Beginner with some hunger issues

newbies

(Nat) #1

OK, so I’m feeling great but my weight is not shifting and I’m having troubles with staying in my macro goals (and I’m not referring to carbs here) as I’m very, very hungry!
Some details: Female, height: 177 cm (5ft10) weight 105 kg (231 lbs) and my daily macros:
Carbs: 6 g (2%)
Fat: 100g (68%)
Protein: 98g (30%)
I find its very hard for me to not overdo my protein (If I was to adhere to 0.5g of protein per kg of LBM it comes out 31 g of protein a day…which is less than a one stake for a dinner).

I’m researching and reading but I’m just so confused! please help!!


(German Ketonian) #2

Which week are you in? Just focus on getting the macros right and worry about weight loss later. If hungry, try to eat pure butter to sateity. This usually helps me curbing the hunger quite effectively after 50-100g. And this way, you won’t add significant amounts of protein, if you’re worried of going over.


(Nat) #3

I’m on the week 4 at the moment and the scale never moved. Thanks a million for the advice, I will adhere and see how it turns out :slight_smile:


(Frank) #4

That seems low on the protein end. I’m fairly certain that it’s closer to .8-1g per kg of lean body weight. Regardless of that if you’re hungry eat fat to satiety. Your body will tell you when it’s ready to burn it’s own fat. Your hunger will normalize. Trust the process. Eat.


(Nat) #5

Will do, thank you very much :slight_smile:


(Cathy) #6

There are 7 grams of protein in 1 ounce of meat (say chicken). If your protein limit is 35g per day, you would be able to consume 5 ounces of chicken. As 35g is too low, you likely would budget for about 60 to 70g protein per day and that would be about 9.5 ounces of protein. Three or 4 ounces is considered a normal serving size.If you consumed just eggs, that would be about 10 or 11 eggs per day. I think you are miscalculating your protein.


(Nat) #7

Thanks for that Cathy, I use the FitnesPal app and scan the bar code of the products I consume and just adjust for portion sizes so maybe the app is not as exact (although I thought it is a pretty good app for tracking macros…).but I found that, when hungry, easiest way is to reach for a protein (meat or dairy) rather than fat so I have to work on that from now on.


(Cathy) #8

When you state the value of your protein, are you giving the weight of that protein or are you stating the amount of protein that weight of protein contains. Are you using ounces or grams of weight?


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Welcome to the forums!

The protein recommendation varies, according to which expert you listen to. Dr. Ron Rosedale, who is chiefly concerned with minimizing the mTOR pathway as the key to longevity, recommends 0.6 g / kg LBM / day, whereas Benjamin Bikman, a physiobiologist who studies insulin and glucagon, says not to fear protein (because of the physiology of nutritional ketosis) and recommends 1.0 to 2.0 g/kg. So I’d say you are fine just as you are.

Since you are a woman, you can’t (unfortunately!) expect the same kind of rapid weight loss guys generally experience. Your hormones affect the pattern, plus if you’ve been dieting for a while (restricting calories, I mean), your body may want to put on some lean muscle, even if it’s simultaneously shedding fat. This confuses the scale, so we advise women to concentrate on their clothing size—and give their scale to an enemy, lol!

Anyway, 98 g of protein is around 400 g of meat, which is a fair amount, so you should be fine there, but if you wanted to follow Ben Bikman’s advice, you could go as high as, say, 140 g protein / 560 g meat, and see if it helps. I am assuming lean body mass of about 70 kg, here; the max would be lower if you have a higher percentage of body fat.

Anyway, Bikman’s catchy phrase is: “control carbohydrate”—you’re certainly doing that—“prioritize protein”—you have some room to play around with that—“and fill with fat,” so the rest of what you eat should be fat to satiety. In other words, eat until you are hungry, then stop. Don’t eat again until you are hungry again—don’t eat according to the clock. The idea is to eat in such a way as to keep insulin low, and the key to that is to keep carbohydrate low and to eat infrequently, so your insulin has time to go back down after a meal. If you are eating enough, you will be able to go several hours between meals. Fat is not some magical substance that causes weight loss, by the way; it is merely the best source of calories, because it doesn’t stimulate the secretion of insulin.

Lastly, do not intentionally restrict your caloric intake, let your body do that by listening to your appetite. It may take a few weeks for your satiety signal to reassert itself, but in the meantime, don’t worry about how many calories you are eating. Your body needs energy in order to heal, and once it is assured of a steady supply, it will set your appetite to a level that allows it to burn both the fat you eat and the excess fat it has stored. The key to this process is to eat to satiety, and let the body restrict the calories on its own. Don’t try to out-think 2,000,000 years of evolution!


(Nat) #10

That is extremely helpful!Thank you SO much Paul!


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

I hope it helps. Let us know how you get on! :bacon: