Too few calories?
Hi everyone:
After a few stops and starts on and off Atkins for a few years (some with lots of success, others without), I decided that I really needed to focus on a plan that wasn't ketosis-dependent and that was a lot easier to manage out in the world where I'm traveling a lot and often don't have control over what's being served. I recently (5 days ago) started on SB, with the caveats the moderators of this board posted in 2004, re: limits on animal and saturated fat. Coming from Atkins, I'm not concerned about sat. fats and animal products, so those are added into my SB diet. After the on-again/off-again of the past few years, I expect I have a highly dysfunctional and resistant metabolism, so I'll be thrilled if I manage to lose a pound a week on SB. But after 5 days, I'm noticing that I'm having an extremely hard time keeping my calories up. I'm either too busy to remember to eat a snack, or I'm flatly disinterested. I log all of my food and calories in Lose It! and the average intake for calories has been around 1200/day. Does this seem really low to anyone else? Should I try and bump this up somehow? Will I do more damage to my poor metabolism by eating this little? |
I just recently have started counting calories in order to continue losing. For my weight right now, Fitday says I should eat between 1600-1700 calories a day in order to lose 2 pounds a week, so I would think that 1200 might be abit low for you.
As for the fat in SB, I know you didn't ask this question, but there is a reason that SB is lower in fat. It is because it's higher in carbs. When you are following Atkins, I agree that you shouldn't be worried about the fat. When following SB, you have more reason to be so. Have you read the book? If not, it does give some explanation of why the plan is written the way it is. This is the general formula that the SB diet is written with. higher fat + lower carbs = :thup: lower fat+ higher carbs= :thup: higher fat + higher carbs= :thdown: lower fat+ lower carbs= something I don't even want to think about :lol: Now all that being said, I do have some modifications to that. I only eat full fat cheese, but I don't eat alot of it. The reason...I can't find a LF one that I like. I do have full fat half and half in my one cup of coffee a day. Reason? I can't even find fat free half and half here. Anways, sorry for the digression. All the best to you and I hope you find a calorie count that works for you. :) |
Hi and welcome, :wave:
Char has given you all very good info and I agree with everything that she wrote! :agree: Would you mind telling us where the 1200 cals comes from? Please show us your menus. 1200 is low for your current weight and I can't really help unless I know what you've been eating, or not eating. :) |
Thanks for your responses, everyone! That makes sense and something I'd forgotten about (I do have the first edition of the book, but it'd been a while since I'd read it)
I wish either a) FitDay had an iPhone app or b) LoseIt had an easy way to share my menus, so we'll do this cut and paste style (oophda :lol: ) 1/24/2011 - 1440 calories Breakfast: Cheese, mozzarella, string, low moist, part skim 1 Each Celery, stalk, fresh, med 2 Each Eggs, hard bld, lrg 1 Each Lunch: Peas, snow 2 Servings Beef, flank steak 6 Ounces Cheese, semi-soft, Bonbel, indv 1 Each Dinner: Fish, salmon, pink, fillet, bkd/brld 5 Ounces Spinach, baby, fresh 3 Cups Peas, chickpea, mature, cnd 0.5 Cup Oil, olive, extra virgin 1.5 Tablespoons Dressing, mayonnaise, real 0.5 Tablespoon Vinegar, balsamic 2 Tablespoons Snacks: Cheese, semi-soft, Bonbel, indv 1 Each Nuts, almonds, whole 10 Each 1/25/2011 - 1190 calories Breakfast Eggs, hard bld, lrg 1 Each Cheese, mozzarella, string, sticks, rducd fat, low moist 1 Each Celery, stalk, fresh, med 2 Each Decaf Coffee with Cream, half & half 5 Tablespoons Lunch Spinach, fresh, chpd 5 Cups Cheese, blue, crumbled 0.125 Cup Salad Dressing, blue cheese 3 Tablespoons Turkey, avg, light meat, w/o skin, rstd 3 Ounces Dinner Salad, Field Greens 1 Cup Mussels, blue, stmd 4 Ounces Cheese, brie, 1 cube 1.5 Ounces Olives, calamata, w/o pits 2 Each Salad Dressing, French 1 Tablespoon Calamari, mixed species, fried 1 Ounce 1/26/2011 - 1401 calories Breakfast Cheese, mozzarella, string, low moist, part skim 1 Each Coffee with Cream, half & half 5 Tablespoons Lunch Fish, salmon, pink, fillet, bkd/brld 4 Ounces Spinach, baby, fresh 4 Cups Bacon, brld/pan fried/rstd, med slice 2 Pieces Cheese, blue, crumbled 0.25 Cup Salad Dressing, vinegar & oil, prep f/recipe 3 Tablespoons Dinner Broccoli, chpd, ckd, drained 2 Cups Fish, salmon, pink, fillet, bkd/brld 5 Ounces Butter, unsalted 1 Tablespoon Cheese, ricotta, part skim 0.5 Cup 1/27/2011 - 903 calories Breakfast Cheese, mozzarella, string, low moist, part skim 1 Each Coffee with Cream, half & half 5 Tablespoons Lunch Carnitas 1 Each Beans, black, mature, ckd 0.5 Cup Cheese, parmesan, grated 2 