Calories vs Carbs - Do calories count on Atkins?

[pinkfeathers]

I guess we all were taught to believe that it's 'calories in, calories out' with weight loss. So, do calories count on Atkins? Thank you.

[saoirse]

When I first started I didn't look at calories because I wanted to get as much good protein as possible to start ketosis. Now that I'm nearing my goal I am somewhat looking at the calorie content as I have found that I lose more with lean proteins.

[Brook]

Dr. Atkins said, "Don't count calories." He never, ever said that calories don't count.

Yes. Calories count. You can not eat 5000 calories a day if your body only requires 2500 and maintain or lose weight.

You don't have to worry about calories for quite awhile. Some people never have to keep an eye on them. Me? I'm not one of them. I do have to watch my calorie intake as well as my carb intake.

[atkinsgal08]

>>So, do calories count on Atkins?>>

If you're not getting enough (you need to eat in order to lose), then yes.

A good rule of thumb is 10-12 times your current body weight in calories.

J.

[Aways2Go]

I think that formula might need a little tweaking - in my case, that would mean at 292 pounds, my current weight, I would need to be consuming 2900 to 3500 calories every day. I'm not even sure I could MAKE myself eat enough food to add up to that many calories unless I was going ridiculously above my daily carb limits. That would be cups and cups and cups of low carb allowed veggies to eat along with even more meat and more fat.

For a person already near a normal weight, I could see how that might work though - 150 lbs, 1500 calories... 200 pounds, 2000 calories...

As a side note, I *AM* eating roughly the amount of calories needed for the weight I *SHOULD* be at, 190ish pounds.

[liv]

According to the amounts of calories I eat I need to put on some pounds it sounds like

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by saoirse

When I first started I didn't look at calories because I wanted to get as much good protein as possible to start ketosis. Now that I'm nearing my goal I am somewhat looking at the calorie content as I have found that I lose more with lean proteins.

Just to avoid confusion here... It's the ratio of fat to carbohydrate that contributes more to getting (and staying) into ketosis, not that of protein to carbohydrate.

Originally Posted by pinkfeathers

I guess we all were taught to believe that it's 'calories in, calories out' with weight loss. So, do calories count on Atkins? Thank you.

Yes, calories do count on Atkins, like they do on any other weight loss plan. Unless you have a caloric deficit, you will not lose weight. But it's not a brilliant idea to compute your caloric deficit by estimating your caloric needs and calories burned with one of those little online calculators. They are often off. Furthermore, they do not take into account the metabolic advantage we have on a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. Also off are the machines at the gym, those that tell you how many calories you burned. If they were correct, I'd be a size 0 by now.

While Dr. Atkins told us it's not necessary to count calories, he wrote several times in DANDR 2002 that overeating will slow down or stall our weight loss. For example, from Ch. 11, page 143:

Although there is no need to count calories, they do matter. Gaining weight results from takin in more calories than you expend through exercise, thermogenesis (the body's own heat production) and other metabolic functions. Research has shown that on a controlled carbohydrate program, more calories are burned than in a low-fat/high-carb diet, so there is a certain metabolic advantage to the controlled carb approach. But understand that this does not give you a license to gorge.

We are advised by Dr. Atkins to eat when hungry and stop when we are satisfied, but not stuffed (you might need to exercise portion control for a while --- see the strategy recommended in DANDR --- until you learn when to stop eating). If you are not hungry 6 hours after a meal, then at the 6-hour mark have a snack that combines fat, protein and carbohydrate (preferably veggie carbs).

[atkinsgal08]

>>think that formula might need a little tweaking - in my case, that would mean at 292 pounds, my current weight, I would need to be consuming 2900 to 3500 calories every day.>>

All I can say is, I've seen the "rule of thumb" work more times than not.

I would try to aim for 2000-2500 calories at your weight.

The bottom line is, if you don't eat enough, your body won't lose. It puts itself in famine mode.

>> As a side note, I *AM* eating roughly the amount of calories needed for the weight I *SHOULD* be at, 190ish pounds.>>

If your weight loss is steady, then that's fine.

YMMV.

J.

[Aways2Go]

Granted - most general rules of thumb do not work quite as well for the extreme ends of the spectrum - in this case, my being 100 pounds or more away from a "normal" weight. YIKES! Still, about 60 pounds closer than I used to be... inching back towards the center of that ol' bell curve.

Best to everyone -

[not2late]

The beauty of Atkins is the metabolic advantage, which allows us to consume a few hundred more calories and still lose weight.

But as you proceed through your Atkins and become a smaller person, you'll find you won't need to feed your body the same amount you feed your pre-Atkins (aka larger) body.