• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Constantly hungry!

N

namrac

Member
Hello.
I've been T1 for 4 years now but and I am coping reasonably well, had a wobble in January but on the mend.
I am and have been trying to stick to a low carb diet but I am finding I am constantly hungry.
For breakfast this morning I had a 3 egg omelette with a good portion of mushrooms, plenty of spinach and chopped cherry tomatoes, this was at 7am. I normally then gave a snack of nuts and an apple at around 10am but at 830am I am really hungry! The same happens after lunch. Unfortunately I have break the diet and reach for food which doesn't help my carb count or my calorie intake.
I'm at the top end of a normal weight range for my height and age but I'm conscious of putting weight on.
All I want to do is eat? Any help / advice gratefully?
Thanks in anticipation.
N
 
I am not type 1 so can’t speak to that part, but I know for me I would need more fat to keep from being hungry.
Some butter on your omelette or cheese and nuts instead of and apple.
 
I agree with Hotpepper, the way to succeed with low carb is to forget everything we've been told in the past about fat.
Fat plus carbs, especially sugar is a bad combination but fat got the bad reputation instead of sugar.

Don't forget full fat milk and cream - my morning coffee used to be all skimmed milk, now I have a mix of cream and water plus half the cow's I used before, but full fat.
Eating cheese, more eggs, butter, cream and greek yogurt alongside hardly any exercise yet I lost 5.5 st in a year.
 
TriciaWs said:
I agree with Hotpepper, the way to succeed with low carb is to forget everything we've been told in the past about fat.
Fat plus carbs, especially sugar is a bad combination but fat got the bad reputation instead of sugar.

Don't forget full fat milk and cream - my morning coffee used to be all skimmed milk, now I have a mix of cream and water plus half the cow's I used before, but full fat.
Eating cheese, more eggs, butter, cream and greek yogurt alongside hardly any exercise yet I lost 5.5 st in a year.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Did you get any assistance from a dietitian (your clinic dietitian)
 
Hi. Thank you for asking.
My bloods are usually very good. My last Hba1c was 6.5. I was pleased with this as it allows me a bit of movement.
I normally have a really good night between 6 and 7, in the morning I have a little amount of "dawn phenomenon" but that's managable. As long as I stick to the low carb diet my bloods are good they just go adrift when my hunger gets the better of me.
I'm a bricklayer so I'm constantly active.
Regards N
 
namrac said:
Hi. Thank you for asking.
My bloods are usually very good. My last Hba1c was 6.5. I was pleased with this as it allows me a bit of movement.
I normally have a really good night between 6 and 7, in the morning I have a little amount of "dawn phenomenon" but that's managable. As long as I stick to the low carb diet my bloods are good they just go adrift when my hunger gets the better of me.
I'm a bricklayer so I'm constantly active.
Regards N
Click to expand...

If you're hungry, what stops you just having more LC food?

I know if I'm going through a hungry phase, I just increase the size of my meals. The thing about LC eating is the energy hit can take a short while to come about, as you digest, as opposed to almost immediately, if you're having plenty carbs. It's almost like I pre-fuel.

In my head I see it as filling my fuel tank, then working my way through it during the day - topping up at mealtimes. With more generous carb eating, it seems like the fuel tank is smaller, meaning I need to fuel more frequently for quick hits of energy.

Does any of that ramble make sense?
 
Thanks and yes I do understand it. Not what I would of thought of but I see what you mean.
I understand having bigger LC meals but I am concerned about the fat content, I'm already taking statins for high cholesterol. Won't having more fats add to the cholesterol issue or will the fats be used up, but then if they are "good" fats does that help?
Thanks again.
 
namrac said:
I am concerned about the fat content, I'm already taking statins for high cholesterol. Won't having more fats add to the cholesterol issue or will the fats be used up, but then if they are "good" fats does that help?
Click to expand...
Since having T1 (over 3 years now) I've started eating less carbs and more fats and my cholesterol/lipids results have gotten better with every test.
They've started me on statins early on because the baddies were a bit high and the goods a bit low. After reading up and after the statins had gotten my cholesterol down I requested to see what would happen if I stopped the statins for 4 months.

