I can't find the answer on this site or any other Atkins site, but I did find a recommendation based on another site and don't know if it's reliable. It says:

At 1488 calories
20 grams carbs
73 grams protein
124 grams fat

At 1253 calories
20 grams carbs
73 grams protein
98 grams fat

I know we're not counting calories, I know how to count net carbs, the Atkins website says 4-6 ounces protein 3 times a day, but I'm still very confused about the fat content. I started on Atkins way too low, but no one really told me how much to increase it.

Is it possible to get too much fat, or too many calories from fat?

I've been able to get myself up to 1300 calories with 98 grams of fat, but yesterday I hit a whopping 1863 calories and 145 grams of fat! It was all Induction food too, but it scared the living daylights out of me! (If it matters, my fat was heavy whipping cream in allowed amounts, mayo, steak, eggs, butter, oil and cheese (less than 2 ounces). Oh, and 18.5 carbs (of which 13.4 was veggies - lettuce, green beans, cauliflower, bell peppers), 82 grams protein.

Thanks for any advice you can give me. Eating fat is really a new concept for me, as with most people I know.

The answer to that depends on how much weight you have to lose, but in general, the advice is to eat just enough fat not to be hungry. If you enjoyed your meals yesterday, the amount of fat is OK for you. It is possible to get too much fat if you force it, especially consuming liquid oil calories like BPC.

But you are already at a BMI of only 22, and probably should not be eating at induction levels, and starting to add more fat. Consider the pre-maintenance or build phase of the diet. These are only examples of how much might be consumed in dietary fat, but a general idea of how the diet phases work: https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/201...-force-the-fat/

My BMI is actually 23.5 - too close to the top edge. I know my weight sounds great to most people, but I'm very small-boned (wear children's bracelets) and my body has large amounts of fat on it.

I did actually leave Induction to increase my carbs to 25 but I can't eat the lower-rung induction foods, so I'm really just increasing carbs but not variety. Why I didn't hit 19 yesterday is just a fluke. I'm normally between 20-25.

I'm hungry all morning and the cravings are strong at night. I go for fat but I still want to lick something chocolate! So I have a few bites of an Atkins bar instead.

How long have you been doing this, Lynn?

I have two questions for you

1.To close to the top edge for what? Do you know that there is some evidence that says a little overweight is better than a little underweight? I would worry more about too close to the low edge, especially if you have to force yourself to get down that low.

2.Why do you think you have large amounts of fat on your body? Your perception may be skewed and the answer may not be losing more weight.

I eat over 1800 calories almost every day and over 150 grams of fat. I'm maintaining a weight loss of over 120 pounds. I think you're overthinking everything and making it harder on yourself than you need to. Try to relax, keep counting your carbs and let the rest take care of itself. This can be fun and easy rather than a constant battle with yourself.

Jean

Why are you hungry all morning? What are you eating for breakfast? Try eating 3 eggs with bacon or similar high protein and fat foods to see if that helps. Or a protein shake made with full-fat coconut milk. Same for dinner, have a large serving of whatever fish/eggs/chicken in a cream sauce you like until full, and add butter or olive oil to your veggies. (These suggestions are based on your comment you don't like fatty meats, which is too bad, because they work wonders for stopping cravings and hunger) You shouldn't have cravings after eating a good dinner, but if you do, you are a point where adding more fat could help, so find a simple dark chocolate fat bomb recipe for evening cravings rather than an Atkins bar. Dark chocolate in dairy fats like cream cheese or sour cream may help too.
If I remember, you have only been eating LC for four weeks, and you were eating 250 g of carbs previously. This is a huge change in your eating patterns, and you appear to be use to counting every calorie. As Jean suggested, for now, enjoy the freedom of this way of eating. If you follow the cup measures for vegetables and tablespoons of dairy in the 2002, you don't even have to count carbs. Eat when hungry, stop when full.

MickiSue - I started September 13. I'm suspecting my peanut butter intolerance is affecting more than just my skin, so two days ago I quit the peanut butter and also sunflower seeds (because I made the mistake of not adding one food at a time - I added both simultaneously).


Cotonpal/Jean - 1) Too close to the top edge of a normal BMI. I eeked over that edge last year. 2) Everything I'm saying is based on medical advice and tests, not my own personal hangups.
This is not an easy way of eating for me because I'm intolerant to more healthy foods than I can eat. No joke. The list is loooong. I basically shouldn't be eating Phase 2 foods until Rung 6. I shouldn't even be eating as much butter and cream as I am, but I've been eating those foods because I don't know what else to eat, and I don't know what it's doing to my body.

Congratulations on your amazing weight loss!

P.S. I'm originally from Central Vermont.

Jey/Janet - I'm hungry because the foods I used to eat I no longer eat, and I haven't yet figured out breakfast. I basically need to eat the previous night's supper leftovers, but then that was what I was planning on for lunch!

I'm actually not used to counting every calorie. I ate nuts/seeds for breakfast when I wasn't eating oatmeal with flax seed and walnuts, 3-4 ounces of lean meat or fish for lunch plus 2 cups of steamed broccoli or cauliflower, and for dinner something similar plus a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa. But then there were the snacks! Lots of hot chocolate at work, a nearly calorie-free drink powder that as it turns out has a lot of carbs, ice cream or pudding with Cool Whip, swipes of chocolate chips, cookies, cereal on the weekends or pancakes/waffles .... I added it up one day once I learned about carbs and was shocked. I don't eat fruit - I'm intolerant or allergic to the majority of it. I didn't used to have cravings after dinner - that's something new since Atkins. But I always had sweets before dinner.

My impression is that you were eating a lot of junk. So, rather than obsess over what you do eat, just stop eating the junk, and be OK. Breakfast can still include nuts, but try to get some really high fat stuff in there, because it is very satiating: fat takes hella long time to digest.

Same with other meals. If you stop worrying about the specific macros, keep the carbs low and the fat high (I only measure the carbs) then you will stay satiated, and start using your own body fat for fuel. Fruit is not really necessary. If you must have something, cultivate a taste for very high cocoa content chocolate. I no longer eat any that is less than 85% cocoa. And, because I usually eat 90%, the 85% now tastes really sweet.

It'll take a while to get to really liking it, if you have a strong sweet tooth.

BTW: there is no such thing as a really really accurate measure of BF. Electrical impedance tests come close. But water immersion, considered the gold standard, is not: it's too easy to have wide variations in the amount of air actually left in the lungs, which, of course increases buoyancy. And caliper tests are rarely accurate, as most people who perform them are not precise enough to know what the heck they're doing.

Based on several tests, my BF is anywhere from 25% to 35%. All are considered to be pretty accurate. Clearly at least some of them are not. Probably, all of them.

Eggs are the obvious choice for breakfast. But there are dozens of other options, including a list of "no egg" choices, check out these: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/recipes/breakfasts