Where's my appetite? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

msruthie · 07-01-2008, 05:32 PM

Day 12 and my appetite is missing. Headaches remind me that I'm hungry or that I need more food. I'm thinking about just setting a timer to remind me to have food or a snack. This morning I had a good breakfast eggs with cheese and bacon but I don't think it was enough b/c I got a little headachy after and I ate some of my lunch and felt a little better. Then right before lunch I went home and put together a salad for lunch but I just didn't 'feel' like eating even though I knew it was time. Once I start eating I usually feel better and can finish the food but it feels weird not obsessing about my next meal or about how 'good' the last was and how I wanted more. I've been satisfied with the portions I have and I usually don't have seconds. Last week I even threw away food

! I think the headaches are coming from the meds I'm taking. From what I understand the Metformin I take for blood sugar has to have carbs in order to work and when it's time to eat I get headachy. I have some labs to take but I may need to see my doctor before August so that we can possibly adjust the dosage. I'm going back to read what's coming up for me on the next stage. At first I didn't want to advance I thought I'd stay on Induction for a while but I really miss nuts so we'll see how it goes. I've almost done a whole 2 weeks. I can't beleive it! I won't weight again until I go to a different doctor on the 14th and I'm excited to see how much( or little) I've lost. My clothes are feeling looser so that's encouraging but the best thing is my blood sugar which is been hoovering around 92-106 every day and those are excellent numbers.

snapless · 07-01-2008, 05:51 PM

Did you ever think in a million years you'd forget to eat?

I just want to say that for a lot of people, this is normal during Induction. Just make sure you are eating (set a timer, like you suggested).

on your blood sugar and good luck at the doctor's office!

Timlin · 07-01-2008, 06:35 PM

I so totally agree with you. I always used to open the fridge and eat everytime I entered the house until I went on this program and then I just was never hungry.

Now at 3.5 months I do feel hungry a bit more but I still never eat between meals......I've cut back my portions (but then I've also lost 24 lbs so I need less?) It still blows me away that I don't nibble and even after dinner I just never think about eating......it's totally amazing and wonderful. I never want it to end.

Dr. Atkins does say "NEVER go more than 5 or 6 waking hours without eating" so we do need to watch and be sure we eat regularily.

Salubrious Fervor · 07-04-2008, 11:23 PM

I'm so glad someone posted something about this. I have been battling this. Not hungry as much any more so I'm not eating, but looking at my calories for the past 4 days and the average is only about 900. NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!

I'm wondering if this is one of the reasons this week nothing has budged and Ive been slightly fatigued.

It is an amazing thing when I'm not obsessing over when or where or what my next meal, snack, food will be. Guess I just need to balance this out.

Timlin · 07-05-2008, 08:13 AM

You do need to keep your eating plan active. If you let the calories get too low (in fact you really shouldn't be counting calories at this point at all.....just carbs) you will end up falling off and your body will force you to eat so you'll binge. Losing will happen pretty quickly with more calories than you really can imagine on this plan.

if you multiply your weight by 11 you will know what you need for daily calorie intake but honestly you should just eat acceptable foods for induction and not worry about it right now at all. The weight loss will go to about 1 or 1.5 lbs a week as you level off and it will continue if you stay inside the foods list.

JerseyGyrl · 07-05-2008, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timlin

The weight loss will go to about 1 or 1.5 lbs a week as you level off and it will continue if you stay inside the foods list.

I am afraid I have to disagree here.

Everyone is different. I belong to several message boards but, the 1 thing that consistently remains the same is, there is no set # of lbs. for each person every week! In fact, it is very common to "stall" while on Induction even if you are following it strictly to the letter eating only the foods on the acceptable foods list. The majority (I did NOT say ALL) of people on Atkins do not eat the recommended quanity of veggies & salad. On Induction, 12-15 of your 20 carbs for the day should be coming from veggies & salad on the acceptable foods list. Eating just the right amount of fat is also of importance. Drinking the proper amount of water. There are many factors to doing this program correctly. But...keep in mind, we are all individual and lose differently. I believe it also has a great deal to do with how much you need to lose to begin with.

So, don't get discouraged if you "stall", its going to happen no matter how perfect you are following the plan. Being consistent & persistant is the key to making this work!

All the best to you!!