Levels went up a little but still within the accepted healthy range and that's with plenty of fats from all kinds of sources, never looked into what 'good' or 'bad' fats are.
No-one has told me to take a statin since.
 
namrac said:
Thanks and yes I do understand it. Not what I would of thought of but I see what you mean.
I understand having bigger LC meals but I am concerned about the fat content, I'm already taking statins for high cholesterol. Won't having more fats add to the cholesterol issue or will the fats be used up, but then if they are "good" fats does that help?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...

namrac - Most people eating low carb find their lipid levels improve, rather than degrade, although some, if the are going through a weight loss phase find their levels go up s bit, then drop.

For me? My lipids have always had an inconveniently high total, but the components are excellent. They were OK before going low carb, but excellent now. The total is just that. The total of a bunch of numbers.

If you are keen to learn a bit more about your lipids and how low carbing impacts, have a look on YouTube at Professor Ken Sikaris. He is an excellent communicator; making learning easy.
 
DCUKMod said:
namrac - Most people eating low carb find their lipid levels improve, rather than degrade, although some, if the are going through a weight loss phase find their levels go up s bit, then drop.

For me? My lipids have always had an inconveniently high total, but the components are excellent. They were OK before going low carb, but excellent now. The total is just that. The total of a bunch of numbers.

If you are keen to learn a bit more about your lipids and how low carbing impacts, have a look on YouTube at Professor Ken Sikaris. He is an excellent communicator; making learning easy.
Click to expand...
 
When you feel hungry, do you check your bs to make sure the hungry feeling is not hypo symptom? I personally cannot tell the difference between when I’m really hungry or low sugar is making me feel hungry.

It will be difficult to follow a low carb diet if you are afraid of fat and also trying to follow a low fat diet.
 
Hi. Thanks. I'm very fortunate that I'm very hypo aware, long may it continue!
I'm going to try LC diet and get over my issue regarding fat. I think it is as someone has already said when the issue between sugar and fat was a focus then the incorrect substance got picked much to all diabetics, T1 and T2, disappointment!
N
 
namrac said:
Hi. Thanks. I'm very fortunate that I'm very hypo aware, long may it continue!
I'm going to try LC diet and get over my issue regarding fat. I think it is as someone has already said when the issue between sugar and fat was a focus then the incorrect substance got picked much to all diabetics, T1 and T2, disappointment!
N
Click to expand...

Good luck with your experiment. Please do make sure you are comfortable adjusting your insulin, to match the foods, and maybe up the testing, as peaks and troughs can shift a bit, in terms of timings.

I'm not an insulin user so can't make specific comments on that.
 
Good fats! Nuts, seeds, legumes - incredibly filling. I don't eat dairy because it doesn't agree with my body and I found that replacing those kinds of fats for less processed ones really helped me with my snacking.

I agree though if you're hungry you need to listen to your body.
 
Appetite is always King. If you are hungry then there is a reason. Setting aside the glucose-insulin rollercoaster that those eating a high-carb diet can experience, hunger on a low-carb diet will normally be driven by one or all of three things;
  • Insufficient fat
  • Insufficient protein
  • Insufficient micronutrients (vitamins & minerals)
That is a sweeping generalisation and doesn't consider any hormonal imbalances but, broadly speaking, that's it in a nutshell. All only in my opinion, of course.
 
Try thinking of the "high" fat in low carb HIGH fat as simply being highER than in a high carb low fat diet to put things in perspective - it's actually normal fat rather than the reduced fat that for the last 50 years so people have been conned into believing is better for them! You're not actually required to fill your plate with fat, simply to eat enough to help prevent you from feeling constantly hungry.
 
Back
Top