I live in a very small town and am trying to get the Protein Power book so I can answer allot of my questions. In the mean time I really apreciate all of you that have answered many of my questions on past threads and posts.
I have another question. Can a person consume too few carbs in one day? Is it okay? I had more protein than suggested, around 85 grams. Would it be a good idea to be sure and increase my carbs or fat a bit and reduce the protein? Here are my stats for today (so far but it shouldn't change much except more water):
Calories: 1316
Fat: 101 gr
Carbs: 11 gr
Fiber: 3.08 gr
Protein: 85 gr
Water: 54 oz

Thank you for your help! Happy New Year!

- tskako

Eating below 20 (or 30g for that matter) will not help with a faster rate of loss. Neither will eating too little.

It is better with regard to protein to err on the side of caution - more is better than not enough. 60g is the bare minimum women need a day - if you're younger or more active or have a considerable amount of weight to lose then you need more, period. When you get Protein Power sit down and figure out your minimum protein requirement and be sure you eat at least that much every day.

Other guidelines: 10 - 12 times your body weight a day in calories will ensure you're eating enough to sustain basal metabolic funtions. Eating too little will put stress on your system and it will start holding on to water and fat.

Once you've figured out your protein requirement and decided where you're going to keep your carbs you can use fat to round out the remaining calories. Remember 10 - 12 x body weight is the minimum. Going over is not a bad thing, going under repeatedly is!

Percentages tend to resemble: 70 - 60% fat / 20 - 25% protein / 5% carbs.

HTH,
Nat

10 or 12 times your body weight??? i never eat that much, even when im not trying to lose weight. if i ate that many calories i would blimp up it must be my metebolism or something but i can only lose weight if im under 800 calories a day. since starting this diet i have been keeping it under 600 and weight loss has been very slow for me.

Getting information from somone else on a low carb way of eating is one of the worst ways to sustain healthy and permanent weight loss. It's like the childhood game of passing a sentence around a circle. What the last person hears is very different from what the first person says.

Eating 600 calories a day is potentially very dangerous. Do your self the biggest favour you can and read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. Without it, you will just be on another yo-yo diet experience.

Early on in the Atkins book it states that you are not on a quantitative plan, but a qualitative one. You are not losing weight because you are starving. Your body is hanging on to every last ounce because it fears a famine is coming on. Low calorie may work for a while with any DIE-t, but at some point your body will fight back.

There have been countless discussions on this topic here. Here are a few links to threads that you should read.

BMR 1
BMR 2
BMR 3

Low carbing does not work as a diet, it has to be taken on as a new way of life to work permanently.

Karen

Thank you Nat for your help. I really appreciate your knowledge that you share on this forum. you really seem to enjoy the detailed end of LCing. Keep up the good work!!!
And Karen thank you, too.
Ann, I have to agree with these ladies. Our new WOL(way of life) is a completely new way of thinking. I too struggled with the calories at first since I was having a problem with "low calorie, low fat diet syndrome". I am training myself to think and eat differenetly. At first I was consuming about 700 calories and didn't realize it and I felt yucky, tired, and wasn't to impreseed with LCing. And then I came across a post about the calories, which explained the "starvation" and that it wasn't helping our body. I have kept track of my calories and am learning to fry my vegies in butter, add cream in place of milk, and remind myself to snack, etc. Maybe just try increasing your calories for a week, eating the right foods of course, and see how you feel then. Sounds like you are stuck in the "low cal, low fat diet syndrome" too. There are many success stories on this forum. Check 'em out.
Happy New Year to you!

As Karen pointed out, Ann, eating this few calories a day is not something you can sustain. You're not doing yourself any good. The reason you're losing so slowly is that you're not losing body fat, you're losing lean muscle . Lean muscle is what will boost and sustain your metabolism, if your body is canabalizing it in order to feed itself you will end up with an even more slugging metabolism and the minute you go back to eating a 'normal' amount of food you'll begin to gain weight.

You do require 10 - 12 times your body weight to maintain normal biological funtions. Right now if you started eating that much, yes you would gain some weight - primarily muscle, specially if you are following a LC WOE. I suggest you ease your calories up slowly using good fats and protein. Your body requires that 60g of protein a day to rebuild tissues, to create enzymes; to function.

Take Karen's advice, get a copy of DANDR and check out those links.

Nat