Day 6 and I’ve been starving every day

(Rachel) #1

I don’t have a lot of weight to lose. Ten pounds, maybe. I’ve been carefully tracking my fat, protein, and carbs on Carb Manager. It seems like a full time job, and it’s a pain. I’ll top out my fat and protein for the day, but I’ll still have a 500-1000 calorie deficit. I’m experiencing acid reflux, which has never bothered me before.

People say, “eat fat to satiety,” and I find myself drinking organic whipping cream or a tablespoon or two of avocado oil. I think this is ridiculous. So correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’m reading on these forums is: don’t worry about calories. Count carbs and eat when you’re hungry, and eat till you’re full.

This diet is driving me nuts, but I want to stay on it because of the good results I’ve read about.

(Karim Wassef) #2

Getting to 20g of carbs is usually about avoiding certain foods. That’s really the key.

What do you usually eat ?
What’s your metabolic rate ?

(Carl Keller) #3

Hi Raerain.

Some ways that have helped people suffering from heartburn on keto include;

  • Avoiding acidic foods like tomatoes
  • Probiotics – these are very useful to balance out bacterial issues in the gut
  • Over the counter antacids like Tums or Mylanta (check the carbs, but if it’s only a few carbs and means you can keep on keto, then go for it)
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Fermented foods like kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut
  • Magnesium and zinc supplements
  • Dairy may be a culprit – try a few days without dairy
  • Chia seed puddings, especially using coconut milk
  • Adding more salt to your diet
  • A teaspoon of bicarb soda with a small bit of water, drunk quickly

Pretty much. The problem I see you are having is constant hunger. It seems to me better food choices might help with that. If you are constantly 500-1000 calories shy of normal, then why not eat a bit more fatty meat. Protein along with fat is what really gets and keeps me satisfied. So instead of all the oils and cream, you could try something like this:

Breakfast: 2 eggs with 4 strips of bacon

Lunch: salad with cheese, ranch and two roasted chicken thighs

Dinner: 10 oz Ribeye steak, cup of broccoli cooked in bacon grease

The more real food (food that you can sink your teeth in), the less hungry you are likely to be.

BTW, the macros on the above day’s worth of meals is:

1781 calories
132 grams of fat
129 grams of protein
10.7 carbs

67% of calories from fat, 30% from protein, 3% from carbs.

(Rachel) #4

I’m staying under the acceptable carb limit. I have no idea what my metabolic rate is.

(Rachel) #5

OMG, CarlKeller. I’m not eating anything like what you’ve listed. Your menu is so much better than what I’ve been eating! I do believe I have hope! Thank you!

(Carl Keller) #6

You’re quite welcome. I really enjoy what I eat and that’s a big part of what makes keto easy for me. My meals usually feature a fatty protein along with a cup or two of buttered vegetables. I mix in a salad here and there and eat 6-10 eggs per week.

Some of my favorite features include:

Ribs, pork or beef roast, pork chops, salmon, steak, chicken thighs, legs or wings, sausage links or patties, chop steak (glorified hamburger patty without bun).

(Khara) #7

This. To start with. Do not go hungry. “Starving every day” is a really bad sign.

Keep it simple early on! Eat simply and just get time under your belt. Have plenty of low to no carb and fatty foods on hand. Eggs, bacon, ham, steak, hamburger, bratwursts, sausage, green veggies, cauliflower, cheese, cream. Build meals starting with a fatty protein. Add cooked veggies with butter or salad with low to no carb dressing if you like veggies.

When I am in early days, My body always needs extra fat and it seems to show up as cravings for cheese and salami or summer sausage. I have plenty of this on hand in addition to my usual eggs and bacon and meats and veggies. These snacks cover me during emergencies when I’m hungry and don’t have the patience to cook. Being prepared with it on hand helps gets me to the point of adaptation. I eat when hungry and stop satiated (not stuffed). Over time this need for snacks and large amounts of cheese goes away and I end up with just simple meals of a fatty protein and maybe a veggie.

