@Paulinge2015 I had my second inflammatory bowel disease flare last year. Lasted 9 months. I was able to eat leafy spring greens with an olive oil and vinegar vinaigrette but all other vegetables were thoroughly cooked. (I was very lucky. My gastroenterologist introduced me to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) months after my first flare. Both flares - (first in 2000, second in 2015) - resolved within days of doing the prep for the colonoscopy.)
Welcome to the forum!
The LCHF diet increases our need for water, sodium, magnesium, possibly other electrolytes such as potassium. Could that have been contributing to what sounds like the "carb flu"?
The cravings are tough. I have non-celiac gluten sensitivity so had stopped eating wheat, rye, barley, and oatmeal 4 years earlier. So for me the bread was easier to give up than potatoes. Today, I allow myself to have 1 tablespoons potato or yam mixed in with my steamed vegetables, maybe two times a week. If craving bread, I might have a couple of corn chips or crackers with cheese, though I haven't had either for a long time now. I don't crave "crunchy" textures anymore. It lessened then went away after a few months.
During my first month on the low carb diet, I stored a box of 9 gluten free peanut butter cookies in my freezer. If the cravings got the best of me, I'd have one cookie, which happened once a week or so. I eventually through the box away. I think four cookies remained.
Over time I learned that combining something "salty" with fat, eating something "savory", or eating or drinking something "sour" helped to combat the cravings for grains and sugar. For sour, I'd eat a slice or two of bread and butter pickles (a type of American sweet pickle) or make fresh lemonade with juice of a lemon, water or sparkling mineral water, and a few drops of Stevita liquid extract. For savory, I kept small jars of marinated artichoke hearts in my pantry. Green olives with the pimento removed are satisfying too.
To head off post meal cravings, I would have a second cup of black tea following breakfast, green tea following lunch, and a glass of dry red wine following dinner. I learned how to sweeten heavy whipping cream with a few drops of Stevita liquid extract and would add fresh berries. Other treats were a square or two of dark chocolate, 70% or 85% cacoa. A spoon of peanut butter with no additives, the type you stir and refrigerate, was satisfying too.
For the most part, I avoided anything sweet such as fruit or berries for the first six weeks, though I did allow myself to have small amount of carrots or yellow squash during this period. Cooked onions are sweet, as are ripe cherry tomatoes.
When I had my first blueberry, I couldn't believe how much flavor it had. I had a similar experience with my reintroduction to raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.
At the time, I didn't know how much sugar dulls our sense of taste. Giving up sugar and adding a variety of health fats to my meals and snacks made food so much more enjoyable. I enjoy cooking now.
Today, I do sometimes have a gluten free cookie that contains some form of sugar, but it causes me to have cravings again for a few hours. For this reason, I don't bring any "off plan" foods into my home. Instead, I buy and eat a single cookie at the grocery store when I'm shopping.
Cravings tend to be worse when I have a blood glucose spike. Those are best walked off. If the craving continues to be a problem, I try to eat something with fat, which calms me. Avocado, slices of cheese, raw nuts, are all helpful too. Sometimes I'll make a favorite omelet with vegetables if I'm both hungry and having cravings within an hour or two of bed.
When cravings hit, I check my blood glucose to see I've had a spike. Eating any kind of fat often helps if I can't walk it off.
All I can say is that cravings get easier to manage with time. It's okay to eat "off plan" once a week or month, just just try to choose something that's not going to make you miserable for three or more days with higher than normal blood glucose levels.
That's what worked for me, but we're all so individual and have to find our own way...
