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Struggling with being hungry [emoji30]

Terryrhino

Well-Known Member
Messages
231
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi everyone,

I'm finding myself to be hungry all the time and its occasionally making me fall off the LCHF regime my typical day consists of:

Breakfast- porridge (small bowl) or bacon and scrambled eggs mushrooms spinach

Lunch- home made soup maybe 1-2 slices wholemeal bread, stew, casserole and a chunk of cheese

Dinner: steamed fish and vegetables, steak, chicken meat of some kind with roasted vegetables, occasionally 30g of brown rice ( not all of that at the same time though)

Snacks include cheese,frozen berries and natural yoghurt, raw vegetables

But I'm increasingly finding myself eating things like malt loaf home made rock cakes ( beats me why I made them the force was weak and the craving strong) whole grain crackers, silly things really and its because I feel hungry an hour after eating just like when I used to be able to eat Chinese

I believe it's the carbs that used to fill me up like pasta potatoes rice and bread ?? Any thoughts or ideas that could help with the cravings or to help get the feeling of being full back ??

Thanks in advance
 
Up the fats? There is still a fair amount of carbs in your menu which can produce cravings of their own, thats not intended as a critisism, just an observation. Some say that cream in coffee staves off hunger. I tend to make a mug of stock (Bouillon) or munch on almonds or other nuts
An example of upping fats would be to make a butter sauce to go with your steamed fish.
HTH

Better knowledge on fats and satiety will come from the likes of @Brunneria
 
If I'm eating carbs, I find I burn them off and become hungry much more quickly than when I'm not eating many carbs.

For instance, a bowl of porridge would fill me up for an hour, but I would be absolutely ravenous by 10am if I've had porridge at 7am (so I don't have that any more). A protein breakfast with no carbs at all leaves me feeling very much more satisfied - and if I do get hungry between breakfast and lunch, I'll have a hardboiled egg or a mini Babybel cheese.

If I'm really really hungry (not often - and when I am it's normally admittedly emotion-driven rather than food-driven) I will dive into the nearest avocado with a spoon and eat the lot - or dive into a tub of pate with a spoon. Or the peanut butter jar (watch the brand, though - they seem to range from 7g CHO per 100g to anything up to the high teens, so if you go too mad with the peanut butter you might get a spike).

So, for me:
Ordinary between-meal hunger (not every day): hardboiled egg or cheese
Full-on emotion-driven 'I've got to eat the house' hunger: something really fatty like avocado or pate

Bon appetit!

My everyday eating style doesn't involve much carbohydrate at all, @Terryrhino , and I avoid starchy carbohydrate (bread, rice, potatoes and the rest) entirely, and it occurs to me that for some, carb consumption can drive carb consumption.

 
Thanks @walnut_face I appreciate your comments and I know there are still to many carbs in my diet it's hard but all criticism is good criticism I think it's basically just good advice, I will continue to try and improve
 

This is very helpful thank you I love peanut butter but thought it was a no no so ive not eaten any but guess what I'm buying today to dip my celery into !!!
 
As already said, try upping the fat. Nut butters of all types are worth trying out as well as peanut butter.

I would also replace that wholemeal with something like Livlife bread from Waitrose. Probably at least 75% less carbs and tastes nice, considering it's meant to be healthy

I would also cut out the crackers and make my own - great with pate, cheese etc and REALLY low carbs

150g ground almonds
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
A few seeds of your choice

mix dry stuff, mix wet stuff, add stuffs together.

roll out nice and thin between 2 sheets of baking paper then cut into shapes and bake at around 160/170 for 10 minutes. Leave to cool and bake again for another few minutes for extra crunch. You can play around and try to make sweet versions or add herbs, parmesan if you feel adventurous.

I usually get about 20 out of this mix and scoff the lot throughout a day with cheese, a pack of sliced meats (antipasti) and some olives.

Another fave is the avocado & spinach smoothie. I use coconut or almond milk as the liquid and throw in the odd something or other once in a while as an experiment. I like to live on the edge
 
Terryrhino said:
I believe it's the carbs that used to fill me up like pasta potatoes rice and bread ?? Any thoughts or ideas that could help with the cravings or to help get the feeling of being full back ??
Click to expand...

The cravings typically comes from the carbs that you are still taking. Eating adequate fats/veg/protein will not result in hunger/cravings...
 
Again , I'd agree with everyone - cut the carbs which are making you hungry, and up the fattier and oilier foods which will keep you hunger free for much longer.

If you bake, use almond flour (or the cheaper ground almonds), coconut flour, or sesame flour instead. Our low carb recipes thread has plenty of both sweet and savoury recipes and you can also bake your own low carb breads and rolls - or look at some of the threads about commercial low carb versions - e.g. Lidl high protein loaves.

Try a cup of coffee with cream instead of porridge at breakfast time, or if you can stomache the idea, Google bullet proof coffee which has butter and coconut oil added!

Robbity
 
Yes...I have just discovered this week that virgin coconut oil is a real game changer for managing hunger and low glucose level.

