How do you do it? page

[msfish]

....that is the calorie/macro equation, I mean.

Over the last three days, I noted what I have eaten (never have done that before) or counted calories. Quite an eye-opener. I am trying a 1600-1700cal/day mainly to get lean!! I came up with that number from the HSIS. I am trying the more ketotic state 70f, 20p, 10c. I eat low carb typically, but am striving for less. Last week I broke structure and did the tater thing for 7 days which did not work for me.

What I question is how do I get in the right amount of macros and still keep the calories where they need to be?

I eat good fats and I understand they are needed, but they increase the calories quickly. I do not feel satiated until I have sufficient quantity. How can you add "lots" of olive oil, when it increases significantly.

My carbs come from non starchy veggies.

Should I stick with lean meats or lower fat to get more quantity? That goes against all here right?

Do I need to be eating more cals? I heard it said...eat till full. IF I did so, it would be more than my allotment. After tracking for 3 days, I see where I eat a little of this and a little of that while cooking, or in between meals.

What is more important.....monitoring cals. or eating till full (reasonably) ?

This may seem jumbled, and that is how I feel after seeing what 1700 cals looks like and wanting more.

My stats are: 38F 5'1" 101#(give or take)
I lift weights 3x perweek and do some cardio(jog or HIIT) 1-2x and move a lot.

[primalrob]

this is one of those things you sort of need to play around with to figure out what works for you personally. calories matter, sure, but if you're hungry then maybe you should try eating more of them. you could try adding in more on lifting or sprint days and see if that kills the hunger a bit, and see if affects your measurements at all. a caloric deficit is what matters, so those heavy exercise days may help you stay under maintenance, even if you're eating more than 1700.

the whole eat until you're not hungry thing...that's a lot harder for some people than others. slow, mindful eating might help, but it still takes a while to learn to listen to your body. the idea is that once you pick up on those signals, you'll eat for what your body needs and not have to count calories because you won't want too many. it's probably not the best way to go if you're trying to get leaner, but it might be worth it to try it for a couple of weeks, check the calories once in a while to see where you're at, check your measurements, and see if it works for you.

there's nothing wrong with leaner meats, particularly if it's conventional meat. fat is definitely praised here, but it doesn't have to be all from the meat.

[msfish]

Prior to my note taking, I had been eating to what felt needed. Must have been more obviously if I am remaining fairly the same.

Should I look to change my macros to increase my protein if I am increasing my cals.? With my goal being to lean out, seems to make more sense. But then again it about what works!

[primalrob]

Should I look to change my macros to increase my protein if I am increasing my cals.? With my goal being to lean out, seems to make more sense. But then again it about what works!

your macro ratios seem pretty good to me, and i would be careful about increasing protein. if you want to go keto, you want to make sure that protein stays low enough so that gluconeogenesis doesn't just turn it to glucose and kick you out of ketosis. i would keep the ratios and just increase calories...plus the extra veggies will really help with satiety.

[msfish]

Thanks Primalrob! Maybe I will up my cals. a little in the form of more fat. Take it from there and see. Not sure if my body responds better to fat or protein.

[ez2cy]

I may get killed here but what the hell? I've had a good life.

I would go with more protein vs more fat.

The Atkins diet worked for people losing weight and not feeling hungry. I watched a documentary a few years ago, searching for the reason why the Atkins diet actually worked. I"ll skip most of it and just come thru with the findings.

They made up a store where people shopped for free, all were on different diets. Only thing that got "rang" up was the nutrition labels. Calories, carbs, protiens fats etc etc. Why the Atkins diet worked was simple, they ate less calories than others, yet felt full. They then tried to find out what filled them up and again, cut to the chase, it was protein that made them feel satisfied.

Not saying fat is not important as I know it is. Just this documentary really changed the way I look at things.

Cheers!

[msfish]

ez2cy....My mind says protein too, but I will try this higher fat and see how it goes. I am not good at the n=1 because I want results not an experiment!