Day 1, How Did I Do? Calorie/Carb Count Question Here!!! Help!!
 

On the Atkins 20 diet, what is the correlation of calories and carbohydrate grams for the day? I pose the question because I only had 9g of carbohydrates today, yet took in 2,600 calories for the day. Sodium intake was crazy high too. Drank 10 cups of water however!

Of note, I am nearly 400 lb as I start induction phase today. My mindset is GREAT to do this right now!! Motivated as ever!

No real correlation. Carbs should be kept low every day, whatever your overall calorie intake might be. There may be a relation, in that restricting carbohydrate can result in a natural decrease in appetite while weight is being lost. But this may not happen the very first day. You're still likely working through some liver glycogen at this point.

Trust the process, keep the carbs low. Don't worry about calories, high or low, just follow your appetite and see where that gets you. For a lot of people, that gets them where they want to be. The less you're forcing things, the more your just following your appetite, the easier it will be to maintain any losses, since basically you haven't been restricting calories or undereating, you got there by letting your body regulate its own weight relative to your new diet.

Watch out for foods like cheese that are low carb, but seem to cause cravings. Meat and eggs are your friends.

If you're following Atkins and (I'm guessing) you're a male, you ought to shoot for at least 18-22 g net carbs (12-15 from vegetables) and 1800-2200 calories a day. Drink at least eight cups (64 oz) of plain water a day. Have three meals, 4-6 oz of "protein" (meat, poultry, fish, eggs) with your vegetables and a tablespoon or two of added fat (oil, butter, mayo, salad dressing). Following these basic guidelines will help you get on the right track. All your macros will fall in line. These are the "new" Atkins 20 guidelines.

The old school (DADR and DANDR) guidelines from the good doctor seem less stringent but are essentially the same. Build your meals around fat and protein, eat and drink water according to hunger and thirst, have a couple of cups of salad and a cup or two of vegetables a day.

Some do better with the older rules and others with the newer, more regimented ones. Some switch back and forth depending on where they are at different times on the "journey" (overused word, but it's the best way to describe it).

I marvel at the enormous number of people who say they're doing Atkins and make up their own rules or see how far they can push it or "cheat" or do it willy-nilly and ultimately fail. Read an Atkins book, any Atkins book; follow it and succeed! What seems robotic or a bit of a struggle in the beginning becomes second nature after a while.

Excellent post. I am one of those people for whom calorie counting has never been required; I just tried to get my carbs down as low as I could, while at the same time looking to maintain the variety in my diet so I wasn't eating the same few things every day.

It was a very gradual process. It would have taken me a good few weeks to get through the adjustment into ketosis, and around 3 months before I noticed that my appetite was finally starting to reduce of its own accord. But it did happen eventually. Patience is key!

Welcome to a really good place for information and encouragement. You’re looking for a total change in your pattern of eating. This is a lifelong thing, so you don’t need to be in a hurry—even though your current motivation is high.

Teaser and Grav. What they said.

At this beginning time, reject the temptation to count calories. It’s not that they “don’t count,” but the LC way of eating is about carbohydrates and fats, not calories. It’s too tedious trying to juggle everything. Besides, at your current weight, your body needs plenty of energy (calories) to function, and you’ll be burning ‘em.

Do consider keeping a food diary. Mine is at Fitday, but there are options on this site and elsewhere. It’s not about tracking calories, but about awareness. Down the road, a food diary will help you with clues about what makes you feel good and produces the results you want. It’s also about accountability. This will serve you on the days when you just want to put something in your mouth that you know you probably shouldn’t. “Do I want to write this down in my diary??” :lol:

You’ll find lots of books about Low Carb eating. Learning about the science and epidemiology will reinforce the fact that this is a healthy plan for you.

Stick around, and best wishes.

I use myfitnesspal for my food and exercise journal. Been disciplined early on, and the one real bad side effect to this point is not being able to sleep at night. Been a rough 2 nights in a row!

Do you feel tired the next day, or do you have extra energy and are OK with fewer hours of sleep? After about 3-5 days when my body switched over to burning my own body fat (and I had enough of it to burn) I just was not tired. I'd get up and read (mostly LC nutrition books! not on a screen) and would take walks the next day. If you are tired, then maybe consider a temporary non-prescription sleep aid like Benedryl, but if you feel OK, just consider it found new time and energy. Energy too will settle down, but there is a significant metabolic shift happening now.

Previous threads on insomnia: https://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=471408