After a full day of fasting, I reach 4.4 mmol without the usual low sensations. My brain don't seems to register the lower glucose level because it has sufficient alternative fuel buffering the low glucose...It should help with multiday fasting...
 

Will be making these crackers tonight thanks
 

I will be cutting out the porridge from now in maybe try eggs instead
I think i am subconsciously worried about eating to much fat as I'm also trying to lose some weight it seems counter productive?!
 
Terryrhino said:
I will be cutting out the porridge from now in maybe try eggs instead
I think i am subconsciously worried about eating to much fat as I'm also trying to lose some weight it seems counter productive?!
Click to expand...

When you cut down on carbs, you're replacing them as a fuel source with fats. As long as you don't go mad and stuff your face you should be OK; if you need help with the best proportions of carbs/protein/fats to eat, have a look at this low carb nutritional calculator which which help work things out for you. If you have a read round the forum you'll see that many of us have definitely lost weight on an LCHF diet. It's generally too many carbs or a combination of too many carbs and fats that cause weight gain. (I initially lost about 2 stone very quickly when I first started eating LCHF, and have now more or less maintained my weight at this lower level for two and a half years. )

Robbity
 

Thank you so much all this advice is very encouraging I've also liked the LCHF recipes page on Facebook so e lovely ideas on there I'm starting with Brussel sprouts lightly fried with oil onion and garlic then double cream bacon and cheese and baked for 20 mins delicious
 
The thing I found most useful was to look at my watch/phone/clock when when I felt like snacking and would say to myself "Its only x mins till lunch/ dinner, ill wait till then and then I'ill enjoy my meal more". Then at meal times I would sit quietly somewhere not doing anything else and eat slowly putting my knife & fork down between mouthfuls, savouring each and every mouthful.

That and the fact that I was terrified I might lose my sight, get neuropathy and or kidney disease or any other truly horrific diabetic complication, I kept that thought uppermost in my mind and it was my biggest motivator, I lost 4 stone the first year and another stone the following year in fact just over 5 stone (70 lb) in total, that worked for me but you have to find what works for you.
 
I agree with everyone else. Carbs can certainly set off hunger and it doesn't stop until you sleep it off.

Have you checked your blood sugar levels as high BS can cause hunger as well

As Robbity said, beware of eating carbs with fat. Fat IN THE ABSENSE of carbs does not cause weight gain however fat + carbs = fat.

After lowering your carbs and upping your fat it may take a few days for the hunger to subside.

Examples of healthy fats are avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds, olives. Some people do well on dairy but it causes weight gain for me, just like carbs do. I can eat a lot of the fats I listed and not gain weight but a piece of bread a day and I'd weigh 10 more pounds by weeks end.

You can put your sandwich meat on a big piece of lettuce or a salad. Carbs in the morning would make me ravenous all day. I spent 50 years hungry and fighting the urge to eat. Then I found the avocado and all of that changed. I eat 1/2 an avocado and celery for BF and sets the day straight. Then I eat the rest with lunch and dinner.

Fighting hunger is horrid!!!
 
On a slightly different subject but still food I've had porridge for breakfast and homemade chicken vegetable casserole for lunch mu bg was 6.8 at 12:00 and 8.3 at 14:00 i range from 5.3 to 11.2 in the last 4 days

Even tho 8.3 isn't overly high for me after food it now almost 3 hours since I eat and I'm feeling shaky and weak I don't know why ??? Before diagnosis I corrected this feeling by eating but can't do that any more any ideas ???
 
@Terryrhino I cut out everything like potatoes, pasta, rice, cakes, biscuits etc and I have coffee with cream instead. I have either a two egg omelette or a couple of Low Carb rolls toasted with butter, or some lc pancakes for my breakfast. Even yoghurt. I have been on the program for 13 weeks now and can honestly say I have not felt hungry once. You seem to be having a lot of carbs. The lc rolls are from Dietdoctor https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/the-low-carb-bread. They are delicious
 
Terry, you need to take care because you will have your own needs and restrictions, but I went from basically an all starch diet to a zero starch diet, and I get much less hungry now than I used to back when I used to eat freely. You might be similar. I used to have two big cheese omelette sandwiches for breakfast every morning- four slices of white bread and a melted cheese omelette in each one for the filling, and I would be dizzy and weak with hunger by lunch time. Now I have one boiled egg and some almonds, and I'm fine. Yes, I'm hungry by lunch time, but not the same mad, dizzy hunger, it's just 'I'm ready for my lunch'. With me, I think it was just insulin spikes making me think I was hungry. If you can safely try phasing out your bread and oatmeal, it might be worth a go, especially as you can replace it with something nicer anyway
 

What I thought was just a little bit of carbs was obviously much more than I thought I'm no longer having porridge and will stop the bread maybe a treat every other weekend?!?

I must be getting carbs from somewhere I'm unaware of because I don't eat potatoes pasta I have the very occasional but of brown rice but not even once a week, carrots sweet potato and onion maybe?? Other than that I eat broccoli cauliflower courgette squash peas green beans spinach with with meat or fish what am I doing wrong
 
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