Hello there! I’m new to this forum - and to keto in general - and I could use some help from someone with more experience.
A bit of my background first - I started keto about three weeks ago (although I have eaten in a similar way for the majority of my life - I always avoided sugar and chose whole nutrient dense foods). Anyway, the first week was AMAZING. I was almost never hungry, felt positive, even lost some weight (even though I am aware it wost mostly water weight). During the second week, things started to get worse. I was hungry all the time and couldn’t stop eating. Now at the beginning of the third week I’m starting to feel hopeless. I always feel like I’m starving. Just today I ate over 6000 calories, and I still feel like I haven’t had enough. Just for reference my TDEE is usually around 2000 calories. I am very short with a small build, so even though I exercise every day eating anything over 2000 calories makes me gain weight. And gain I did, I’m now four pounds heavier than when I started keto, and my body fat percentage is worsening as well.
I eat under 20g total carbs a day, and most of my calories come from healthy fats (fatty fish, coconut oil, olive oil, eggs, avocados,… all the good stuff), with a moderate amount of protein.
Has anyone else experiences this? Will this ever end? It’s seriously driving me crazy, I just never feel full and eating all the time is getting incredibly depressing, especially since I can’t seem to be able to help myself.
I should also note that I take vitamin and mineral supplements, get enough sleep, and don’t feel tired or dizzy/hazy as most people do. I weigh and log all the food I eat and make sure all my macros are in order. I also don’t have any cravings per se, I don’t miss carbs at all. It’s seriously just this constant hunger I can’t get rid of.
If anyone has any tips or information at all, I would be incredibly grateful.
Feeling absolutely ravenous
Chris, do you think some of that may be emotional eating? I can only speak from experience that When I go overboard on my calories it’s because I’m trying to stuff my feelings, not saying that’s what you’re doing. Hang in there, it will get better
Many people find they get hungrier after the initial stages until they’re better adapted to using fat as a fuel. If it only lasts a couple of weeks I wouldn’t worry too much. It could also be that, like me, you need a little more protein & not quite so much fat. I wouldn’t class myself as low fat by any means - I eat plenty - but protein is the macro that satisfies me the most.
Hi! I had this problem for sometime! I was hungry for several weeks. I have no idea how much of a carb or sugar eater you were prior to Keto, but I was a sugar fiend. I can’t quite explain accurately how much sugar and carbs I consumed. My theory is and perhaps @richard or @carl could correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that the reason that I stayed hungry so long is because of how much glucose was stored in my body. My boyfriend was not a big sugar to eater and he immediately wasn’t hungry. Don’t fear! It does go away! Eat more fat. Don’t worry about the calories! If you feel like protein eat that. I figured that I had to burn through so much more stored glucose to not feel hungry. Keep calm and keto on and this too shall pass. Hopefully that was helpful!
I have a lot of experience with emotional eating (unfortunately), but this doesn’t feel like it. Thank you for your comment though 
it is true that I’ve been under a lot of stress in the last few ways, so that certainly doesn’t help the situation and it might play a bigger role than I realize.
Thank you for the tip! I’ll try upping my protein to see if it makes a difference.
I think I’m a lot like your boyfriend in that regard. I have never been a fan of sweets, and I have always avoided sugars, candy, processed food, baked goods, etc. Before starting keto I mostly ate vegetables, dairy, and lean meat (just not nearly enough fat). But everyone is different, so maybe maybe body is just having some difficulty switching over just like yours did :). I’ll try to not worry too much and wait a bit longer to see if it evens out.
I too have experienced this and I just went with it. I noted at the time that it happened (ravenous hunger) when I was ovulating. It finally sorted itself out (having ovulated 3 times since this phenomena has reduced each time) I don’t deny myself food if I felt hungry I eat, but more importantly I don’t eat if I am not hungry. I think (n=1) this was my body sorting out my hormones, and now I am a finely tuned machine with the ability to trust my body.