Salubrious Fervor · 07-05-2008, 11:26 AM

So should i not be worried about the calories as much, and more just worry about regular intervals of food/nutrition?

Timlin · 07-05-2008, 11:42 AM

More just worry about carbs......count your carbs and be certain you get enough of them from acceptable veggies. That's really the big deal here. You will need to keep your fats up.....keeping a record on Fitday helps you judge that. It was the place I had the most trouble.....I had to break the "low fat" issues and it was a battle.

If your eating the right number of carbs from veggies you will absolutely HAVE to eat 3 meals a day because thats a huge amount of veggies to work in. Three meals a day is vital.....because you can't go more than 5 or 6 waking hours without eating....snacks are your decision to work in. I choose to leave the snacks out and I eat 3 meals a day and not a nibble inbetween. It just works better for me that way and I'm not thinking about food between meals at all.

Jersygyrl your right. I should have said "many people find....." of course everyone is not the same and there will be weeks when you don't lose but for many people (especially women) a loss of 1 to 1.5 lb a week happens without counting calories but paying attention to counting carbs. (I suspect more people would find that to be true if they didn't go off the plan at all. I think many who claim to have been right on track might have had a laps or two through the week and not remembered it.....just my take on what I read on these forums.) I also belong to more forums than this one.......

Timlin · 07-05-2008, 11:49 AM

SF are you using low carb recipes like those found on this site? Anything marked with an * is induction friendly.

http://genaw.com/lowcarb/

JerseyGyrl · 07-05-2008, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salubrious Fervor

So should i not be worried about the calories as much, and more just worry about regular intervals of food/nutrition?

You may find this helpful:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/w...nd-calories-2/

Salubrious Fervor · 07-05-2008, 02:17 PM

interesting, Cheese and nuts may be stalling me up.

i definitely eat tons of greens so thats not a problem, but I find myself substituting nuts and cheese for meats sometimes. have to quit those i think and ramp it up at the gym a bit too never hurts

kaplods · 07-05-2008, 04:23 PM

If anyone had told me that I would ever "forget to eat," I would have laughed hysterically.

In fact, I remember laughing hysterically, when Caroline Rhea, in a standup routine said on the subject, "it takes a special kind of stupid, to forget to eat."

Only restricting carbs has EVERY controlled my appetite to the point I would willingly skip a "mealtime." I still find it miraculous (and I keep stubbornly trying to prove myself wrong, trying to include too many carbs of various degrees and sources). In fact, in speaking on the topic, I just realized that I haven't even eaten BREAKFAST yet. OMG, TODAY I forgot not only breakfast, but lunch as well, as it's 3:27 pm and I haven't eaten yet today!

Not good, I do have to keep a better eye on that. And I'll go eat as soon as I finish posting, but that it even happened - and happens frequently, is still a constant source of amazement to me. I don't even feel like "me" anymore (the "me" I've lived as for 42 years), and on the other hand, I feel like I am only truly now learning to be the real "me".

I will master my hunger, but I cannot do so without restricting carbs. I may be a "freak" in regard to this, or it may be the norm. I don't know, and I really don't care (selfishly). I know it's true for me, so it's the only truth I have to deal with.

But, being free of obsessive hunger, I can only say it's like having been released from prison. Having been dieting (mostly unsuccessfully) since age 5, in many ways I have been released from prison, a 36 year sentence to hunger and food obsessions. The problems I'm having adapting to what I've recently learned (less than a year), may be much like someone trying to adapt to the world after 36 years in prison. It's hard to relearn 36 years of habits and beliefs, but I'm working on it. And feeling WONDERFUL, because of the increased freedom. I feel like a real person, not just a "dieter."

KrisR · 07-06-2008, 04:11 PM

I'm the odd one out here......I could easily eat more than 20 carbs of veggies......

It is so nice to be free of hunger - but I still battle the compulsion. One physical - one mental.

SoulBliss · 07-06-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrisR

I'm the odd one out here......I could easily eat more than 20 carbs of veggies......

Hey, me too! I frequently had to be careful with making sure I counted the carb counts on all my veggies when low carbing. The days I was over, it was an extra plate of curried cauliflower, never any "Frankenfoods".

Salubrious Fervor · 07-07-2008, 08:34 PM

Ive really found that the mental draw towards over eating sugary carby things usually is all but gone, yes I struggle at times, butit is so different now having gotten them out of mny system.