Still Hungry After 4 weeks

newbies
ketoadaptation
(Jacob Wagner) #1

I am 4+ weeks into keto, but I still feel hungry all of the time.

I don’t have a tester, but I am showing signs of being in Ketosis (i.e. smelling like ammonia).

Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

(David K) #2

Eat more fat?

(Jacob Wagner) #3

I forgot to mention that I weagh about 370lb. I should be able to live entirely off body fat if I am adapted properly.

–Jacob

(David K) #4

Yeah, but that won’t stop you from getting hungry. If you’re looking to stave off hunger, fat is your answer.

I’m 295 with a heaviest of about 360.

(Crippie) #5

Totally eat more fat.

I had a similar problem. Thought I was fat adapted but still got hungry quite a bit. I just ate fat to satiety to get me through. One day it all changed and hunger vanished! That was the difference from just being in ketosis, to being fully fat adapted. There is a difference! It took me a little over 6 weeks, some people take longer than that, but it will come and when it does you will know.

Now even once fat adapted you still get hungry, usually its your body craving something, salt, protein, some sort of micro-nutrient. It happens,and as you go along your journey you will get better and better at recognizing your bodies signals.i still have a long way to go myself, but I can tell a difference from just a couple months ago.

(ManMythLegend) #6

It took me quite a bit to stop being hungry all the time. I think it was MONTHS before I got to the point where I felt like I could care less about eating for most of the day. Just give it time… everyone is different.

(Jacob Wagner) #7

That is what I expected, but I guess I just need to wait.

Thank you all.

–Jacob

#8

As you probably know already, going keto makes you rediscover your body in terms of the signals it’s sending. For me, I was getting signals of what felt like hunger, but it was a bit higher up than where it normally began. Experimenting, I found out that this was a signal for more electrolytes instead of food. As soon as I had some Morton’s lite salt it went away.

If you just ate and are hungry again, try experimenting with electrolytes, maybe a multivitamin, or possibly something that is fiber rich. It’s going to be different for everyone.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

If you are smelling ammonia, it’s possible that you are eating too much protein. The ammonia would be your body’s way of trying to get rid of the excess nitrogen. The recommendations I’ve seen are to eat 0.8 to 1.5 grams of protein daily per kilogram of lean body mass. Eating more fat should take care of the hunger. Once your body is assured of an adequate energy supply, it will stop hoarding fat and start burning it for fuel. That’s why the advice is to “eat fat to satiety.” Let your body tell you when it has enough energy, don’t bother to count calories.

(Allan L) #10

Hi,

First of all well done on getting to week 4+ with hunger! I was in a similar position to you for my first 6 weeks, I was always hungry. So I ate keto 3-6 times a day. I would make keto snack food, eat 2-3 large keto meals and still feel hungry. The important thing for me was to remind myself that things would change and not starve myself or I would have gone back to eating carbs. I was eating 2500 - 3500 calories a day my first 6 weeks of keto until I adapted.

If you are still hungry then you are not fat adapted yet. This took me about 8 weeks to achieve and once achieved I naturally moved to eating once a day without any conscious effort.

Give it time, but until adapted don’t starve yourself and eat fat!

Good luck

(Linda ) #11

I appreciate this response. I read that maybe potassium and salt would be the electrolytes that would go out first. What I found is that the recommended potassium level of 3500 mg (?) is difficult to achieve without supplementation. Low potassium to me presents as headache with nausea.

I added in some potassium and Viola! Too much potassium is deadly. Stick with the RDA. You can track electrolytes on MyFitnessPal.

As to all the other suggestions, I’m happy I’m not alone in eating so many calories in early days. This is my third round of trying to shift over to keto and I’m eating more fat and it’s working. This is my first week, again, and I was shaming myself the other day as I went back for a fat bomb–three times Sigh.

Weeks to months of waiting to deplete glycogen and switch burn engines. Thanks!
Linda

–

#12

I’m about six weeks in and hunger has not gone away. I feel like I eat SO much fat. But soon that transfer to fat adapted will happen and I can’t WAIT to care less about food. I’ve never experienced that before.

(EMILY) #13

Hello all. I’m on week 6 of my Keto journey and making good progress. Measurements show inches lost and I’m down two pant sizes!! My hunger and cravings were gone but the past few days I have been insatiable.
I’m still tired all the time, taking 2 hour naps everyday. Husband says I’m a little cranky and I still have occasional headaches. I’m on week one of my BC pack so my girlie hormones shouldn’t be the issue. I’m using plenty of salt in my food and my food log indicates my macros are close enough: often slightly over protein and slightly under fat. My carb intake is usually under or right at 20 net carbs (carbs minus fiber) but yesterday I calculated 25. I eat when I’m hungry and try not to worry about calories. I drink plenty of water. My keto strips still show in ketosis. I haven’t used my precision xtra yet.

