A question about ketosis and hunger

[Newlysweet]

Hi all. I’m well keto-adapted now after 5 weeks of carb intake no more than 50g/day. I am actually calorie restricting too, because I’m on a mission to lose 10-15kg in 12 weeks hoping to avoid metformin, and I’m on target for this so please don’t tell me off!

I am hungry sometimes, but I’ve noticed that I can tolerate hunger better than before - I don’t feel ‘ravenous’, just aware of being a bit hungry sometimes. I guess this is because I’m always in ketosis so the body just has to step it up a bit, rather than the swings and switches from carb burning to fat burning that have to happen if you’re using carbs as the go-to fuel?

 

[ert]

My experience is that I have to feel hungry to lose weight.

 

[LaoDan]

I’ve found being ultra low carb, I don’t feel hungry hardly at all, and I can move into a 24ish fast easily. I’m also trying to shed a bit of weight.. down 50lbs to date...I assume I’m in ketosis, never actually tested though.

Try dropping the carbs lower, see if anything changes.

 

[ianf0ster]

In my experience it is rare to actually feel hungry when in Ketosis and with any excess body fat at all.
The problem comes with things like:
habit - being used to eating a certain sized meal at a certain time of day.
Boredom - snacking just for something to do.

 

[Roggg]

My understanding is this. Once you are "keto adapted" fat is your primary energy source. When fat is your primary energy source, and you have lots of body fat, why would you feel hungry? When you are NOT keto adapted, your body has a hard time using stored fat, so when the sugar starts running out you need more. This triggers hunger. Insulin is the key to all this.

 

[Newlysweet]

Ok - so you’re saying I’m not actually keto adapted even though I’ve been in ketosis (tested on urine dipstix) for several weeks & I feel well, exercising etc as usual?

 

[Newlysweet]

Thinking more - hungry for me can be 2 things - one, the ‘shaky/I need something to eat’ feeling, which I don’t get any more; and two, the ‘empty stomach’ feeling which I do still get, but can easily tolerate. Embrace, in fact! I suspect if I ate more fat, and slowed gastric emptying, I would get less of the stomach hunger.
Incidentally, what do you carnivores/sub20g carb people, do for fibre? Even at 30-40g/day I was getting constipated so I now make sure I get 1tbsp psyllium husk a day, and that keeps things moving.

 

[Roggg]

@Newlysweet I'm not saying you are not keto adapted. I took your post to mean "hey I'm less hungry than I used to be and it's manageable". I have gone through periods of being well adapted, and periods where I've not done so well, and I don't think there was ever a time where I never feel hunger. But it doesn't drive me to eating carbs when I'm keto adapted. I think being "a bit hungry sometimes" is just human.

 

[Newlysweet]

I’m glad to hear there are others who manage hunger - so many eating approaches claim ‘you’ll never feel hungry’ and I just don’t think it’s true! As you say, when our (anatomical) stomachs are empty, we will feel hunger - but that doesn’t lead to a drive to eat carbs. It’s just a physical observation.

 

[LaoDan]

Ok - so you’re saying I’m not actually keto adapted even though I’ve been in ketosis (tested on urine dipstix) for several weeks & I feel well, exercising etc as usual?

I cut all carbs, and it took me a couple months before I felt I was fully fat adapted. There’s probably other residual hormones at play here, plus the mental aspect. Everyone is different though, for me it took a bit more time