Hunger not subsiding after 3 months on keto

(German Ketonian) #1

so is this normal? My hunger is not really satiated each meal, if I don’t get 1000-1500 kcals in, and even then, I gotta force myself to stop. There’s no real sensation of satiety. My macros are nearly 90% fat now, because I keep hearing that fat should be eaten to satiety, not protein. On the other hand, protein is said to induce satiation. I guess I am kind of lost with my appetite.

I am not gaining that much weight, though, because I do a lot of cardio and am quite active. But it just bothers me, not being able to be content with more moderate portion sizes.

Do you have any strategies like mindful eating to trigger that satiety signal?

(Damon Chance) #2

I totally do. I could eat for a long time without a sensation of being full untill i was totally stuffed. I only get a feeling of fullness with a more 50/50 ratio of protein and fat… eggs are pretty good but i could still eat 6-8. I just have to fence myself in with a calorie limit and then reassess my desire to eat after a break. If I’m really hungry I will eat more.

(Todd Allen) #3

It might not be normal, but I think it is fairly common for people eating keto to still struggle with satiety/hunger. Plenty of people here have discussed dissatisfaction with their rate of weight loss, some have rebounds and some are still searching for the approach that will let them experience weight loss.

As for the protein question, it seems to vary a lot person to person and you should experiment to find what works best for yourself. If protein drops your blood sugar for too long and your hunger increases when blood sugar is lower too much might be an issue. Or if several hours after eating larger amounts of protein you find your blood sugar rising and ketones falling then you might be one prone to more protein driven gluconeogenesis which might also be an issue. It’s all more complicated than just the number of grams of each macro. You might find lots of grams of protein consumed as eggs works very well while the same number of grams consumed as peanuts to be a problem.

I’ve not yet had much luck eating fat to satiety. I tried it for 3 months and while there were weeks I lost a pound there were more weeks I gained a pound and I ended up roughly 10 lbs for the 3 months. I’ve since managed to get my weight loss back on track with fasting and have lost 22 lbs in the last 3 months.

To lose the weight I’ve been alternating between eat fat to satiety during which my weight tends to bounce up a bit and fasting. I’m hungry when I fast but it isn’t continuous and it isn’t severe. Hunger used to induce fear that it would get worse and worse and that I would feel increasingly weak and miserable until I ate enough to make the hunger go away. But eating keto I find hunger while fasting pretty manageable. Often it is slight enough that I can ignore it, get distracted doing something else and find it goes away on it’s own. Sometimes water, tea or a cup of broth is enough to satisfy. Other times I need to pause the fast with a substantial meal and sometimes I need to break the fast for a few days of eating to satiety before I can resume the fast.

I’m hoping that after I hit my weight goal I’ll be able to mostly get by eating fat to satiety probably constrained by daily intermittent fasting to keep weight regain slow. And perhaps every couple months I’ll need to do a few days of fasting or a longer stretch of near fasting to reset back to goal. However it works out, I’m increasingly confident that fasting will enable me to achieve my goals and eating keto lets me fast.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

The sensation of satiety is very different from the sensation of having a full belly. When I was a sugar-burner, I could eat two heaping plates of spaghetti, be feeling as though my stomach were going to burst, and still be hungry for more.

My first experience with real satiation came early on, when I bought two salmon steaks for lunch, got through the first one, and suddenly realized I didn’t want the second. It was the first time in my life that I ever stopped eating while there was still food on the plate! I saved that second steak for my next meal, which wasn’t for quite a while, because I was truly satisfied for perhaps the first time in my life. Since then, I’ve had to work on combating carb cravings, which come on me regardless of whether I am actually hungry or not. (I am a sugar/carb addict.) But the difference between those cravings and real hunger has now become very clear.

Check the amounts of macros that you are eating. You may be eating more carbohydrate than you realize. Also, try to keep your protein under 1 gram per kilo of lean body mass a day. I’ve heard that about protein’s being satiating, but have no clue where it comes from. I think someone who believes that dietary fat is bad for us simply made it up. Whereas fat has been known to be uniquely satisfying to hunger for oh, the past two million years or so. If you are keeping protein moderate and carbohydrate low, then you can safely eat fat to satiety and still lose weight, regardless of what your total calorie consumption amounts to.

