How do you keep your fat and calories up?

[JJHend]

I need ideas!! If I am supposed to eat 10X my bodyweight (minimum), I need some ideas on how to do this! I have been putting my food into fitday and I'm at about 60% fat and 35% protien with 5% average carbs. How can I lower my protien, raise my fat but not raise my carbs?? Also, my doc told me today to lower my sodium.... ARGH!!! BAcon is about the only thing that keeps my fat up there...
Ideas :idea: :idea: :idea: PULEEEZE!!!
Thanks a million!

Oh yeah, and let me add that I haven't once been able to hit that 10x my weight mark.. just over 3000 is the best I've done. Is this going to keep me from losing weight?

[tamarian]

Calories can be increased gradually. Meals should be spaced, not skipping any meal, and maybe eating multiple smaller meals. Also, taking extra oil can help, virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, etc..

But 3,000 sound good, I think. The 10x is very general, and may not be practical for us with lots of weight. As long as we don't under-eat. :thup:

Wa'il

[Natrushka]

Originally posted by JJHend
How can I lower my protien, raise my fat but not raise my carbs??

Extra butter, mayonnaise, extra virgin olive oil, olives in your salads, skin on chicken - all high fat low/no carb and protein. Two extra tbsp of oil or butter are 240 calories, 0 carbs, 0 protein - you'll hardly notice them.

Anything processed will be high sodium - things like SF jello or pudding have more sodium per serving than a handful of nuts. If you're using fitday.com have a look at the sodium/potassium numbers for a few of the foods you eat every day. By cutting out processed I have managed to get sodium from above 2000mg a day to under 1500mg - it makes a difference :)

Nat

[JJHend]

Thanks for the suggestions. Its just a matter of figuring out what to put that butter and mayo on...
Tonight I had a Ribeye steak (definately NOT lean!) dipped in a bit of melted butter and covered with sour cream. I think I have achieved a nice high fat meal!! :yum: Which is good since lunch was chicken fajita's...
Thanks again for the help :D

[Mike]

For me it's a "pork fat" thing. Food of the Gods...

(I watch a lot of Emeril if you can't tell.)

Mike

[A thin me!]

Thanks for asking, as I have the same problem.

I try to add butter to cooking and things, but not everything needs it!!! LOL

I do add sour cream when I can like to salads for a different taste or slathered on something.

Lately, and I am not sure if this is right, I have an avcado, and I eat a slice a day. I love them, so I try not to gobble the whole thing, as it is very carby. But it is a good fat.



ATM

[FionaC]

A Thin Me - An whole avocado has only 4.8g carbs, the rest is fibre etc so it isn't really high in carbs at all, on induction Atkins suggests to limit it to half a day at a max,

My favourite "lite" meal when I am not feeling hungry (I never thought I would have times when I'm not really hungry :D ) is some shredded chicken mixed with mayo and half an avocado on a bed of lettuce and fresh mushrooms and capsicum - that way I get the fat I need plus the veggies without it being a heavy style dinner....

Fiona

[RGale]

Have you looked at fitday's estimate for your basal metabolism level? You might find that you don't need to eat more than 3000 calories a day. My basal metabolism level, for instance, is around 2500 -- definitely not 10X my weight.

I'm not for a minute suggesting that you should eat less, by the way. Just that you might not need to force yourself to eat more than 3000 calories if you don't want to.

--Ruth

PS - you'll find their estimate of your basal metabolism rate under "Activities".

[UpTheHill]

Sour cream!

Either to make a sauce with sauted meat & veg, or stirred up with a bit of cocoa powder and nutrasweet for a tasty treat. I'm thinking of freezing some of the cocoa/sour cream mixture in popsicle molds to make fatty fudgecicles.

I definitely lose fat faster when I'm eating plenty of it. And it quites the appetite in a way that lean protein doesn't.

Lynda

[liz175]

In my opinion, I would not force yourself to eat if you do not want to eat. I have never used Fitday and I have never counted the calories I eat. However, I have lost 75 pounds following Atkins for a little over 8 months. Nothing in the book says you need to eat a particular number of calories a day. It just says to eat when you are hungry, stop eating when you are full, and eat something at least every six hours when you are awake. It also says not to skimp on fats -- use olive oil on your salad and put butter or oil on your vegetables. Beyond that, unless you are stalling out, I don't know why you need to worry about the total number of calories you are eating or the percentage of fat.

Although I don't count calories, I have enough experience from counting calories in the past to assure you that I never eat anywhere near 10x my body weight in calories. I am not that hungry and I don't see any reason to force myself to eat. I am certainly not in starvation mode -- I regularly lose between 1 and 2 pounds a week.

[celtinore]

DEVILED EGGS!!!! :D

[dcbrowne]

I never go to 3000 and I am losing-rarely do I go over 2000. I dont know if that rule applies as strictly to us bigger folks. My basal metabolism on FitDay though is 3000+-becuase I am on my feet and moving around most of the day.

[RGale]

Donna,

My basal metabolism on FitDay though is 3000+-becuase I am on my feet and moving around most of the day.
I think you may be confusing basal with "basal plus lifestyle," or total calories. Your basal metabolism is simply what it would take to keep you breathing and your organs functioning, etc., if you were lying imobile in bed all the time. What you expend when you're on your feet and moving around is over and above your basal metabolism.

I'll use myself as an example again -- I'm a sedentary person so my requirements are going to be less than yours, but in my case they give 2500 for basal metabolism (what it would take to run my body in a coma) plus another 1000 or so for "lifestyle" for a total of 3500+ total calories expended per day. It's the "basal" calories you don't want to go below for an extended period of time. But I think Liz is right -- most of us don't go below that basal number for long, because when we do our bodies generally start screaming "HUNGRY!!" and we eat.

--Ruth

(Not trying to argue with your conclusions -- just clarifying terms.)

[A thin me!]

FionaC:

I am a bit confused...............re avacados.

According to Fitday - they appear to be high. 10 carbs if you puree them. Which, I don't.

Also, according to Atkins book that I have, they state 13 carbs.

I guess this is why I am confused. It there a better site that I can calculate my carbs other than Fitday?

I love avacados, but have been staying away from them, because of the numbers of carbs I was getting and only allowing myself a "treat" of a slice.

Hmmmmmm.

Thanks
ATM

[FionaC]

ATM

Hi there, If you look at the back section of the DANDR Atkins book (where the food lists are) on page 496 of the soft cover then look at avocado it says 14.9g ... the column next to it has the total "digestable carbs" which are the total carbs minus the fibre content (this is the carb value you count for each of your foods), the little zip out section from the front of the book only has the total carb value for foods before you subtract the fibre....

As for Fitday, again you need to take the total fibre off the carb value it gives you cause it doesn't calculate it for you.....

Therefore according to Dr A a whole avocado is worth 4.8g, and according to Fitday 1 avocado is 14.85g carbs with 10.05g fibre which equals 4.8g digestable carbs...... so Fitday and Dr A arn't far off each other....

Hope that helps

:D Fiona :D

[RGale]

It's hard to believe that something as squishy as an avocado has that much fiber!

--Ruth

[A thin me!]

Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Thanks for the advice and helpful information. Now, I can eat my avocado with the guilts!!!

You're right, about DANDER - I only looked it up in the front section.....


ATM

[dcbrowne]

You were absolutley right Ruth, I made the mistake of adding my basal and lifestyle together. My real basal is 2126. Thanks for noticing my mistake. Take care!!