I have read that on Atkins Induction you shouldn't pay attention to calories as long as you stay under 20g of carbs and stick to the rules of induction, but I also keep reading that calories in/out are what matter most. I am doing EXTREMELY well with my diet staying at or below 20 net carbs, but should I also be concerned about my calories? I am averaging between 1,800 and 2,600 calories a day...would consuming 1,300 - 1,500 calories speed up my weight loss?

If your diet is working, why change it? Too few calories WILL stall your weight loss.

That depends on who you are and what's going on with your body. A lot of people are able to eat less than others and still lose weight and feel full.


But to answer your questions about calories- I personally count only calories and not carbs, which I find more satisfying and do-able in the long run (for me). You don't need to cut back so far- why not just cut back a little bit?

If you want to experiment, experiment. Keep a food journal and record what you eat, how you feel, and what you're losing.

I discovered with my food diaries that I lose more weight on 1800 calories of low-carb than on 1800 calories of high carb. I also found that I'm hungrier on 4,000 calories of high-carb than on 1,000 calories of very low-carb.

If I go "too low" carb, I get blood sugar issues that aren't fun, like intense headaches, vertigo, nausea (induction flu... but it doesn't go away after 2 weeks, it only gets worse).

I can and have stalled on Atkins induction, but it took a lot of calories to do it. Calories are important, but they're only as important as they are... and to find out how important they are, you have to experiment because it isn't the same for everyone.

My best compromise is to account for carbs and calories, so I use a low-carb exchange plan. That works best for me.

Too few, not less. The two are not the same.

I agree that each person is different, but cutting calories too much IS detrimental to the body and weight loss.

I'm almost 6 weeks in and I found that my calories were definitely higher during the first few weeks on induction, but that they seem to have naturally averaged out to around 1300-1400.

And that's truly an average. Some days I'm over 2000, some days I'm under 1000. Once I'm strongly into ketosis, I find I'm just not as hungry and the calories naturally come down (and I am sometimes forcing myself to eat over 1000 because I know that's bad too).

This is the first time I've ever considered calories on Atkins, though, and I only know about calories now because my iPhone app keeps track of both calories and carbs. But I have found it interesting to see what I've eaten and how I've felt on days when my calories are low versus high, etc.

Similar to kaplods - I've learned I feel MUCH more full on 1000 calories of low carb than 4000 calories of high carb.

That's exactly how Dr. A. wanted it when he wrote the book. Counting calories is not necessary, but there ARE limits on certain foods, i.e. cheese, no more than 4 oz. per day. The same with nuts, there is a limit. You can't eat a pound of nuts and expect to lose weight.
You need to experiment to see which limits causes stalls.

I just recently read somewhere online that one should not tweek the diet until you've been on it for six months, is that right?

Only 4 oz. cheese a day? I thought it was very low carb, just like meat? So why the restriction? Not that I was eating tons of it every day, but I certainly wasn't rationing it. It was a staple snack and I always put a slice of cheese on a burger at mealtime.

It's a very calorie dense food. The apple-smoked cheese in my fridge, for example, has 110 calories per oz. The bar is 8 oz. (which is not very large at all). If you were to just eat the entire bar because you were hungry, you'd be consuming 880 calories.

You don't have to count calories on Atkins, but you need to be be aware of how many you're eating. Peanuts are also very low in carbs, but again, very calorie dense. No matter how low-carb your diet is, you cannot take in an excess of caloris and still low weight.