[Steelslady]

I can't believe this. I've done low carb diets before and I have NEVER been this hungry before. This is what I've eaten today so far:

Breakfast:
coffee with heavy cream
American cheese with 1 cup of egg whites (only 1 carb in the cheese)
2 sausage patties
regular mayo

Lunch:
chicken with mayonaise

Snacks-
2 chicken breasts with blue cheese dressing
peanuts (I was desperate-figured I'd try some nuts to see if that might help me stop eating)


I haven't had any vegetables today or anything carby except for the peanuts which I just had some right now.

I've had PLENTY to drink today so it's not a lack of water. I've had 2 cups of coffee, green tea, three 24 oz tumblers of water.

I'm not craving anything carby- believe it or not I'm craving protein! All I want to do is eat chicken! A friend of mine asked me if I've been working out lately- I have the last 3 days. She said maybe my body is needing more protein to help repair my muscles. Could this be the reason why I'm hungry all day? When I woke up this morning I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat until around 11:30 AM.

Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? Eat more protein until you were satisfied? This is driving me crazy. Even though I started the Jorge Cruise low carb diet I haven't gone over 40 carbs a day and that was my highest day which was yesterday.

[HealthierLori]

I guess it depends on what your diet plan is...on the Atkins plan, anyhow, he says to eat enough protein and fat until you are satisfied.

BTW, I think some sausage might actually have carbs in it that could set off cravings...same with the blue cheese dressing, some of the dressings actually have sugar added In fact it's hard to find one that doesn't have a bit of sugar! I have this theory that even a little bit of sugar can set off the hungries.

Just out of curiosity, what low-carb plan are you following? I'm following the Atkins plan, but I'm out of induction now and into the OWL stage.

P.S. Plus on the Atkins induction (the strictest 2-week beginning) you still get 3 cups of salad greens type veggies and one cup of cooked veggies per day. I don't see any veggies on your menu today, I wonder if some veggies cooked with butter would help with the hunger?

[Steelslady]

I usually do have veggies but as I said above I've been craving chicken and protein all day. I didn't have much blue cheese dressing and the kind I have is 1 carb no sugars. I've been eating that since I started this diet with no problems.

Same with the sausage- this is the Jones Natural sausage with nothing added to it.

After eating that last chicken breast it appears that I am finally full now. I hope it stays that way because I don't think I could afford to eat another round of calories like this today! Honestly it was awful- I just couldn't fill up.

I will be having a salad later with more protein. I usually do eat my veggies but for some reason today I just couldn't eat enough protein foods........such a shock as I've never had this happen before on a low carb diet.

Thanks for the advice though. If it happens again I will try to add some veggies in with the protein to see if it helps quell my hunger.

[Steelslady]

After all that I ate yesterday I can not believe that I lost another two pounds! I was expecting a gain to be honest with you- how can this be? Maybe it will catch up with me tomorrow or the next day? Oh and when I woke up this morning my arms felt great- no more pain from all the exercises I did to them. Maybe they were screaming for extra protein like my friend said?

I'm going to enjoy this loss because today is my birthday and it was a great way to start the day let me tell you. Saving up my carbs for a sweet treat tonight at the buffet that we're going to (my choice to go there) to celebrate my birthday. This way here I can pick out the meats and low carb veggies while having one small piece of egg cake as my birthday cake.

Have a great day everyone!

[HealthierLori]

Wow, Happy Birthday to you, and congrats on your weight loss! Well that explains what was going on yesterday - your body has been burning fat like crazy and it got a little worried and said you needed some more protein because the body knows it's not a good thing to lose weight too fast! You are doing great!

[Violet73]

Happy bday! I just wanted to mention that you might wanna eat beef too. Your proteins should have fat in them. Chicken is ok but I wouldn't always eat that for my protein. Glad to see you had a loss!

[LovebirdsFlying]

The beauty of low-carb is that if you're hungry, you eat. You'd been craving chicken and protein, so eat chicken and protein. When I want a cheeseburger, I eat a cheeseburger. And by cheeseburger, I mean meat and cheese, no bread, no condiments. It fills me up!

[sarahinparis]

Sometimes I think we've all read too many diet books when we get frustrated because we're extra-hungry one day. The human body is a brilliant adaptable machine, but not one that is so tightly calibrated as to always have exactly the same needs (like a 1200 cal a day diet would make you think).

Some days we're extra hungry and need more food. Some days (if we listen to our hunger) we're less hungry & need less. Sometimes these make sense to us (extra exercise, a hot day, etc) sometimes it's just a mystery.

I've learned to just listen more to my body.

[three herring]

Any reason you are eating egg whites and not the whole egg?

Peanuts are a legume and have more carbs than true nuts.

Need some greens in there too.

Othewise it looks like a great menu. If you are hungry, eat more meat and fat until satisfied. The one weird hunger/craving cure for me has always been mackerel or sardines and mayo. Probably because it is rich in good fats. I make my own mayo with olive oil and lemon juice.

I am not particularly LCing right now, but did so for many years. I really liked how I felt back then.

[LisaSue]

Right before TOM, I cannot satisfy my hunger. But since doing Atkins, and adding more fat (that was hard to do, to re-train my brain), but once I added more fat to my woe, I was able to feel full, not stuffed, but very satisfied.

By the way, congrats on your weight loss and Happy Birthday!

[Catmandu]

hi Steelslady. If you're hungry - eat. Just eat foods that are on plan. Looking at what you ate during the course of the day I would say you are not eating enough and you are definitely not eating enough vegetables. You need 12-15 NC from veggies every day. Remember, veggies are also filled with fiber and that will also curb your hunger. Oh yeah - get that water in!