Are you counting calories here?

[Belle1984]

Dont know about everyone else, but im finding it quite easy too consume a lot of calories if I dont keep an eye on my total intake. Logging food online not only helps me keep an eye on my calories but also keeps me disciplined. Im only on the 14 day induction at the moment, but posting here to get ready for the next step

Are other people doing this? Do you create a calorie deficit to help you lose fat or do you eat at your personal maintenance level???

[Elizellen]

On induction there is no need at all to count calories in my opinion.
Eat when hungry and till not hungry and your body will not let you overeat
You will have some days when it seems you need to eat all day and others when you have to remind yourself to eat, so be guided by your body's demands.

[Belle1984]

Originally Posted by Elizellen

On induction there is no need at all to count calories in my opinion.
Eat when hungry and till not hungry and your body will not let you overeat
You will have some days when it seems you need to eat all day and others when you have to remind yourself to eat, so be guided by your body's demands.

How about on the extended induction or the other atkins phases? I understand you dont need to for the first 14 days but find its better for me at the moment while im off work/uni for the summer, otherwise I can sometimes reach for something through boredom rather than acutal hunger

[Elizellen]

I dont think in extended induciton it would be any different, as you would be eating exactly the same as on your first 14 days on induction and ought to have the appetite suppressant effect of ketosis as long as you eat on-plan.

Some people when they are very close to their goal weight seem to feel they need to restrict their calories to lose weight, but I am not sure how much of that is in the mind

The problem I see with trying to stick to a maximum calorie number is that you don't know what that number should be and might find yourself either cutting down on food when your body is actually hungry or adding food if you havn't eaten up to certain arbitrary number of calories and eating more than your body demands on that day.

Try to learn when you are hungry and when you are just bored/sad/eating out of habit and it will help you know what your body needs and if you should eat something or try to find something else to do to work through phantom hungries.

[vek]

I'm not counting calories but I check my watch. Eating in the evening of a smaller quantity of calories makes me lose slower (or even stall) than eating even a bigger quantity of calories earlier.

[Belle1984]

I guess it kind of makes sense not to count calories, but I find that if I log what im eating on something like fitday.com I can keep an eye on my carb intake aswell as the nutrient percentage breakdown.

Ive only been on induction since Tuesday, continued to log my intake but havent prevented myself from eating anything else if/when I felt hungry again.

Before I came over to atkins I was following a standard keto diet which pretty much goes by tracking your calories - might sound silly but I feel in control doing it this way, meanwhile also ensuring im getting the correct amount of protein for my needs.

Coming to atkins was necessary for me, as I think I needed to completely deplete my body of carbs and this was the only way. I intend to continue on atkins whilst incorporating a little of the keto until I get to my desired weight loss level

[liv]

I sometimes get afraid of the level of control I want to have over everything with all this logging and counting. Ideally I would love to learn how to listen to my body and to understand its needs without being so mathematical and brainy about eating. But I am not there yet.

[Kathi22]

I have lost 17 pounds in 3 weeks. I am not counting calories - just carbs. It happens to work out that I am having less then 1200 calories most days. Sometimes I have 1900 to 2000 if I have a fatty lunch and dinner but my carb count is low and I still lose. I would say unless you aren't losing then just watch the carbs. My loss will probably start to slow now, so I need to keep this in mind for myself!

[cherribom1]

I know this is against everything we've ever known about "how to diet" but ....

Don't worry about counting calories just count carbs!!!!....