First week wobbles

#1

Yesterday was my first ‘proper’ day of changing to the Keto WOE. I turned vegetarian last Autumn and in order to make this diet work easily have opted to eat fish again. I also eat eggs and dairy.

My biggest hurdle yesterday was simply hunger. I ended up eating around 35g of carbs via nuts to try and feel full. In hindsight I should have scrambled some eggs or something instead but hey ho, done now.

I’m a nurse and back on nights now so trying to plan ahead. Carb treats surround me at work, from cake & chocolates in the staff room to my fave biscuits on the tea trolley.

It’s going to be a challenge I know but this is my plan:

Scrambled eggs with cream before I go to work.

Smoked salmon with mayo and green salad as my main meal.

Fat bombs made using cream cheese & almond nut butter.

Snack of avocado.

Macro wise it fits with 78% fat, 19% protein and 3% carbs. I know calorie counting is frowned upon but works out just under 1700.

Does this sound sensible? I really don’t want hunger pangs at work if I can avoid them.

Any insights welcome.

Thanks

Chezza :grin:

(David Brown) #2

Stay strong. All looks good with your diet. It’s quite remarkable how fast your hunger pangs disappear. Usually around 5 days and then it’s all down hill :grin:.
If you have to eat and the desire is too strong an old body builders trick is to have some sugar free jelly. It’s not great for you so don’t rely on it

Stay strong it will happen. I promise!!!

(hottie turned hag) #3

I know this sounds counterintuitive to weight loss but I say EAT MORE :astonished:
The last thing you want to do is be hungry when good keto food not available and grab something crappy.

To use myself as example, I am a barely 5’2", postmenopausal very small framed sedentary female so tally that up and you get someone who should have a very hard time losing weight and prob not need many calories either.

I eat a LOT on some days and little on others, dictated purely by hunger and satiety.
This past Sun I had: 2 eggs, 2 tins sardines, big steak, and a jumbo frank. Yesterday I had a big steak, 2 jumbo franks.

There have been days I have 1lb bacon AND all of above.
Yet I am 116lb. I’ve been doing this since Aug 2017 and have stalled -but only when I got to 122lb- but never gained. For most of that time I was having 16oz mozz/DAY plus meat plus veg. I dropped the cheese and veg just 2 mos or so ago to break the 122 stall and it DID. I know you’re vegetarian so that part doesn’t apply.

Oh and that almond butter and fat bomb thing you cite? Erm…nuts give me cravings like crazy.I was at one point eating almond butter by the spoonful from the jar. Had to give it up (for now; intend to reintroduce but just once/week when at goal weight, ditto cheese).

Eat more. If you’re having hunger at work you’re not eating enough. I warrant wiser heads than mine shall chime in here in agreement.
Here’s a darling wee bird for encouragement :bird:

#4

It’s so hard ignoring ‘old’ diet advice but will certainly try. I’m going shopping before work so hopefully will have enough Keto food on hand x

#5

Can’t wait to be rid of hunger pangs. A lot of posters mention ‘forgetting’ to eat. That sounds like a dream to me. Think I’ve spent most of my life thinking about or eating food :joy:

#6

Can’t wait to be rid of hunger pangs!

(Carl Keller) #7

Hello Chezza.

I will echo the sentiments of @BlueViolet. Your sample meal is sensible if it doesn’t leave you hungry. In order to lose weight in a healthy manner, we need to form a good relationship with our hunger. That means making the correct response when our hunger is signaling us to eat or to eat more. When you can learn to separate the false hunger that is triggered by the food you see or by a clock that says it’s time to eat, you are well on your way to controling your diet. It takes practice, repetition and feeding poor cravings with quality LCHF food. Your body will adjust if you give it a chance.

Stay strong and when you are at work, try not to look at all those carby things in the eye. One day you will be able to stare back and look at them with contempt. You may still love them, but they don’t love you back. :wink:

(Alex R) #8

I would agree and eat a little more, but protein or something oily. The reason I say oily is that if you have a tin of mackerel in oil, it always fills me up more than the same tin of mackeral in say tomato sauce !

It must be hard with sweet cravings, something that doesn’t bother me fortunately, when i am hungry the last thing I want is cake or chocolate! I instead crave savoury things like cheese or tins of fish !

#9

Funnily enough I bought a tin of oily fish so might keep that in my bag as a back-up plan if cravings strike that I struggle to banish :blush:

(David Brown) #10

Even after 7 months of keto I still keep my sugar cravings. I actually think I have a genuine addiction to chocolate. Being keto definitely takes the edge of wanting chocolate but given a hall pass I would literally destroy multiple bars in one sitting.

(Jill F.) #11

The hunger pains do dissipate over time, the hard part I’d getting there! I drink a lot of fluids to help stay full too. I end up running to bathroom a lot but the hydration does help. Sounds like you are in UK, I am unsure what they have there that may be comparable but I snack on Slim Jim’s during the day and drink sugar free sports drinks like Poweraid or Gatorade.

(Anne Brodie) #12

Welcome, Chessa. I boil a batch of eggs and have them on hand to eat any time I get hungry at work. Also pouches/cans of tuna, salmon, and sardines. I also do bacon but that obviously doesn’t work for you at this time. I like to have a variety of options but eggs, meat and cheese remain convenient carb-safe options for me after over a year of keto.

#13

I’m all in favor of tracking calories as one metric to help you understand what you’re eating. Just don’t restrict calories to an arbitrary number–especially in the beginning, if you’re hungry or have carb cravings: Eat something!

I wouldn’t worry about macro percentages. Just keep carbs low, get sufficient protein, and when you’re hungry or have carb cravings eat something with fat or protein. In a couple of weeks, when the cravings go away, maybe (maybe) you’ll want to make some other tweaks.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #14

Better to give it up completely, it’s your kryptonite! It’s keeping your sugar cravings alive. :slightly_smiling_face:

This is not going to make things easier, on the contrary you set yourself up for a lot more difficulty.

Animal protein is much more efficient than nuts which contain significant carbs, usually it’s suggested for people who’ve been at keto for a while to limit these foods to 1-2oz. per day MAX. Also large quantities of some keto friendly nuts contain things you can have too much of on keto. Omega 6, and in the case of Brazil nuts an overdose of selenium, and almond large amounts of phytic acid. You can get some of that out by soaking the almonds but why bother, just limit quantities as a more healthy option if you want nuts. I only occasionally consume nuts anymore. Often less than once a month.

My recommendation is no nuts for about two months. That goes for any keto treats, fat bombs or berries as well. Eat veggies meat and eggs, cheese limited to 1-2oz. per day if you want it. Get yourself fat adapted and don’t let yourself be hungry. Try to eat enough at meal time to eliminate snacking ASAP. If you feel you must snack make it mostly fat. Olives, cheeses, avocado, or coconut oil on a spoon. If you go back to meat (highly recommended) pepperoni or bacon make a satisfying snack. The more fat heavy and lowest carb and medium to low protein is best between meals if you need it.

Ignore all of this, use a 20g. carb limit and eat enough to keep your energy up and your metabolism roaring like a race car while your body adapts to burning fat for fuel. You can eat till you’re satisfied, don’t try to meet any macro suggestions from a calculator which isn’t based on your individual needs but a cross section of the general population. :cowboy_hat_face:

There’s absolutely no need for this! Thank the great keto spirit for it. :cowboy_hat_face: