Caloric intake?? page

[isbolick]

I am new to this and figuring it out as I go along. I was curious about my caloric intake, calorie breakdown and nutrient consumption, so I set up a Fit Day account to keep track of all that. I started using intermittent fasting in the form of skipping breakfast about five days ago and have found that skipping breakfast just kills my appetite. I am hungry for lunch (usually between noon and 1), but after I eat lunch...nothing. I don't have any cravings, I am not really that hungry for dinner and I have to remind myself to eat a snack at about 4. This is so bizarre for a woman who found herself nearly 60 pounds overweight from constant grazing that I am not sure I can fully express how strange I find it. On top of which, my energy is through the roof!

Anyway, back to the Fit Day thing...I went ahead and plugged in every conceivable thing I could imagine eating today, including two apples and half a baked sweet potato, and found that after everything I will have had around 1300 calories. That's an 8 oz grass fed chuck steak, spinach, half a sweet potato with butter for lunch, an apple and a plum spread out as snacks throughout the day and 8 oz of grilled chicken breast and 1.5 cups of broccoli w butter for dinner. That is about what I have been eating daily for the past five days, on average. I did have some nuts for a snack yesterday when I got stuck away from home late afternoon.

Should I be trying to get more calories? Or is this the secret of this way of eating? That you are so satisfied with so much less and THAT'S why you lose weight? I have lost nine pounds in ten days so, either way, I'm fine with it!! Just curious.

[Drumroll]

An easy way to up caloric consumption is simply to replace the evening chicken breast with a fattier cut of meat. If you still want chicken, switch to thighs with the skin on and eat two or three.

Use conometer or Fit Day to input that in along with the rest of what you'd normally consume and see where that puts you.

[RitaRose]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

No, seriously! One happy benefit to Primal is that you don't have the insane cravings that you would if your blood sugar levels were skyrocketing and then plummeting. You'll probably find, eventually, that 1300 calories isn't enough, but that's going to depend on a multitude of things. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're having some kind of issue with weight, cravings, fatigue or something like that.

[isbolick]

Rita, do you think that when I have less on board fat to draw from, my caloric intake will naturally go up? That is something that just popped into my head.

[Drumroll]

Rita, do you think that when I have less on board fat to draw from, my caloric intake will naturally go up? That is something that just popped into my head.

In my experience, yes you will start not to have as much energy when your body has less reserves to draw from. At that point, you will know it, and you will likely want to adjust your intake to make up the difference.

But if, as you say, you are 60 lbs overweight, it could take a while to reach that point, so for now, I wouldn't worry about and just enjoy how great you feel!

[codered5]

In my experience, yes you will start not to have as much energy when your body has less reserves to draw from. At that point, you will know it, and you will likely want to adjust your intake to make up the difference.

But if, as you say, you are 60 lbs overweight, it could take a while to reach that point, so for now, I wouldn't worry about and just enjoy how great you feel!

+1... our bodies are really smart, you may not be hungry bc your body is tapping into all that 'stored' energy. You will adjust later, but until then, don't worry about it if you feel good!

[BONZ]

Rita, do you think that when I have less on board fat to draw from, my caloric intake will naturally go up? That is something that just popped into my head.

I don't play a nutritionist on TV, but this was my experience exactly. I cut 45 lbs in 4 months, during that time I went from eating all the time to intermittent fasting and everything in between, just experimenting to see what felt good. I was almost never "hungry", I ate when I planned to eat. When I was doing IF, my caloric intake was anywhere from 1300 to 2200 even on weight training days and I never had flat energy days. I'm just now getting to the point where I get "hungry", but that's only now that I'm down around the 10% body fat range. Enjoy this time, it's nice to not even think about when you're going to eat and just do it when the opportunity arises. WHEN, when hunger naturally occurs....

[sbhikes]

Rita, do you think that when I have less on board fat to draw from, my caloric intake will naturally go up? That is something that just popped into my head.

That was certainly my experience. When I was still actively losing, IF was easy. Now that I'm at a personal baseline, I'm way hungrier than I was while I was actively losing. I wish I could get a better baseline.

[Sandra in BC]

Should I be trying to get more calories? Or is this the secret of this way of eating? That you are so satisfied with so much less and THAT'S why you lose weight? I have lost nine pounds in ten days so, either way, I'm fine with it!! Just curious.

Yes I believe it really is that simple. Eat clean, unprocessed foods with adequate fats when you're hungry. Don't eat when you're not. It's the foods we eat when we're not hungry (that our bodies didnt ask for) that contribute to fat storage.

Listening to and trusting your body is the opposite of being on a diet. And if you're not on a diet you can't fail at a diet

If you find yourself eating for reasons other than hunger, pay attention.

[RitaRose]

I agree with the others - you're fine for now. You're body has stored energy now, but one day that won't be so easy for it to find. YEA! So you'll most likely need to up your calories a bit to keep up with your body's needs.