How many meals must I eat a day on induction?

[Pretty Lady]

Do you have to eat 3 meals a day on the induction? I have been doing it for 10 days now and on most days I have not been hungry or felt the need to eat dinner. But I haven't been in ketones status either and was wondering could it be because I have not been eating 3 meals a day.

[Georgiana]

You should be eating when hungry or when 6 hours have passed since your last meal. You don't necessarily have to have a huge meal every time --- a snack would be enough.

Did you check for ketosis using ketostix? If you did, then you should know that ketostix only measure the concentration of one excess ketone body (acetoacetate) in urine. So if you don't have excess acetoacetate or if its concentration is below the threshold the stix can register, the color won't change although you are burning fat as fuel. There are physical signs of ketosis which are often more reliable: thirst, increased energy, need for less sleep, reduced appetite, weird (fruity/metalic) taste in your mouth, funny smell of your breath and/or urine.... Did you notice any of these?

[Pretty Lady]

Actually yes, I have noticed almost of the those signs, so why does Dr. Atkins strongly recommend the use of the ketostix if they are not a good measurement of whether or not a person is in a state of ketosis. I almost quit because I thought I either was not doing the program right or the I was metabotically resistant would not be able to get into a state of ketosis. Thanks for the info.

[Gottabringmeback]

Alot of people say to eat 3 meals but I don't. I eat when I'm hungry and only then with on SMALL exception. Breakfast. I like breakfast food, I just hate breakfast time and I'm normally up later then normal due to my job. Since on this diet I have made it a point to eat something, hungry or not when I first wake up. It's never more then two bites of chicken or one egg but it's enough to kick start my metobolism.

With that said, that is one meal you should eat, other then that do what works for you. With me small snacks throughout the day is what works. I also 4 hrs before bedtime.

[EverLosing]

Just make sure you eat something every 6 hours or so. Even if it's just a snack, your body needs the fuel.

Don't worry about the sticks! I know it's easier to say than to do! I'm in OWL and every now and then I have to use the sticks to see if a new food is affecting me. I recently really increased my water intake to shake things up a bit and suddenly, I wasn't even getting a positive result! In fact, it was negative and I freaked out for a bit. Then I did some internet research about it and found there was nothing to worry about. I'm very active, my carb intake that particular day was pretty low, I can taste the ketosis in my mouth, can only sleep 5 hours at a time, I KNOW I'm still in ketosis. Don't trust the sticks every time. For the most part, with any lab test, you'll rarely see a false positive result but you can see false negative results.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by Pretty Lady

Actually yes, I have noticed almost of the those signs, so why does Dr. Atkins strongly recommend the use of the ketostix if they are not a good measurement of whether or not a person is in a state of ketosis. I almost quit because I thought I either was not doing the program right or the I was metabotically resistant would not be able to get into a state of ketosis. Thanks for the info.

It's great that you noticed the other signs!

I wouldn't say Dr. Atkins "strongly recommended" the use of ketostix. After explaining what they are, what they measure, yadda yadda, he goes on to say (DANDR 2002, Chapter 11, page 138, "Lipolysis Testing Strips: Proof Positive"):

However, should your LTS not turn pink or purple, despite the fact that you are doing everything correctly, you may still show a decrease in appetite, an improvement in well-being, a loosening of your clothes and a slow but steady weight loss and reduction in inches. This simply means you are not producing enough ketones to register on the LTS but enough to burn fat. Remember, the strips are tools; making them change color is not the sole object of the game.

[Pretty Lady]

Great, I really did not like feeling as if I had to force myself to eat 3 meals a day when I was not really that hungry. But what would be considered a snack, I saw some that were interesting but they were like cheese crisps, cream cheese clouds, cheese crackers and sugarfree jello. So what does a snack have to consist of if I am not eating a full meal or is something like a cheese stick or jello really okay or should it be something more?

[phil h]

I eat app every 12 hours.Usually 6am and 6pm.If I am really hungry I might eat a little early, say 4pm.A large Bfast of three eggs and bacon and sausage does me for quite a while.Been around a month since i have felt hunger before late afternoon. Now if I really felt hunger, I wouldn't hesitate to eat.Who ever thought we needed to eat 3 meals a day? IMO, that leads the habit of eating when you really aren't hungry.We all know what that leads to.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by Pretty Lady

Actually yes, I have noticed almost of the those signs, so why does Dr. Atkins strongly recommend the use of the ketostix if they are not a good measurement of whether or not a person is in a state of ketosis. I almost quit because I thought I either was not doing the program right or the I was metabotically resistant would not be able to get into a state of ketosis. Thanks for the info.

He really doesn't "strongly recommend" their use. He says in Chapter 11 of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution:

You don't have to use LTS (the ketostix), but doing so can be an extremely convenient aid to doing Atkins. My patients often tell me that they find the strips psychologically supporting.

Later in the section he says :

However, should your LTS not turn pink or purple, despite the fact that you are doing everything correctly, you may still show a decrease in appetite, an improvement in well-being, a loosening of your cloths, and a slow but steady weight loss and reduction in inshes. This simply means that you are not producing enough ketones to register on the LTS but enough to burn fat. Remember, the strips are tools; making them change color is not the sole object of the game.

What Dr. Atkins didn't mention is that our bodies produce 3 types of ketone bodies. The stix measure only 1 type of ketone body and that ketone body comprises about 18% of the ketones we produce. The ketone that comprises about 80% of the ketones we produce is measured with a blood test that is currently only available at hospitals and laboratories. So the ketostix are more convenient (and less painful!) for the general public.

But about the "don't go more than 6 waking hours without eating anything rule".....There have been times during my Atkins where I would miss the 6 hour mark because I just don't feel hungry or because I'm busy doing something else and can't break for a meal/snack. I find that when I do finally sit down to eat something, I am very, very hungry and have a tendency to over-eat----which isn't good because while we don't count calories on Atkins, calories DO matter. So if I don't feel hungry at the 5-6 hour mark, I make it a habit to eat something, like a hard boiled egg or some cheese. That way, I don't overeat during the meal because I didn't realize how hungry I truly was.