I am on 1st week of Adkins Induction diet, Monday starts week 2...
I got a diet tracker as suggested & after putting in my info it said I needed to eat 1180 to 1200 calories a day.
This is sometimes hard for me to do but I try to force myself to do that, but after breakfast I am usually not hungry till late afternoon & after I eat dinner I am good to go until breakfast.
Adkins New Diet Revolution says to eat 3 regular size meals or 4--5 small meals a day & not to go more than 6 waking hours without eating some protein.
So my questions are...

Do I have to eat 3 meals a day or are 2 enough?
Do I have to eat 1180 calories?
Do I need to eat a certain amount of protien & fat? If so how much of each?
Do I have to eat 20 grams of carbs? Is less than 10 ok?
Should I be taking any special vitamins?

Thanks for any and all advice!

Hi and welcome!

I would say, don't eat if you're not hungry. 2 meals are fine.
And I would say you need to eat a minimum of 60g protein.
Maybe 80g if you're very active and see how you do. Then
you can adjust from there if you need to. I am surprised you
found a tracker that recommends those few calories. The ones
I have tried they always recommend 1800 or more. But I'm 57 and not very active.
I often eat less than 20 carbs. But I'm am very insulin
resistant. Good luck!!

tyvm!!!!!!!!!
This helps!

Charms, 1100 cals is really, really low like when doing low fat. You should check some other places.
In Atkins DANDR, it only talks about tracking carbs. I've read many times that people who eat too little end up slowing down their metabolism. Several people have said that when they ate too little they didn't loose until they upped the amount of food. Remember, what you are eating now will last for your lifetime if you want to maintain. So it's a long term thing.
What Atkins says in the book, I think not going more than 6 waking hours without eating has a lot to do with keeping levels of hormones like insulin on a steady level. Stopping the spikes of ups and downs.

Thanks everyone I really appricate the input! BUT my question now is how much do I eat lol, should I eat 2 fried eggs & 4 strip of bacon for breakfast & then eat a similar lunch & dinner?

Is your fat supposed to be higher than your protien?

I eat eggs and bacon every single morning. 2-3 eggs and 3+ bacon. One lady who has lost very well and is at goal now, eats 5 slices every morning!
Lunch might be salad with chicken or beef strips
Dinner is a steak usually 5 oz with 1 or 2 veggies(1/2 cup ea.) or a salad and 1 veggie.
I have checked cals before, usually around 1500 but don't use that, I only count carbs under 20 for me.

DANDR doesn't tell us to eat a ton of extra fat. Just the fat in the chicken & skin or on the bacon or on the steak, or in the cream in coffee or sauce, cheese, butter on the veggies or oil in the dressing etc...

ps just follow the guide in the book and count your carbs and it all works out!

Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full.
That applies to amounts as well as timing. If you are only hungry for one meal and a snack, whatever...only eat if hungry.


You would not be confused if you had followed the advice I gave Wednesday.
Do not track macros, calories or anything else but carbs until LC eating is part of your life. "Macros" are not accurate during weight loss anyway, especially the first weeks. This graph from Phinney and Volek explains it best. https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/201...-force-the-fat/

Hi Charms. I agree with Jey.

I started with DANDR trying to force three meals, but I was just not hungry for breakfast after a few weeks and didn't feel great if I forced it. So, I stopped eating breakfast and it's been great (I have a cup of coffee with cream and a teaspoon of coconut oil instead). As Jey notes, your body is consuming your own fat to run, so what you are putting in your mouth does not equal your internal nutrition.

I personally worried only about tracking net calories when I started, using the free Atkins carb tracker on my phone. I didn't worry about calories or grams of fat and protein, etc. and have been very successful. The only thing I made sure to keep moderate, beyond the low carbs, was protein, having reasonable portions.

So, if you want to have breakfast and skip lunch, because you're just not hungry, go for it! Breakfast can be bacon and eggs or anything else you like that's on plan (leftovers from last night's dinner are good). Everyone is different. Listen to your body and see how it works for you. You will soon know by the fit of your clothes, number on the scale, energy levels, etc., then adjust as needed.

I've done Atkins in the past and the protocol simply didn't fit my lifestyle or personality for that matter. I was introduced to the site I've listed below on this forum...and I LUV IT!!

https://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight

And then there's this... Which it sounds like you may be doing unconsciously anyway.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/learn-in...ew-video-course

Meme, Jey, Ccat & Stew tyvm yhis all is very helpful!!!

I am one who must eat breakfast because if I were to go out into the carb world on an empty stomach, lets just say that it would not have served me well.
When I weighed the most, I never ate breakfast and could not understand why I was so fat. It took a little time to adjust to having eggs every day but after learning how to eat low carb I realized that the eggs and bacon kept me full and satisfied for hours on end.
Getting into the rhythm of low carb is helpful in the beginning until you become fat adapted, then later once you start seeing the weight fall off you can tweak if you want but those who I've seen trying to eat the least end up falling into the carb trap again because of hunger not weakness.
Just follow the DANDR Atkins plan and eat what he said to eat and it will work.

Meme has a good point here. At the beginning, just eat on program foods. Denying yourself will likely fail early on. Later, once you're fat adapted and losing, tweaking things makes better sense.

I am following the Adkins plan but I do not know what DANDR means! I just read Dr Adkins New Diet Revolution & am following the induction diet listed in it.
I eat as much as I can & try to do 3 meals a day when I can but getting 1200ish calories a day I about all I can do, I mean I am just full all the time!

I am not having any cravings, not 1 & I feel satisfied & I do not dream about food!

I quit eating fast food years ago, I quit drinking sodas & juices years ago, I stopped eating sweets, about a year ago & I have never been much of a bread eater.

Well, you are also 156 so maybe you are not that far from where you need to be.
DANDR=Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.

So...what's the problem?

I'm not trying to sound like an ass, but it seems like you're getting spun up and obsessing over, well, nothing at all.