(German Ketonian) #5

That makes sense! I still struggle with interpresting body signals. Regarding protein, my average intake is 70g, carbs are well below 20g, usually even below 15. The carbs are just incidental and come from cream, salad, and the like… so I don’t believe that my macros are the issue.

I thought, my body might be telling me that he wants to put on weight. I am still pretty lean at 6"0, 150 lbs…

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

One hundred fifty? Wow! When I was a kid (cough forty fifty cough) years ago, 180 was considered a healthy weight for someone that height. You must be thin as a rail!

(BTW, I’m jealous–still have about 50 lbs. to go to get into your vicinity, and I’m three inches shorter, so the weight I’ve got still shows to disadvantage, at this point.)

(Cathy) #7

Eat more protein and quit calorie counting. If my math is correct and I understand you, you are consuming 90% of your macros in fat and up to 1500 calories. The would translate into 150 calories in carbs and protein or 37.5 grams. If I assume you are consuming 15g of carbs, that only leaves 22.5 g or protein which seems insufficient to me.

(German Ketonian) #8

I am kind of thin, except for my tummy… the usual male figure, I guess. I might just continue eating the way I do and not care about weight gain before I reach 170 or something and see how I feel. Perhaps I need to put on more body weight!

(German Ketonian) #9

Nope, 1500 kcals per meal

(Ross) #10

A: Exercise is only good for fine-tuning weight loss. Probably not relevant.

B: Why are you calorie restricting? 1000 to 1500 is only about half of what is recommended for a man. Caloric restriction can result in slowing your metabolism.

C: Why are you counting calories at all? We are not fully capable of calculating what our bodies need. That’s the job of our hypothalamus. Once we get off the carbs, it can once again do its job. It is likely telling you you need to eat more which is supported by your 1000 to 1500 kcal intake.

D: What is your BMI? You look thin in your profile pic. Are you really trying to lose weight?

(Cathy) #11

Oh, I see. Even then, you would be consuming less than 70g per day (assuming 3 meals) and that may be too low. I would still suggest more protein.

(German Ketonian) #12

A: I just have an active lifestyle

B: Its 1500kcal per meal, amounting to 3500+ kcal on most days

C: No, I don’t want to lose weight, but maintain. But these huge portions are just not normal are they?

D: My BMI is fine, around 21.

(German Ketonian) #13

Perhaps I’ll give it a shot, thanks!

(Ross) #14

OH! Per meal, ok, i see now. Thanks for clarifying.

Well, I found that with myself, I ate for many different reasons, not always hunger.
Some of it was just habit and boredom.

Come home from work…have a snack…
Bored at work, take a snack break…
Go to the gym, have a snack first…

If your BMI is 21, I wouldn’t worry too much. That’s very good.

Personally, I do Banting and I don’t count much of anything.
I let my hunger drive what I eat for the most part.
My body will tell me if it wants more or less protein and fat.

Is it normal? Might be for you. If your body is saying eat it and your BMI is 21, then listen to your body. It knows best.

You may find this interesting
Why I Didn’t Get Fat From Eating 5,000 Calories A Day Of A High Fat Diet

(German Ketonian) #15

Thanks! That’s reassuring! :slight_smile:

(Ross) #16

FYI, I may have been eating about that amount of food 3 months in also. I was eating massive meals full of high fat foods like bacon and eggs and fatty steaks…was stuck in the 3 or 4 meal a day habit. I even lost weigh doing that.

In my second year, my hunger really changed. I lost interest in eating so much. Became a chore.
Now in my third year, I eat one or two small meals a day of high fat food plus some heavy cream / half n half. Often just one meal. Sometimes none. You may or may not discover a similar pattern.

(German Ketonian) #17

Holy hell, I went off the chain today: 12000kcals, 1200g fat, 325g protein, 85g carbs. I have to check my ketones tomorrow. Excited to see the results! I wonder whether total carbs / protein matters or the actual macro ratios!