HELP- Confused about BMR and calorie intake

[caseyconnelly]

I have learned:

Dr. Atkins doesn't focus much on calories, but
If you eat more than you burn you gain weight, but
You need about 70% fat, but
That's a ton of calories......

How many calories should I eat in proportion to my BMR. It is around 1450, I also work out 4 times a week or more........

I am consuming about 1600-1700 cals to keep my fat up,
Should I consume less calories......

Very confused, thanks...
Casey

[boonie stomper]

During INDUCTION, your percentages should be in the ratio of around 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs. ... [edit - make that 65-30-5] This is the most it should be, and as you add carbs during your OWL rungs, the % fat should go down, with protein staying fairly constant. (%'s are figured from your calories consumed - you can plug in your menu at Fiday and see what your ratios are...


[edit] WAIT!!!! (was going to bed, thinking Atkins, and...
couldn't figure whether fat was supposed to be 60, or 65... so I dug out my book & dusted it off. Couldn't find the answer! Came back & hunted up this one!)

Originally Posted by ValidRouge

65% fat, 30% protein, 5% carbs in induction

The carbs go up a bit and the fat comes down a bit in OWL (so 60%, 30%, 10% ratios is okay--make sure the majority of your 10% carbs are VEGGIES)

Monitor your protein, make sure it is no more than 30%--slightly less is even okay.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=960635

Also - apparently a rumor of ratios for induction being 65/35/5 has circulated...
FYI, that's 105%! LOL

Anyhow, someone can clarify this. I've gotta go refresh my memory of the textbook!

[caseyconnelly]

Thank you,

I've been doing fairly well with the ratios, off by only a few percentage points in each catagory, however I still don't know how many calories I should be eating for my BMR ............... I could still maintain the percentages but be eating way too many cals....

can someone help???

[Kansas Deb]

Here is a very good BMR calculator.

[DLS]

My BMR is around 1550 cals a day. Shamefully I have been exceeding that. Some days I have less but mostly more. I am still losing right now. But I know if I ever ease up on my exercise routine I would be in serious trouble! LOL So for now I eat when I'm hungry and work by off every day!!!!

I hope you find a happy place so you can eat and lose comfortably.

[Brook]

The ratios for induction are 65/30/5.

Don't over think it! I know that's tough to do and you want it all to be right and as exact as possible, but over thinking it does exactly what just happened to you....



Right?

Okay. First off, you can hit 65/30/5 with 100 calories or 3000 calories. It's not tough to do. If you're using fitday, plug a meal into it before you eat and play with it a bit (amounts) to hit the percentages. It's an easy way to start to learn what an Atkins meal looks like.

If you're eating chicken- plug in 6oz chicken. Then add the olive oil you cooked it in and the veggies you're planning to eat. Look at where you're at, then add in the butter for your veggies/cheese/mayo and tweak it a bit to figure out where it needs to go.

As for BMR- I know you're going to get a lot of conflicting advice here, but it's not something I paid a whole lot of attention to. Falls into that over-thinking thing for me again. If you're hungry- eat. If you're not hungry- don't eat. If it's been more than 3-4 hours and you're still not hungry- grab a little snack to keep the old metabolism going. I've never been one to push calories just so I could hit a random number that truly doesn't have much to do with my personal lifestyle/body type/activity level . Be careful to not eat under 1200-1300 calories a day as a habit, but sometimes you're going to be happy with 800 calories. Other's you're going to feel ravenous and need to eat 2000+ and *all* of it is "right" and "okay". Just don't stay artificially low in the name of "dieting", because you can and will do damage to your metabolism and slow yourself down. Eat when you're hungry. Don't eat when you're not hungry. Let it be mostly that simple!

If you're working out 4 times a week (well done btw), depending on what you're doing (and you're doing some weight training too, riiiiiiiiight???), you can afford to eat a bit more, and you're going to need to. Working out will increase your appetite- so beware. I'm notorious for out-eating my . *grr*

This isn't a race, Casey. Give yourself time to figure out how this is going to work for you. If you hit a spot where the scale OR measuring tape isn't moving for 4 weeks, then look at what you're eating and throw out an SOS so we can all take a peek. As it stands, you're doing JUST FINE!

[DLS]

Brook,
That was a great post! Very encouraging to a lot of us I think! Thanks a bunch!

[caseyconnelly]

Thank you all....it is helpful to know that the amount of calories I'm eating is not that big a deal and I am over thinking......I did realize that when I started working out I did get more hungry........and that's when I also saw the scale go UP two pounds. I'm thinking about maybe getting rid of the scale all together...just a thought.

I think I just need to relax, and trust in the WOE...I think that's the hardest part.

[auntiesocial]

The way I understand it, your BMR is the bare MINIMUM number of calories you need to survive. You can eat over your BMR and lose weight.

There is a calculation you can do that involves multiplying your weight times some number (depending on how active you are), that will allow you to find the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight.

For example, my BMR is like 1450 (approximately). The ceiling (the number of calories I must not exceed to maintain) is like... 2200 or 2300. I try to keep my calories around 1600-1700, which should be fine to lose weight since it is below my maximum level. But you should always eat at least the minimum (your BMR) so that your body does not think that it is starving.

Does that make sense?

[not2late]

auntie is correct: BMR is the minimal amount of calories your body needs to do the basic biological activities of life---breathing, heart beating, etc. In other words, if you were in a coma in the hospital, the BMR is the amount of calories the doctors would need to feed you daily so you can continue to live. Once you come out of that coma and start walking around or even blinking your eyes, your body will require more calories to do those activities. That number is the AMR, or "active metabolic rate." Eat above the AMR, you'll probably gain weight rather than lose it.

As for Atkins, Dr. Atkins said his diet had a "metabolic advantage". That advantage is being able to eat more calories and still lose weight. A study done by Duke (I think) showed that number of calories is about 200-300 "extra calories" per day over your AMR.