I actually thought you’d probably do that from very early on in your postings. It seems like all along you’ve been seeking approval that it’s right for you to exit the diet. I say that because you’ve been given lots of good advice about eating to satiety but still you have been measuring your calories instead, and stopping before your hunger stops. I don’t think you can say you’ve given keto a good attempt but fair enough. Don’t put yourself through misery.
Agreed. But why are you starving yourself and refusing to eat? That’s not the diet doing that to you. That’s your personal adaptations and they are completely against how keto works.
Richard Morrises keto haiku begins with:
When hungry, eat fat
It’s that simple. It’s the very first principle of a keto diet. It’s important. It’s crucial. It’s not optional. The goal is to adapt to fat. So, when hungry, eat fat.
It’s not “when hungry, look at your calorie count and freak out”, which is your failing version of the diet. Another Richard Morris quote is:
Keep calm, and keto on.
Who here has advised you to stop eating when hungry? This is something you’ve brought to the keto diet that everyone else has consistently and universally asked you to let go of. Instead of letting go of your desire to starve yourself, you have decided the problem is with the diet or with your body. Your statements about feeling hungry all the time are nothing to do with keto. They are you insisting on calorie counting.
I see no evidence of anything unusual with the diet or your body. I also experienced tonnes of hunger when I was adapting. Many others have said the same thing. The overwhelming majority here agree that the problem is most likely that you are refusing to eat.
The lesson here for other newbies is to eat to satiety instead of trying to follow a calorie plan. Keto is a different kind of diet to other diets. It starts off hard and gets easier and easier and easier. Other diets are the opposite.
I felt the same, but that’s wrong. Actually it’s very flexible, and also it’s very personal, both in preference and personal metabolism. Which is why I and others have kept trying to give you new recipes. Have you been over to the recipe section like several of us have recommended? We are trying to help you but it does seem like you are ignoring the suggestions and just want support in self-sabotaging your diet.
I’m sorry but I won’t validate quitting for your reasons. Being hungry must be just about the worst reason ever to quit keto dieting. If you just ate instead of starving yourself your problem would be solved.
The diet works really really well. What you’re experiencing is normal, except that you are self-denying your hunger (against all the advice you are receiving).
Honestly, it’s not as hard as you’re making out. It really seems like you want to self-sabotage your keto diet on some level. If you started eating when hungry, everything would fall into place.
My partner quit the keto diet when she first gave it a go. After several months reflection she realised she truly had been fat phobic (she was also eating way too much protein). Ketostix confirmed that she wasn’t even in keto. Are you using them to confirm you are even in ketosis after one of your meals? So what happened was:
- she refused to eat enough fat
- lost heaps of weight (which freaked her out)
- was hungry all the time
- had low energy and stomach upsets (from eating too much protein)
It happens when people refuse to follow the actual keto advice being given and try to mix it up with other dietary thinking (like calorie restriction). Keto is not a calorie restriction diet. Now she’s back on board (as she understands keto better and her own biases).
Good luck.
p.s.
Here’s a beginner meal I give to people who think keto is weird but are curious about it:
Grate up a cauliflower, and fry it in ghee and coconut oil with italian spices and 2 garlic cloves. Lay it on your plate with 5-7 anchovies on top. Have some ghee-fried haloumi also on the side and some ghee-fried greens (perhaps also some porcini mushrooms, not button). Put 2 tablespoons of sour cream on top of the cauliflower and greens. Eat until full and save any leftovers. Eat them when hungry again. Also have real stevia sweetened super-low-carb fat-bombs (with almond butter, or any protein nut butter) for dessert and throughout the remaining hours until your hunger is sated, or at least dampened. *sub butter for ghee if necessary.
I honestly think you need to spend some real time in the recipe section and get a good feel for what people are eating. Don’t build your meal plans around protein anymore (as you have been). Instead, build your meal plan around fat.
