Induction Calories/Weight Loss Question

[dglilbit]

Sorry about the length of this post. You can scroll to the very end to get to the questions if you'd like!

Hi All, this is my first post since my introductory post. I've been trying to take it slow instead of jumping in since this will be my lifestyle and not just a "diet." I tried Atkins before but I didn't quite understand everything and now that I've done extensive research and re-read the book, I feel I'm well prepared for this lifestyle. I'm hypoglycemic and know, as others have said, that I can limit my carbs now or take medicine later as I will most likely become diabetic if I don't get the proper nutrition for my body now.

Background: I'm 5'3" and had a starting weight of 151. I would like to get down to 120. This is not a firm number, though I would at least like to get down to 130. I'm 29 and a female. I take 75 mcg of synthroid daily for hypothyroidism. I also take a multi-vitamin and calcium daily. I recently started taking alpha lipoic acid, l-glutamine and CoQ-10. I also eat the recommended flax daily (4 tbsp before starting induction, 2 tbsp after starting induction). I think that is it, lol.

I had surgery at the end of June and after I was well enough for light walking, I decided I would ease into Atkins. What I mean by that, is I ate 80 net carbs the 1st week and 70 net carbs the 2nd week to see what maintenance would be like. I found it to be very easy and thought to myself "I will be very happy eating like this for the rest of my life!"I do not count this as being on Atkins, though it was nice for me because I knew that while I was on Induction I might feel very limited with my food choices. Do a mock maintenance period assured me that I'll have a lifestyle that is a great and very manageable. During this 2 week period, I did light walking and lost 8 lbs. Again, that was 80 net the 1st week and 70 net the 2nd week. I averaged around 1475 calories for both weeks.

The 3rd week, I dropped my net carbs to an average of 32 net carbs. I averaged 1525 calories and dropped 1 lb. I also started on my marathon training plan, though I walked the mileage because I'm not yet cleared to run. That week I walked 14.5 miles.

The 4th week, I continued to average my net carbs at 32 net carbs. I averaged 1700 calories and dropped 0.5 lb (this includes 2 days of induction). I continued to walk the mileage and in total walked 16.5 miles.

This past Saturday, I officially started Induction as I felt I was well informed and did the carb trials to really get my head around what I could and couldn't eat and how I would feel.

So, I'm on my 4th day of official Induction. I'm finally starting to feel full though I'm averaging 1830 calories a day. Kind of freaky to me but I will do the 14 day induction no matter what. It seems to me that as you increase carbs, calories drop. I know the book says that as you progress in the diet you aren't as hungry and naturally drop your calories, which helps with weight loss. What have other people seen in regards to this?

I felt really really hungry the 1st 2 days of Induction and still feel a fair amount of hunger today though not quite as bad as the 1st 2 days. I feel like I'm getting enough fat and am definitely good with veggies. I've not totally cut out caffeine but am working on it. It is TOM and the chocolate monster has tried to rear its ugly head, so I've combined 2 oz cream cheese with half a packet of Splenda and half tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder to help out with it. I know cocoa powder isn't allowed but it was necessary to get me out of the weeds!

After this long-winded post, I'm most concerned about the calorie aspect. Will my appetite stay the same during Induction and decrease after adding carbs? If not, will this metabolic advantage be enough for me to lose weight and scarily not gain weight? Any tips, tricks, advice and/or encouragement would be welcome.

[not2late]

Hi and welcome.

A really rough estimate of one's daily caloric intake is to add a zero to one's weight. That is, if you weigh 120 pounds, a rough estimate of your daily caloric intake is 1200 calories.

With that said, Dr. Atkins spoke of a "metabolic advantage" while doing his diet. That "advantage" is the ability to eat a couple hundred "extra" calories without affecting your weight loss. So if a 2000 pound person has a rough estimated 2000 calories/day, on Atkins that person could probably eat 2200 to 2300 calories and still lose. The metabolic advantage occurs because it takes more energy to breakdown dietary fat than it does to break down dietary protein or carbs.

So at this point, I wouldn't worry about calories. It might come into more importance later in the diet, but during Induction, I wouldn't worry about it.

As for appetite suppression---that's a side effect of ketosis/lipolysis. You won't feel as hungry partly due to the ketosis/lipolysis and partly because the dietary fat you are eating helps keep you satiated between meals and it helps slow down the digestion of carbs so your don't get insulin spikes. That's why it's important to eat fat. When you progress through the diet and begin adding carbs, you might destabilize your blood sugar---which causes things like cravings, return of an appetite, etc. So you need that fat and protein to help slow the digestion of those carbs.

REgarding the lower appetite as you progress in the diet. That's true. Because as you get smaller, your energy requirements decrease too (unless you are an avid exerciser.) So the amount of food you ate as a 200 pounder, might not be the same amount of food you require at 150 pounds.

[dglilbit]

Thank you so much for your thorough answer not2late!!! I really appreciate it. I feel like I know so much about the diet but then again, I really do get unsure of myself and have questions. It is nice to talk to people with experience also. So, thanks again and have a great day!!!