Hi, I'm new - and a bit concerned...

[Briar]

Hi, everyone. I'm Tanya, and I just started PP a week ago. I'm 48, and started out with a weight of 349 lb and a whole bunch of health problems.

I've been reading a lot - both the blogs and this forum (you folks seem really nice and supportive, so I'm very glad to be here), and am waiting for the PP book to arrive.

Two things I want to mention at this point:

First is that this last week has been the only time in my life since the age of 12 or so when food was simply something that goes into my mouth when I am hungry and no big deal otherwise. I am not obsessing about what to eat next and when, and that's pretty amazing to me. I thought I was hopeless. I guess I'm really, really, really addicted to carbs. Duh... :rolleyes:

Second is that I'm in a bit of a tizzy about calories. Problem is, I don't think I'm eating enough, believe it or not, and I don't know whether to be concerned or not (or laugh hysterically).

It's like this: according to FitDay I'm burning over 3200 cal. a day. But I'm eating only about 1700 cal a day. Consistently. I can't seem to force myself to eat more. I'm just not that hungry. I mean, I get hungry once in a while during the day, eat, then stop when I feel full, then count the calories - and at the end of the day it adds up to, well, a lot less then what it should be for "slow and steady" type weight loss that I want. I'm afraid my metabolism will shut down or something...

So far I lost 8 lb in 6 days - which is all good, but I know that what happens in the fist week of a diet is not necessarily what keeps happening after the body adjusts. Thus my calorie concern...

What do you think? Am I nuts to be concerned about something like this?

Thanks,
Tanya

[laughingW]

Welcome, Tanya. I was addicted to carbs too and Fitday reports me needing way more calories than is real, and I've been doing this a long time.

I wouldn't worry at all about it. Those Fitday calculations are based on a carb-rich diet, they are one-size-fits-all, and just about everyone needs fewer calories on low carb to feel satisfied.

Dr. Mike says he has from 1600-1800 a day in maintenance and he's a guy!

If you want to count something to feel safe, check out the nutrition reports in Fitday and see how cool your RDA amounts are. You can ignore the "calories" part because your energy is coming from your stored fat we hope.

If you get hungry you might want some more. But if you feel good and it's only a week in I would relax and enjoy. The first couple of weeks shows water weight anyway as you mention.

[Frank Hagan]

Hi Tanya! The thing that surprised me the most about PP is that I'm not hungry. I've been reading some studies about the differences between low fat and low carb diets, and the low fat folks keep mentioning how it isn't fair to compare the diets because the low carb people end up eating less calories, so of course they lose weight faster. And its unfair because we aren't hungry all the time like the low fat diet people are. Seems to me those are powerful reasons to recommend the change in lifestyle!

Dr. Eades says two things in the book that really surprised me: one is you don't count calories. And you never let yourself get hungry. There is a way to calculate your "Ideal Body Weight" (scary, I know), and your "Ideal Body Fat Percentage". The difference between those two is the amount of "lean body mass" you need "to feed."

Here comes the Protein Power part ... instead of counting calories, you count grams of protein and grams of carbs. Based on what you need to feed your "lean body mass", there's a calculation to show what amount of protein you need in each of the three meals.

I started at 249 pounds, and I'm 5' 10". My calculation for what I should weigh ends up quite a bit higher than the "MetLife Weight Charts" the insurance companies use for their risk tables (they are evidently intended for skinny runway models or something!) The MetLife chart says I should weigh 163, but I was "too skinny" at 180 according to my wife. Protein Power's calculation is that I should weigh between 186 and 195. That's probably right, based on what I weighed after a ton of work and severely limiting calories on the low fat diet.

I need to get about 30 grams of protein at each meal, and I want to limit my carbs to 10 grams per meal. Its not easy to eat that much! A typical breakfast would be two eggs, plus two additional egg whites, plus 2 ounces of some kind of meat (BACON!) I usually end up eating less than that ... 2 eggs, three slices of bacon, and usually nuts for my carb allotment. So I'm really in the low 20's on my protein for that meal. Its easier for me to eat 5 ounces of meat at lunch or dinner, and that's the 30 grams of protein for those meals.

I've kind of stabilized at losing a couple of pounds a week. At first, I think the weight loss is faster as your body sheds water and excess weight, but some people really lose quickly. As long as I'm not hungry, I don't feel like there's a stop watch running until I can "end the stupid diet". I can do this forever; I love the foods I'm eating now. That surprised me because I'm also a "carb-aholic", and love ice cream, donuts, breads, etc. But I don't miss them that much. I do find I miss some fruits, and fruit will be the carbs I add back in when I can go above 10 grams per meal.

Stick with it, and read the book when it comes. Soak up the encouragement here. You'll find that everyone has been through the ups and downs, and had days when things didn't go according to plan. The main thing for me is to not focus too much on the calories or the weight I want to lose, but to enjoy the other benefits I'm finding with eating this way.

[Mitra]

Welcome, Tanya :). You've had some good answers already. I agree that 1700 calories sounds fine - as long as you feel OK and aren't hungry. As Laughing W says, if you're getting all the protein, vitamins, minerals and essential fats that your body needs, then don't worry about it. Calories aren't generally a major focus in PP. You might look at them if things don't seem to be going well - if you're not losing weight, or not feeling good, but most people find that the calories take care of themselves if the carbs are under control.

[maxlharris]

To reiterate what everyone else has said,

If you aren't hungry, and you aren't stuffed, you are, in all likelihood getting enough to eat. If you can listen to your body, it will tell you if you need more stuff.
I am 6'2" and male and <40 and have some days with <1300 calories. I don't feel hungry with those days. Just happens. Lean protein or something. I tend to go about 1500-1700 calories per day.

Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about it if you aren't getting hungry or if you are only getting mildly hungry from time to time.

[Briar]

Thanks, everyone! I'll stop sweating the calories then and just concentrate on learning to eat correctly according to the plan. Just got my book in today... Diving in.

Cheers,
Tanya.