Atkins for the Math Challenged

[mizski]

Ok, so I'm not really that math challenged, however, I'm noticing that there are a lot of calculations involved when doing Atkins.

I started doing induction by keep track of my net carbs. That is fairly easy using FitDay. My initial menus made it more complicated as I liked using various veggies to make up my salads. I find weighing my veggies to be more accurate than the smoosh in the measuring cup method but tallying up the little broccoli crown + 1 asparagus spear + 3 slices of cuke, etc. got to be a tad too tedious. So I switched to just having a few veggies that would be easy to measure. Boring but easier.

Then comes the protein. I chose a reasonable portion which is sometimes on the light side stat-wise.

Now on to fats. These vary according to the protein and past experience on low carb diets taught me to add more fat to fish & less to beef. I just used that rationale for fats and logged it in to FitDay.

My results vary day to day. Trying to arrive at that magical breakdown of the correct % of fats, protein & carbs is becoming quite the project. I seem to be spending a lot of time trying to balance things out. Do I really need to do this or is this some dormant anal-retentive accountant gene springing forth?

When I started Induction this week I thought it would be fairly simple: keep those net carbs where they should be, eat only what's on the list and you're good to go. Is it really that simple or do I need to spend all this time juggling FitDay stats/foods?

[Ohbehave007]

Well what I do is:

I weigh veggies/meat/fat in grams
I weigh cheese in oz
I measure liquids in cups

When I am preparing a meal I write everything down on a piece of paper and then guesstimate what size portion I took from the whole, usually 1/3 of the whole.

I then add the food to fitday and adjust the numbers.

The longer you do it you will find a way that suits you best. This way is just what works for me...even though I might not be mathematically challenged, I actually love numbers.

Edit: I forgot to add, it took me a while to get the percentages correct, I don't think they were ever right on either, just in the proximity.

[JulieB]

No, you don't technically need to do those things - keeping under 20 carbs with more than 1/2 from veggies, making sure to get in your fat and veggies and eating until satisfied but not full or stuffed works - for most people. It doesn't work well for people who fear fat, or completely lose their appetite, or ...

Try without fitday, etc and see how you do. Just realize that if you start having trouble losing, going back to the math may be the best way to figure out what the problem is.