Dilemma- Eating beyond satiety VS eating multiple small meals

#1

Going through a small dilemma at the moment. For me I’ve found there’s a small contradiction/paradox with keto that I’m hoping to get some advice on.

So recently I’ve been following my body’s signals and only eating when I’m hungry and also stopping when I’m full. This has resulted in many small meals/snacks throughout the day, and sometimes late at night. I know this isn’t good as that means I’m getting multiple insulin spikes throughout any given day.

Does that mean I should be eating one or two larger meals and taking them beyond satiety, to give me longer sustenance?

Could it mean I’m not getting enough fat in my meals?

(Empress of the Unexpected) #2

I have the same dilemma. I do include fat with every meal but just can’t eat a lot at one sitting. So I make sure I do at least a 14 hour fast so I have some period with no insulin spikes. Many times I just eat in an eight hour window, usually two or three times. Today it has been around ten times!!! Will be interested to follow this thread.

#3

And that brings up another conundrum for me, I want to fast more often but I also don’t want to ignore hunger signals and screw with my metabolism. It’s a tricky one.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #4

I’ve been doing keto for nine months and some day/weeks are still easier than others. I used to skip dinner and wake up starving. Now I make sure I eat something substantial around five and so when I wake up I am not starving. But it varies. Today there has not been enough food in the world. Other days I barely eat. Have you tried any type of fasting?

#5

I’ve been doing this for three months. I’ve done IF numerous times and one EF.

This problem has only just popped up over the last week, up until then I was consistently on one or two meals a day no problem.

So I have two theories as what might be the cause of the problem…

  • I’m close to my maintenance weight so I need to start reintroducing more fat back into my diet.
  • I’m still feeling a ripple effect from eating too many carbs on Christmas Eve/Day.
(Empress of the Unexpected) #6

Both of those theories make sense. Try adding some more fat and see what happens. A little fat goes a long way. Did you cut back on fat when you got closer to maintenance. Or is this amount of fat pretty much what you have always eaten?

#7

I cut back on fat after the first month or so, after I was confident I was fat adapted. Not drastically, but I didn’t slather everything in butter and olive oil anymore.

(Running from stupidity) #8

I tried that, but it was hard work, and thus didn’t work all that well.

+1

(Daisy) #9

I believe I lost my fat adaption over the course of going off plan from time to time the 5 weeks leading to Christmas. I am hungry a lot more lately, so I am working to get re-adapted. I’m hoping it won’t take as long this time. I’m just eating very strict keto and will get back where I need to.

(Cindy) #10

I tend to think that, as long as you’re sure they’re true hunger signals (and not habit, boredom, stress, etc), you should only eat to satiety. If that means needing to eat again in a couple of hours, then eat again. Of course, try to eat the foods that lend themselves to feeling satisfied, but overeating just to delay a meal is flat out ignoring what your body is telling you.

Who knows, since you’re close to your maintenance weight, this might be your body’s way of trying to set your body norm to a higher energy level/increase your BMR.

(Mike W.) #11

I would definitely try increasing your fat if you’re still getting hungry between meals and maybe try eating less protein as for me it is more satiating than fat.

#12

I think that’s the answer, you didn’t have this issue before but too many carbs at Christmas, I’ve heard it takes most people about a week for things to settle back down again …

Sorry to gloat (or am I :->) but I didn’t binge over Christmas and my energy is stable all day … I eat until satiety. Well actually since that signal can take 20 minutes to really hit home I stop when I’m about 80-90% full.

I reckon you’ll be right … if you are eating lots of protein and fat I reckon you’ll find it hard to force yourself to go way over satiety. You should be saying “I just can not eat anymore …”. But if you are nibble all day on small meals I reckon it is possible to consume too much food. I don’t think the keto fairies will take it all away, you’ll end up wearing some of it.

(Carl Keller) #13

I find that my apetite has increased, probably because I’ve lost so much weight recently. A 12 oz steak, small salad and a cup of broccoli used to stuff me. Now I can eat that and wish there were more (steak mostly). After 30 minutes to an hour, the feeling of “I want to eat more” would pass and I would be fine for 8+ hours but it still happened every time I had a meal.

Soooooo, I started to do a few feast days where I would eat well beyond my macros. Sometimes nearly 3k calories worth of mostly fat and protein and it seems to have calmed my desire to keep eating. I wasn’t necessarily stuffing myself at those meals but it was really close. It seems to have calmed my gremlin levels, err I mean my ghrelin levels (thanks @Screenack ), to some degree. I go back to OMAD or a moderate 2MAD a lot more smoothly after a feasting day.

Bottom line, weight loss triggers our bodies to produce more ghrelin. It’s totally natural and I think making that hormone completely happy every now and again, is better in the long run… at least for me.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #14

You guys, with the 12 oz steaks!!! Us gals barely choke down 4 oz. 8 hours? - I am totally envious!

#15

I can eat a 12oz steak :grin:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #16

Well Safi - as my ex would say “You are a superior person.” :rofl::rofl::rofl:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #17

Maybe I need to buy a kitchen scale, to see if I know what I am talking about. But size-wise, it amounts to about four square inches of steak.

#18

It took years of training - I’m basically a food athlete :laughing:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #19

And as you know - I’m a food avoider. More power to you. I will break down and buy a food scale. Curious at this point.

#20

Pace is the key! You need to beat the satiety signal - growing up with lots of older brothers helps. It’s also where the sous vide comes into it’s own - less chewing :wink: I do understand that this is not everyone’s idea of a good time :joy: