Confused about LARGE calorie count

[maki2000]

Hi everyone! I know that on atkins you shouldn't focus on calories, but I am a little concerned about the calories I am taking in each day because they are so high. I have been on induction for 11 days and the majority of those days I have been eating 2000-2200 calories with 15-20 carbs per day. I don't worry about it too much b/c I know that calories shouldn't matter, but this seems very excessive, even for Atkins. I am 5'4 and weigh 145 at the moment. Could someone take a look at my journal and tell me if I am on the right track or if there is something I should be tweaking/taking out? If this is a normal calorie range I am fine with it, but I want to be sure. I would greatly appreciate any input.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?p=7378418#post7378418

[Kisal]

Congratulations! You've lost 9 lbs in 11 days! That deserves cheers! :cheer: :cheer:

I think you should concentrate on following your book for now. Do a very "clean" Induction. Everything else will fall into place as you become accustomed to the lc wol. Eventually, you will find that you eat much less because you aren't hungry. Worrying about not losing fast enough can actually slow your loss, because stress can increase the level of cortisol in your body.

One thing you must always remember is that weight loss is not a straight downward line. You will not lose every day. Some days you may even gain, especially around your TOM. There will be many days when you don't see any change in the scale, but if you stay on your plan, you very probably will continue to lose inches.

If you aren't already doing so, I strongly urge you to learn to use My P.L.A.N., which is part of this site, or else another type of tracking software, such as fitday.com. Knowing what you were eating while you were successfully losing weight can be very valuable later on in the event that you hit a real stall of more than 6 weeks with neither pounds nor inches lost.

I really like My P.L.A.N., because there's a special forum for it where you can ask questions and receive personalized help if you run into difficulty using it.

HTH! :wave:

[maki2000]

Thanks Kisal! I see what you mean. I've decided to skip out on the oopsie rolls for a while, sf jello and the heavy cream too, sadly. I am a big coffee drinker and find it impossible to drink black w/Splenda. Same with the rolls, I lack portion control willpower. But, I'd rather give it up completely than mess everything up. I can't ever seem to just stop at 1 cup, so it's better not to at all. So, since I already had some today, tomorrow is the day. Thanks for the cheers!!...hehe.

I use fitday to input my food and my carbs are always fine, it just seems overboard on calories. The first 3 days of induction were reasonable until I remembered about HC and thought my coffee woes were over...lol. I think I will follow the 2 week induction menu on the website, that should keep me in a decent range.

Thank you for your help! I'll definitely take a better look at My P.L.A.N. too. :)

[Elizellen]

I think I will follow the 2 week induction menu on the website, that should keep me in a decent range.If you mean the 2 weeks of menus posted on the Atkins company site I would suggest dropping the following items as I am sure they contain ingredients not allowed on induciton according to the list of allowed foods.
Check labels for ingredients to help you decide, but Atkins the company has ignored the rules laid down by Dr Atkins in order to push sales of their products IMO4. Eat absolutely no fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables or dairy products other than cheese, cream or butter. Do not eat nuts or seeds in the first two weeks. Foods that combine protein and carbohydrates, such as chickpeas, kidney beans and other legumes, are not permitted at this time.

5. Eat nothing that is not on the acceptable foods list. And that means absolutely nothing! Your "just this one taste won't hurt" rationalization is the kiss of failure during this phase of Atkins.
As far as I know all these items contian ingredients forbidden by Dr Atkins:
1 slice bran crisp bread or Wasa high fiber flat bread
1/2 cup unprocessed bran flakes served with 1 cup Hood Carb Countdown™ reduced-carb whole-milk dairy beverage and sweetened with sucralose
Atkins Advantage™ Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar
Open-face Reuben: corned beef, 2 slices Swiss, 1/4 cup sauerkraut and 1 slice Wasa Rye Flat Bread
1 celery stalk with 2 tablespoons soy nut butter
3 pancakes made from 1/2 cup soya flour ,3 eggs, 1/2 cup water,1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate Mint Mousse
Steak quesadilla: steak slices, one slice Monterey Jack and a low-carb high fiber tortilla
Poached egg on 1 slice bran crisp bread
1 Atkins Advantage Chocolate Chip Granola Bar
Atkins Morning Start™ Trail Mix Bar
1 low-carb tortilla
1/2 cup vanilla low-carb suagr free pudding
1 slice Wasa High Fiber Rye Crisp bread
Veggie scramble wrap: 2 oz. Monterey Jack, 2 scrambled eggs, 2 asparagus spears and 1 low-carb tortilla
Atkins Morning Start™ Blueberry Muffin Breakfast Bar
1/2 cup chocolate suagr free low-carb pudding
3 waffles made from 1/2 cup soya flour ,3 eggs, 1/2 cup water.1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate Mudslide
1 low-carb tortilla filled with 2 eggs, scrambled
Open-face roast beef sandwich: roast beef, 1 slice Wasa high fiber Rye Bread

He did allow one tablespoon of wheat bran to help avoid constipation, but not the processed crackers and breads which IMO are mroe suited to the grains rung/level of OWL rather than induction.

If you need 'bread' why not make revolution rolls or Cleo's oopsies instead!!

[maki2000]

Thanks for the info Elizellen! I was curious about why the Wasa cracker was on the induction menu when I first looked at it. I had a few of them in the beginning of induction, but decided against anymore since it sounded strange. I don't really need bread too much, although I did make the oopsie rolls one day. I guess the only thing I have eaten that's not on the list is sf jello and something else I can't remember. I used to eat it the first time I did Atkins, but I think it was much later in the weight loss. Anyway, I am rambling now! Thanks for the taking the time to post that reminder for me. :)

[lccitygirl]

Hey!
The high calories in the beginning seem to be a good thing from what I've heard. Your body is know burning actual fat, instead of the sugar that turns into fat. I'm not sure how many calories I was eating at the beginning, because I neglected to track it. Now that I've been tracking, sometimes I eat food just to up my calories! I'm just not nearly as hungry as I was before. It's a wonderful feeling, and I don't crave "carby" foods near as much as I did the first few weeks.

Good luck, and congrats with the 9 pounds in 11 days - that's AWESOME!!

[BluePants]

When I first started, my calories were way high and now sometimes they are under 1000. To be perfectly honest, the last 20 pounds are the worst to lose, I think because we are so ancious to see those numbers. Be patient and they wiill appear. Atkins isn't a quick weight loss diet by any means, and you should expect to only lose about a .5 to 2 pounds a week. I think your ahead of the average.

[LessLiz]

Smart thinking to ask instead of panic! :thup:

Until and unless you find you stop losing weight for a long period, don't worry about your calories. You are doing fine!

[maki2000]

Thank you for your responses everyone!

BluePants, I discovered today that my old scale was wrong so I have actually only lost 3.8 instead of 11 lbs...lol. I guess I am not ahead of average after all. I thought it was a little strange that I had lost so much weight when I knew it's harder to lose when you are closer to your goal. It was a not so fun wake up call for me. Oh well, gotta keep pressing on eh?

[ElleH]

I really believe that most people are malnourished coming into the LC lifestyle--Gary Taubes talks about being overweight or obese as a symptom of malnutrition--and I believe it. That hunger and high cals in the beginning is the body's way of trying to feed and heal itself with the good food it now sees as available. Usually, over time, the appetite will moderate. Don't worry about the calories...as long as you're eating when you're truly hungry, you're fine.