Tablespoons Sour Cream, reg 2 Tablespoons Lettuce, iceberg, fresh, shred 0.333 Cup Dinner Roast Beef, Cap-Off Top Round, All Natural 4 Ounces Cheese, mozzarella, fresh, balls, cherry, svg 2 Each 1/28/2011 - 1097 calories Breakfast Cheese, mozzarella, string, low moist, part skim 1 Each Coffee with Cream, half & half 5 Tablespoons Lunch Turkey Breast, Smoked, All Natural 4 Ounces Cheese, semi-soft, Bonbel, indv 0.666 Each Celery, stalk, fresh, med 2 Each Roast Beef, Cap-Off Top Round, All Natural 4 Ounces Coffee with Cream, half & half 5 Tablespoons Dinner Fish, catfish, channel, farmed, fillet, bkd/brld 3 Ounces Cheeseburger, Double Double, protein style, w/lettuce no bun 1 Each Exercise - Dancing 1/29/2011 - 842 calories Breakfast Egg, raw, large 2 Servings Milk, evaporated, w/add vit A, cnd 0.5 Fluid ounce Butter, unsalted 1 Tablespoon Lunch Broccoli, chpd, ckd, drained 2 Cups Butter, unsalted 1 Tablespoon Dinner Turkey Breast, Smoked, All Natural 7 Ounces snacks Cheese, mozzarella, fresh, balls, cherry, svg 2 Each |
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OK! :D Great :thup: ...now please do not get offended by my comments on your food...OK? ;) 1- you can have 2-3 eggs for your breakfast. 1 is a bit on the light side. I will have 3 medium boiled eggs as my meal sometimes for lunch. 2- you can also increase your lunch protein up to 5-6 ozs. 3- your dinner includes greens but you can also add more fat to those greens in the form of avocado. :yum: + other veggies too as phase I veggies are the only place that is unlimited on SB. 4- try to keep your cheese intake to a maximum of 4 ozs per day, especially since you are eating full fat cheeses. 5- deli meats (smoked turkey)are processed and can be way too high in sodium. 6- watch your total dairy intake. IMO, you are too heavy on the cheese, cream, sour cream and not nearly enough veggies. While we are allowed 2 cups of dairy daily and cheese is considered an unlimited protein, that is for those who are doing the reduced fat. I've combined the cheese and dairy giving a total of 2 cups daily of the 2 combined. How does this sound to you? |
Thank you, Judy! Wow! It helps to have someone else's eyes on it. I love how supportive everyone is :)
The bit I get stuck with is time. 10-hour days and this past week was kinda nuts with work (launching a major project and I was with my consultant for a few days. Lunch breaks are hard to do sometimes in my office), and so I wolf down whatever convenience foods I can grab at the time - lunch meats, string cheese, eggs (if I have them hard boiled already), celery. Trying to steer clear of relying on nuts, since I recall stalling on them before. But I'll just have to try harder to make sure I've got plenty of pre-prepared foods on-hand for the week. |
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Time is an issue for me too. I pre-cook big amounts of foods and store them in 3 cup containers in the freezer. I can whip up a very fast meal with those frozen foods. :idea: I made beef goulash last week, chicken/eggplant tikka stew before that. Today it s big pot of chili!! :yum: I also cook up about 2 lbs of chicken breast every 10 days to 2 weeks and eat off that when in a rush. I love my chicken breasts and if you need to know how I cook them, just ask!! :cool: Planning these things out will help you alot! :wave: |
Delilah- Time is a factor for many of us. I look at it this way...Health is important. Sometimes I go for what would be fastest, not necessarily the cheapest. Bags of already prepared veggies and salads go a long way in a pinch. What I usually do though, especially with veggies is after I go grocery shopping or sometimes on a Sunday when I have lots of time, I wash and cut up all my veggies and pre-bag them so they're ready to go. I keep containers of these veggies ready to make stir frys, salads, whatever. If I think about having to do all that when I'm tired, well, chances are it won't get done.
Like Judy said, precooking chicken breasts is a great idea and something I do also. Then you can chop it up, put it on your salad that has been pre-made and put in a container and you have a nice lunch ready in a jiffy. I buy small containers of hummus to have with veggies. Having hard boiled eggs is a fast solution too. There are many things a person can do! If you need any other ideas or suggestions, just ask! |
I don't know if you've seen this meal plan guide but this is the tool that helped me to seee how to eat this way.
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Also, the food lists that you can find in oour weighin thread, do give us protion amounts on things like creamers for coffee. 2tbs is a portion, especially when we use H&H or cream. :idea: The thing about SBD that I love, is that it taught me about portion control in general. I needed to learn this. SB is all about balance and portion control. :cool: |
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