Please Help-I AM SO HUNGRY
 

Today marks the end of my 3rd week of Ideal Protein. I have lost a total of 17 pounds. I find the diet fairly easy most days and actually enjoyable. However, this past week has been very difficult. I am SO HUNGRY! I can not be satisifed. I have been eating extra protein in hopes to curb my appetite. But, I'm worried I'm eating too many extra calories. Does anyone have any advice? Could it be because of my hormones?

The support on here is amazing. Thank you in advance for your advice or comments.

I found my 3rd week to be the hardest one- it does get better. If you are due for your TOM it may be the hormones- that is when I start having cravings and feel hungry. Use your 2 egg whites if you need them and add an extra packet.
Have you tried a nice cup of hot tea? Hot drinks help curb your appetite. I have had the hungries lately and this has gotten me through it.

I just want to say I am in the same boat. No matter how much water I drink to curb the hungries. And I easily drink a gallon a day. No matter if I add a protein drink between meals. I am start of week 11 and was going to ask my coach tonight at WI.

I have no words of advice. But, I am in your same boat. I was barely ever hungry the first 4 or 5 weeks. Now, I am ravenous every day. One thing I am wondering is that for the first 5 weeks I didn't use any extras such as MIO and Walden Farms products and Stevia. I am going to take those back out of my diet and see if this is the cause. I am just hoping that this means I am dropping pounds like it seems like happens a lot.

Very interesting. I just added waldon farm products too this past week. Might see I how I do without them this week. It's also my time of the month...I think that is definately a part of it too.

Don't forget you can eat all of the lettuce you want...put some oil/vinegar on it if you don't like walden farms. The clinic where I was going also let us have unlimited cucumbers and celery, don't know if you are allowed or not. Also, is there any hidden sugar anywhere in your menus? Usually when I eat too much of it, I cannot get enough to eat.

Alma, I would suspect the MIO? Maybe your body is sensitive to it. Just my 2 cents. :)

Thanks, that is what I am thinking. But, that peach tea flavor is so good ;)

In my personal experience the hunger doesn't get better, it gets worse.

That is why my user title says "embrace the suck" because being hungry sucks. The only good news is that if you stay busy, the hunger usually comes in waves. The other good news is it isn't going to kill you.

Maybe you'll be lucky though and it will improve.

The only thing you need to worry about is that many of us will binge rebound after sucking it up for too long.

I am going to piss a lot of people off right now but I am not here to please everyone.

One reason I personally prefer Lyle Mcdonald's "Rapid Fat Loss" is because it makes allowances for "free meals". The idea is that while physically you're not going to damage your body by following a PSMF it is psychologically very difficult to stay so strict for a long time.

For me, I had two "free meals" a week so while I was really hungry I knew that I had a free meal coming. Free meal doesn't mean all you can eat buffett but it also means eating a more relaxed meal.

The point is - if you're going to binge and eat a house - that will really set you back. Better to eat a free meal every once in a while and stay on plan the vast majority of the time than quit completely or engage in an epic binge.

There is a lot of pressure to stay 100% on plan with the IP diet here in these forums and some people can do that. I tip my hat to those people. I couldn't do what Wuv has done. No way, no how. She is a rockstar when it comes to staying on plan 100%. What I don't know is how much she is sucking it up vs how much hunger is just "turned off" in her body compared to mine.

This is a long rambling post so I'll summarize it.

You're hungry because you're not eating much. Your hunger may go away or it may get worse. Hunger always comes in waves so you can mitigate it by staying busy. You can suck it up and physcially you will do no harm to your body. The real danger is quitting or epic binging. You may want to consider adding in a free meal or two per week into your plan as a means to help you stay on plan the rest of the week.

In the end you have to find a way that is going to work for you.

I'm hungry off and on; sometimes not at all for four or five days, then hungry for an hour or two here and there, then a couple days where I'm hungry ALL DAY. I've never tried Mio, don't use artificial sweeteners, and a minimum of WF products (couldn't stay OP without them)!

I agree with JohnP - We're hungry because we're eating less than our bodies want. That's the point, right? That's how weight loss happens. So, like John, I am trying to embrace the suck and remember that hunger isn't fatal.

Personally, I couldn't do a free meal or relaxed meal, because that would trigger non-stop eating for me. I know from experience that I'd be Off Plan for a good, long while if I did that. However, I know a number of champion dieters who do exactly that, sometimes take one day a week "off" and get right back on their program and it works great for them.

You may have to experiment a little bit and see what works for you. Staying 100% OP is the ideal, but if a relaxed meal helps you stick it out, and you're willing to deal with the likely slowdown in weight loss, then do it. The point isn't to get the weight off ASAP, the point is to get it off eventually and KEEP it off, right?

I have 2 clients that have 4 non restricteds & 1 restricted per day. We worked our way up there b/c they were uncomfortably hungry and have (had) a long way to go and I didn't want it to "suck" for months. We tried adding whole protein and the weight loss was inconsistent. With the extra packets, they are adding 180-200 calories more a day and 35-40 gm of extra protein. They are both losing consistently every week, occasionally hungry, but nothing like it was before. Just my experience.....

I've been hungry since Day 1 and have opted to suck it up because I only had around 10 pounds to lose on IP and I knew there was an end in sight and that end is only 1-2 weeks away. Well not "end" as I'll be starting Phase 2. I almost threw in the towel on Friday night I was so hungry and cranky. Had a long chat with my Coach and we decided to make a couple of small tweaks.

She is encouraging me to have an extra packet once a day on the days I reallly need it - it will probably be 2-3 times a week but it's nice to have the option of keeping a RTD in my purse if I need it.

Maybe you could speak to your Coach about this option? I'd rather have a somewhat slower weight loss than deal with the kind of hunger you are having. :-( I know the feeling and it's horrible. I'm starting to believe some people need to be on 4 packets a day - just my personal opinion.

I am on week 4 now and am often hungry on the program. My coach says I shouldn't be hungry, and to have an additional protein packet when I'm hungry.

What are other coaches saying about being hungry?

That's exactly what I just posted!! I love this and I think it's great to give clients the option for a fourth packet so they enjoy being on the program and aren't living in misery. I really was miserable - my Coach said I am different person now - happier, more content and enjoying it.

the hunger comes and goes but as I think about it this happened before IP as well. I just ate a lot to get the hunger to go away and that is why Im in the place where I am. I think "normal" people deal with hunger regularly too. At some point I just tell my self no to the sugar and carbs