I think I have been accidentally "starving" myself, lesson learned

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lesson-learned
(Amanda) #1

Back Story:
I started the Keto WOE May 2 of this year. SW 335 lbs, LW 250 lbs, CW 257 lbs

December 1st I attended a Christmas party, overindulged on keto-friendly foods and ended up doing a 90 hour fast. At first, I did not want to eat until I was hungry, then I thought I’d try 72 hours, then at 72 I wasn’t hungry, so I kept going. At about 85 hours I started to feel hungry, but couldn’t eat, as I was at work… so it turned into 90.

Since then I have been ravenous! I mean eating to my macros (according to Cronometer), and then some and still wanting MORE, like all of the foods! Craving foods that have been no longer tempting wanting snacks all day, but knowing if I did I would be WaAaY over on my Macros (they seemed really low). Before this was never an issue, I would stay under across the board for my OMAD. I have been miserable, unsatisfied and food-focused for the past week or so. I thought that I must have messed up somehow and am no longer as fat adapted as I once was. My weight has been on a steady increase for the last week or so. I was thinking maybe hormones; I can never know for sure as my cycle has never been routine. Or Christmas stress, I have in-laws and my family for two of the three big meals this year…

Then today on my drive into work I remembered checking the different settings on Chronometer during my fast (I was bored). And wouldn’t you know that I had accidentally set it to lose 2 lbs a week! I changed it back to maintain, and now my macros make much more sense! (it was 60 pro, 101 fat, 15 carbs to now 110 pro, 184 fat, 27 carbs, I typically eat about 15 g carbs in broccoli and nuts.) I never really thought much about what it was giving me for macros, because I have just always used it as a guide, and a way to help me figure out portion sizes. But when it says 120% of something I think twice about what I am eating.

(Bunny) #2

As Dr. Fung discusses below in the context of extended fasting hunger comes in circadian like[3] waves, with extended fasting Ghrelin (hunger signaling) works independently of Glucose or Insulin.

What I like to do with intermittent fasting (OMAD) is use a glucose meter to indicate when my meal can began[1] rather than depend exclusively on Ghremlin[2][3] signaling (ha ha!), when glucose looks pretty low[4] I am usually truly hungry etc…

Fasting and Ghrelin – Fasting 29:

“…Think of a time that you were too busy and worked right through lunch. At about 1:00 you were hungry, but if you just drank some tea, by 3:00 pm, you were no longer hungry. Ride the waves – it passes. Same goes for dinner. Further it has been shown that ghrelin spontaneously decreases independently of serum insulin or glucose levels. …” “…Ghrelin, has also been found to increase appetite and weight gain. It also antagonizes the effect of leptin (in rats at least). Leptin, as you might recall, is the hormone produced by fat cells which turns off appetite and makes us stop eating. Ghrelin turns on appetite. So, if you want to lose weight on a long term basis, you need to tune down ghrelin. …” …More

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Footnotes:

[1] Adherence to hunger training using blood glucose monitoring: a feasibility study

[2] “…The cephalic phase of digestion is the gastric secretion that occurs even before food enters the stomach, especially while it is being eaten. It results from the sight, smell, thought, or taste of food, and the greater the appetite, the more intense is the stimulation …” …More

[3] “…Also, note that ghrelin does have a learned component since all these subjects were used to eating 3 meals per day. It is not merely by coincidence that these peaks of ghrelin happen. This is similar to the ‘cephalic phase’ of insulin secretion that we’ve discussed previously. …” - J. Fung

[4] “… But my blood sugar levels are typically between 3 and 3.9 mmol/L, which translates into 50 to … or sorry 54 to 70 mg/dL. So, that 65 to 99 mg/dL is considered to be normal by government standards here in Canada, the 54 to 70 is considered to be common amongst ketogenic population. A lot of my patients too, who follow ketogenic diet, they’re getting sugars between 3 and 3.9 or between 54 and 70. …” - Megan Ramos

[5] “…Defects in glucose sensing also result in obesity. Glucose starvation inhibits the ability of leptin to stimulate tyrosyl phosphorylation and inhibits the activation of JAK2 and STAT3 in vitro (Su et al., 2012). Glucose dose-dependently enhances leptin signaling. …” “…Leptin is a 16-kDa protein hormone, which is secreted by adipocytes. Plasma leptin concentration increases in proportion to body fat mass, and regulate food intake…” …More

[6] “… “In leptin resistance, your leptin is high, which means you’re fat, but your brain can’t see it. In other words, your brain is starved, while your body is obese. And that’s what obesity is: it’s “brain starvation.” Not only is leptin part of the hunger system, it’s also part of the reward system, Lustig says. …” …More

Exciting Study on Maintaining Metabolic Rate with Intermittent Kcal Restriction in 2 Week Blocks
(Carl Keller) #3

I am wondering how your energy levels are currently and how you feel overall? Do you still have all day energy and do you still feel pretty good? If the answer is yes, then you are not suffering from lowered metabolism (starvation) and I think it’s just your hormones reacting to rapid weight loss.

When we lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, the body’s natural reaction to stop the freefall is to produce more ghrelin (the hunger hormone). You may have simply reached that point and your body fears there is no end in sight to the weight loss.

I am pretty sure I am at this point too. I really, really enjoy eating (keto foods) and the amounts I have eaten of late, leave me wishing there were more. I tried a little experiment where I basically doubled a normal meal and tried to fully 100% satiate my want to eat. I was successful and food wasn’t such a dominating thought for the next 24hours after that. My take from that is, feasting and fasting should go hand in hand. Mixing things up and breaking patterns seems to tell my hormones not to worry so much about the next meal.

#4

I guess, ‘listen to your body’ is good advice here.
Well done for noticing, and sorting out the issue.