I’ve been drinking bulletproof coffee for breakfast, eating celery and cucumbers with peanut butter for lunch, a small protein snack (crack chicken or keto taco meat) in the afternoon and a keto meal for dinner (more crack chicken, keto taco meat or another type of protein and fat combination). I’ve also been taking flintstone vitamins (because I already had them in the house).
I hoped to feel the energy boost everyone talks about but it hasn’t been as strong as I imagined.
Any advice or recommendations?
Thank you in advance :smile:

(Jay AM) #14

Get more fat. Eat fat to satiety, still hungry? Get more fat.

Maybe not but, hormones do shift in ketosis. Even if you take a birth control product.

How much is plenty in milligrams?

There are a few things you might need to experiment with. You might be getting too low calories since you are getting too low fat. Fat kills hunger and is energy. Some people present hunger symptoms as fatigue, headaches, and mood swings.

You might need to double check that you are getting enough electrolytes, especially sodium. Even if you add salt to things, it might not be enough salt.

You could be eating too often in a day which is a problem for some people as it continually spikes insulin and insulin stops fat burning. You could also be getting some hidden carbs in places like peanut butter and the vitamins.

You could have another medical related issue entirely that you’re not aware of yet. But, personally, I’d be testing out the other stuff first to see how it felt. Try upping the fat first, double check electrolytes, eat more per meal and try to at least kill the snack, check for hidden carbs.

(EMILY) #15

I Thank you @J_A-M so much for the response.

In MyFitnessPal It appears I am getting enough sodium although I do not weigh salt (I use fine sea salt and Himalayan pink salt)- I tend to weigh everything else to ensure portion control. I will track salt more closely. I bought avocados so hopefully that will help with potassium and fat! I plan to buy the lite salt with potassium the next time I got to the grocery store. I do log my food daily so I can track hidden carbs - I acknowledge it’s not a perfect system.
I’ve experiemented with Intermittent Fasting in the past (out of ketosis/prior to ketogenic lifestyle) without success. I didn’t lose any weight/fat. I was going to wait until I made more progress before trying this again. Thoughts?

I will track my electrolytes more closely. I’ve been thinking this might be the issue for a couple weeks and have been doing some light research. I read that if my sodium intake is high enough then I won’t lose as much potassium. Any idea what level sodium should be at to ensure potassium is maintained at a healthy level?

Thank you again for the suggestions, I greatly appreciate the advice.

(Jay AM) #16

You’re looking for somewhere around 5,000 mg sodium and 4,700 mg potassium including from the food you eat. But, you may need more or less. I don’t supplement potassium personally but do hit between 5g-7g of sodium most days. Potassium is not always on the label but many foods contain it so, try upping sodium first and see if that helps. On top of sodium and potassium, there is magnesium. I take 400mg a day which seems to be an average recommendation elsewhere on the internet. Magnesium oxide isn’t useful for this. I take a brand that uses magnesium citrate. If you start getting cramps in your legs or feet especially, it may be potassium or magnesium related. Potassium can be dangerous to supplement so, if you do supplement it, be very careful about not over doing it.

(EMILY) #17

Thanks again for the response @J_A-M
:open_mouth: wow, that’s a lot of sodium. I’m at about half.
Do you supplement with salt in your water or drink ketoade?

(Jay AM) #18

I sometimes have salt water or make ketoade with kool aid flavor, stevia, and salt.

(EMILY) #19

I just made 4oz of hot water with 1g of pink salt and 1/2 capful of ACV. It wasn’t half bad! I’m pleasantly surprised :smiley:

I’m thinking I should also increase my water intake. I keep reading that if you don’t hit your daily goal you won’t lose weight. I’ve been a little slack lately. Have you experienced this at all? I try to aim for half my body weight in ounces per day. Is this still a valid goal?

My father has been on and off Atkins for over 30 years. He doesn’t believe the “more fat” concept at all. I blame it on the “low fat” marketing BS that was all the rage in the 90s…Just one of the reasons I want to get this right :slightly_smiling_face:

Thanks again for your responses; I greatly appreciate the help.

(Jay AM) #20

Don’t over think it. Just make sure to drink water. If you know you’re one of those people who barely drinks any water, just make it a point to drink more.