Please help! I need more carbs ASAP

[BlondeGirl]

I'm on my 6th day of Atkins and have not lost a pound (though I have lost an inch off each my waist, hips, butt, and thigh). Anyhow, with the help of FitDay I have noticed that I've been eating an Excessive amount of calories (close to 3000 some days). I know it is not necessary to count calories during Atkins Induction but I also know that too many calories is not necessarily a good thing. I am managing to keep my fat to 70%, my carbs to about 5%, and my protein to about 25%. I am also drinking (religiously) 1 gallon of water each day (slowly consuming it throughout the day). My job keeps me pretty darn active (I break a sweat always, do lots of lifting, climbing up and down ladders, etc...) and I've not yet incorporated much exercise into my day (I lift 3lb weights every other day to tone my arms and do a 20 minute Pilates workout on alternate days).

At my current weight of 179lbs I would think I need between 1800 and 2100 calories per day. Am I correct about this?

A sample menu with my revised foods (read: less than 3000 calories per day) is as follows:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, scrambled made with 1 tbsp butter and 1/4 c Monterey Jack cheese.
Cal: 462 Fat: 38g Carbs: 4g Protein: 26g

Lunch: Chicken salad (made with 2c romain lettuce, 1 chicken breast, 1/8c cheddar cheese, and 4tbsp Kraft Caesar dressing).
Cal: 787 Fat: 53g Carbs: 5.1g Protein: 69g

Dinner: 1c steak (cooked on the barbeque but w/o sauce) topped with tbsp butter and 2tbsp sour cream. 1c broccoli (boiled) topped with 1tbsp butter.
Cal: 696 Fat: 53g Carbs: 4.5g Protein: 46

I subtracted the fiber from these carb counts so for the day that brings me to: 1945 calories, 144g fat, 13.6g carbs, and 141g protein.

My questions are:
Am I alright calorie wise?

What can I eat to get a few more good carbs?

Also, I am only at 68% fat, 29% protein, and 3% carbs. I've heard from many people that the optimum breakdown to be at would be 70/25/5. Any suggestions on what I can do to up my fat a bit and lower my protein (as well as up my carbs, which is actually my previous question)?

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Kristine]

Hi. :wave:

Your sample menu looks good, although I'm not sure whether or not that might be too much cheese. It might be easier to measure it by the ounce - check the package, and cut it into the amount of ounces indicated on the pack. Then limit yourself to 3 or 4 oz per day.

I would lean toward the higher end of the calorie estimate, since you're obviously quite active. :thup:

Are you sure you were eating that many calories? Fitday has the habit of defaulting to very large quantities of some foods, so...

About the carbs: if you're already getting 3 cups of veggies, the other carbs are "spent" on cheese, salad dressings, cream, eggs, etc. These things aren't totally carb free. If you still have room for more, I'd eat some extra veggies.

Hang in there. :cool:

[BlondeGirl]

Kristine,

Thanks for your response!

As I recount my carbs for the day I get about twenty (this is using The Complete Book of Food Counts) though FitDay still tells me lower. I'll go with my being at 20, though, using my book. Thanks for mentioning the dressings and such to me, thus causing me to question my FitDay results.

So far as the cheese goes, I am getting about 3oz per day.

My only other question, then, is how to increase my fat intake a bit, or is 68% close enough to 70% that it shouldn't hinder my losing?

[DrmCorpMom]

Personally, if I go above 60% or so for my fat percentage, I quit losing. This is turn keeps my calories around 1600.

I tried the 70%-30% for several weeks and didn't lose a pound. :(

Seems everyone needs to find their own "perfect" numbers.

Jaimie

[jordy05]

I just count 35 grams of carbs a day,,, I ignore the fat and calorie counts,,, seems to work for me,,, and some times you dont lose for a few days and then it comes off,,,,,take ya time I say,,,,,,but loosing an inch..wow...thats great
stick with it
Rachael

[BlondeGirl]

Thanks for all of yur replies!

I am for sure going to be more conscious of what I eat calorie-wise but I a not going to obsess about it, so long as I keep my carb intake to 20g or so. I'll also be sure to keep drinking a gallon of water each day!

