I feel like an idiot. I am in maintenance for the first time in my life. I am lifting free weights 30 minutes 3X per week. I do the treadmill 6X per week for 2.5 miles. I adjust the incline every minute, doing an incline of 10 for 2 minutes at the top and then bumping down the incline every minute. I find it challenging and can feel it working different muscles. It takes me 42 minutes. Now to the question. I AM RAVENOUS! I've tried bumping up calories from 1000 to 1400 <slowly>. Now I am bumping carbs from induction levels to about 40 net per day. I'm not gaining or losing weight but have lost inches. Why am I so hungry?? I am scared to mess up all my hard work! BTW...my ratios are 60% fat 30% protein and 10% carbs. This in unchartered territory for me so please be kind about my ignorance.

I don't know anyting about Atkins, but it looks to me like you are not eating enough. Even without the workouts, you are at very low calorie levels. What do the rest of you think?

I'm no expert - but I know what's worked for me.....

I agree with Eno on this one. IMHO you need to increase your calories. You are getting tons of cardio exercise (good for you, BTW! ) and maybe your body is telling you "Hey, send me down some more fuel."

Now, like I said I'm not an expert so I don't really know how to tell you to increase your calories. But if you are hungry, you should eat.

Congrats on your success!!!!

I agree, if you are hungry eat. I think you should increase your fat. Your percentage is too low for fat this is probably why you are hungry.

I think you can afford to let go of the calorie counting. If you're worried about the hunger thing, just try to keep your carbs spread through the day, and watch out for the ones that will give you cravings or false hunger, like sugary fruit, grains, etc. Stick to the "cleanest" carbs until you're more confident in maintenance.

Thank you everyone for all the advice. As I stated above, this its truly new territory for me and I'm a bit gunshy about changing things. You've made me feel more confident about mixing things up a bit, though!

Yeah, you need to eat more. I exercise 4-5 times/week and, personally, if I ate only 1000 (or even 1400) cals per day I would probably be fired from my job, separated from my husband and in jail for child abuse! I would be one miserable grouch!

Eat when you're hungry. Eat until you feel satisfied. Eat again when you're hungry again...even if it's only 1 hour later. Keep the carbs low enough that you don't start to gain weight and trust your body.

I was gun-shy about eating more (since I had to stay at or below 1100-1200 on high carb to lose weight) but found that I can eat 1700-1800 calories (65% fat, 25% protein, 10% carbs) on Atkins/PP and lose/maintain with no problem. By staying low carb (no more than 10-12g at a sitting) you keep your body in fat-burning mode.

If you're losing inches, you're losing fat. That's why you're hungry - you're still in weight/fat-loss mode. You're not eating enough calories to maintain. If you keep exercising at the same level and bump up calories, you'll probably find that you maintain nicely, without hunger. You'll probably feel better overall. If you slack off on the exercise for any reason, THAT's when you may need to watch the calories.

Rachel

The great thing about this plan is that if you are hungry EAT!! If you are in premaint/maint it's okay to take in more calories/carbs. The key is to keep an eye on your weight, if it starts to go up, then increase exercise/decrease food...if it goes down, you can increase your food intake.