a caloric deficit, because the body will respond by hunkering down, lowering metabolism and hanging grimly on to its resources until the emergency is over. When caloric intake is abundant, the body responds by raising the metabolic rate and can even waste energy. As you can see, this latter situation is more favourable for shedding excess stored fat.

This is why we recommend not counting your fat intake, but rather eating to satisfy your hunger. Note that we do not recommended cramming down fat until you are sick of it; fat is not a magical keto food, it is simply the macronutrient that stimulates insulin secretion the least, so it is a good alternative to the carbohydrate we are no longer eating. Without elevated insulin interfering with our hunger and satiation hormones, they become a reliable guide (for most people, at least) to how much to eat. Eating to satiety ensures getting enough food, to avoid the famine signal, and the appetite will set itself to use both the fat we eat and some of the excess fat we want to get rid of.

#7

Fat is not a goal on keto.

Keep you carbs at 20g or below - That’s the target to keep you in ketosis for weight loss.

Keep you proteins moderate. Many people calculate “moderate” as 1 to 1.5g per kg of your body weight. So if you weigh 80kg, you eat around 80g to 120g of protein a day. Eating enough protein is to ensure you don’t start loosing muscle - which you don’t want.

Fat is not a goal. The reason why eating enough fat is advised, especially when just start on keto, is to keep you full and satisfied, and to aid getting you into ketosis. Apart from that, fat is really only eaten to keep you satisfied. If you find yourself having cravings after eating, it could be an indication that you are not eating enough fat. In which case, increase fats gradually until you get to that point where you don’t get cravings. For some people, they need more fat to feel satisfied. I currently eat about 65g of fat a day and only eat one meal a day…but then again I have been keto for some time. You may need more, let your satiety be your guide.

With regards to nuts, you don’t have to eat them. Adding 2 tablespoons on olive/coconut oil to your meal or coffee can up your fats. However, like I said, don’t do this because you are trying to hit a “fat target”. There is no fat target. Do it if you feel you need to up your fats if you are still having cravings after meals.

HTH