Anyway, keep it simple, keep it simple, keep it simple. Just get some time in focusing on low carbs and not going hungry. Continue to learn here but don’t get too caught up in all the nuances just yet.

(Rachel) #8

I could cry. You’ve really eased my mind. The eating thing I can do. Policing every morsel I put in my mouth and trying to figure the macros in homemade egg salad was killing me. I was having to do MATH, for crying out loud.

(Rachel) #9

Bless you. I needed that. These people on YouTube telling me not to eat too much protein had my brain scrambled. Dr. Berg and his wretched 10 cups of salad a day. I really like a good salad, but I’m not a cow.

(Carl Keller) #10

Tracking your carbs isn’t a bad idea. This app is pretty easy to use and it has a recipe feature where you plug in all the ingredients and save a customized recipe and it tells you the macros according to serving size. :

(Khara) #11

@CarlKeller ‘s daily food example is really good. It is very similar to what I eat. Too bad we can’t all get together for a potluck. :thinking:

I agree with logging. It can be a huge pain, and quite time consuming. I also use Carb Manager. But, I mostly use it to learn. You can enter in a food just to check the carb content or to see what an appropriate serving size would be. I have plenty of days, most actually, that aren’t fully logged. This needs to be and is meant to be sustainable. Use your tools to learn and then do what you find works. But it will be a learning process and will require some patience both with yourself and with the process.

(Carl Keller) #12

How much protein is probably the most controversial aspect of keto. Even PHDs can’t agree how much is the right amount. Jason Fung says .6 grams per kilo of total body weight for his obese patients. Ben Bikman says 1-2 grams per kilo of total body weight. But one thing I believe all of them can agree on is, if you are constantly hungry, you are not eating enough of something. Now I will say that I’ve noted some anecdotal evidence that reducing protein has helped some people push past stalls but in my experience, I’ve been able to lose weight eating 120-140 grams of protein.

:rofl: Berg has helped a lot of people and a lot of his advice is solid. Eating half an acre of produce a week is not one of them, IMHO.

A Keto Gras type food festival with the whole forum would be awesome. :smiley:

(Rachel) #13

@CarlKeller— FYI for the both of you… I fixed a 6 oz. hamburger patty (15% fat), added cheese and Kerrygold butter, and wolfed it down. I feel better than I have for the past few days.

(Windmill Tilter) #14

@raerain

One of my favorite threads on the forum is linked below. It’s basically a daily snapshot of what folks on the forum are eating that day. When I first started keto I really didn’t know what I should be eating, but a few minutes scrolling through the “What Did You Keto Today” thread and I realized that keto wasn’t just going to be doable, it was going to be enjoyable! I’ve picked up a lot of great keto meal ideas from this thread over the last few months. Fair warning, you’ll want to be on wifi; it’s pic heavy!

(Khara) #15

Super awesome. Glad to hear!

I know I said keep it simple but I’d say one additional big idea that’s important to keep in mind especially early on is electrolytes. As carb eaters our bodies retain water and salts. As fat and protein eaters our bodies flush out water and salts. You’ll find you need more salt. This can show up in the form of headaches and muscle cramps and fatigue. Salt your food plenty, to where it tastes good. In addition to this I also use the keto-aide electrolyte drink that is on this forum. You can search keto-aide and find Brenda’s recipe. It supplements just a bit of salt, magnesium, and potassium.

(Rachel) #16

I am using electrolyte powder a couple times a day, putting Himalayan salt on everything, adding the salt and nutritional yeast to bone broth twice a day, etc. i had Keto Flu symptoms two days ago, but once I started all the salt and electrolytes, things improved greatly.

(Roxanne) #17

Go to dietdoctor.com and sign up up for the two week challenge (it’s free) - it has excellent meal plans for those starting out which really helped us figure out what our meals should look like, and the meals are easy and delicious

(bulkbiker) #18

Dr Berg is like marmite… love him or hate… personally I’m one of the latter…

(Rachel) #19

I’ve done that, but haven’t kept up with the recipes. Life gets in the way, you know?

(Jay Patten) #20

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No need to be hungry. These are all examples of homemade Keto foods that I make all the time.