I weighed in today and have only lost 2lbs in a week. Of course, I could have lost none, so I'll be gratful for those two. I more exciting news, however, my chest is 1.5 inches smaller, my waist a whoppig 4 inches smaller, my hips 1.5 inches less, my thigh 1 inch less, and my arm .5 inches less. I am sure that is mostly water weight but, you know what? It is smaller anyhow and for that I am happy!

If I keep losing I will work on keeping my fat intake up to about where it has been but if I stop losing altogether or if it slows down any more than it already is, I will take DrmCorpMom'a advice and try to get my fat to aroud 60% an increse my protein a bit. We'l see what happens.

Again, thanks everyone!

[J.J.]

I just count 35 grams of carbs a day,,, I ignore the fat and calorie counts,,, seems to work for me,,, and some times you dont lose for a few days and then it comes off,,,,,take ya time I say,,,,,,but loosing an inch..wow...thats great
stick with it
Rachael

I'm with Rachael! I don't count calories.......... that's what got me in trouble on lowfat, low calorie diets! Got to be too overwhelming!

You're doing great, just hang in there! You gotta watch the cheese, tho and portions of! I think 2 oz. is what is recommended in the book, but I've loaned it out so I can't verify that!

You also gotta watch that you get enough fat! It's hard sometimes to remember that if you've been on lowfat all your life! :lol:

[Kristine]

Good plan, Blondegirl. :thup: Losing slowly is still losing. I often see people switch plans or quit completely because they're not dropping a pound a day. :confused: They're shooting themselves in the foot.

[LilaCotton]

my chest is 1.5 inches smaller, my waist a whoppig 4 inches smaller, my hips 1.5 inches less, my thigh 1 inch less, and my arm .5 inches less.

Wow, that is awesome!!

You see, one of the first things this WOE does is go in and build and repair unhealthy muscle. All the while, we are actually losing fat too. If you've been following a low-fat, high-carb diet before, or even eating what most people consider normally, chances are you weren't consuming nearly enough protein, and low-fat diets eventually end up eating away at our healthy muscle tissue. Atkins fixes it!

I read the other day that 1 pound of fat equals the same bulk as 4 pounds of muscle. So considering you've 'only' lost 2 pounds, but have lost all those inches, you are gaining a lot of muscle, which is a good thing. :) After your body catches up on that muscle building, you'll no doubt start losing more weight. :)

[BlondeGirl]

LilaCotton, I have noticed that my legs are becoming really...toned this last week. They weren't too bad to begin with, but just this morning i felt my thigh for some reason and my response was something like this: "Wow, that's sort of hard. Whoah, that is a muscle line. And dang, my calf is like that too! Hmph, that's new." I am fairly active at work so know that helps with the toning but I am definitely noticing a differnce in my muscle structure that I am going to attribute to this WOE.

Even if I dop very few pounds I'll be super happy if I keep losing the inches and my muscles keep toning up the way they are.

[FromVA]

Don't count on the scale to tell you the whole truth about how you are doing. I have only lost 20 lbs, very slowly, but have lost 14.5 inches in my BWH. And who knows how many inches in my arms, lower stomach and thighs? I didn't measure when I started this WOE and now I am sorry. I have lost weight before but never lost inches like this, was hungry all the time and miserable. This WOE is great. I don't fixate on food and I can look in the mirror and really see the differences all over. BTW...I don't use fitday and don't count calories. I just try to make sure I eat unprocessed (read bacon, smokies, etc) meat and if it has no fat I cook in virgin olive oil and use butter with fish and vegtables. Like I said, the weight is coming off slowly but I never cheat and stay away from LC products except in emergencies (read can't cook or feel like I might cheat with chocolate, my most favorite food in the world) and I am more than happy with my progress. And if I stall, that's okay, too. At least I am not stalled and starving.

[jordy05]

just hang in there,,one week i lost nothing on the scales,,, and thought `hell`... but stuck with it,,, the next week i lost 3 pound,,,, i have done that a few times now,,,, I dont stress,,, i feel it in my clothes and thats what other people will notice on you,,they dont notice a pound or 10 but notice the inches!!!

thats why its called WOE,,,, i prefer WOL (way of life)........ i need to watch the carbs for life..... not just for a while.

regards
Rachael