Last week, for health reasons (slightly high fasting blood glucose and low "good" cholesterol), I eliminated all refined carbohydrates - sugar, white flour, white bread, white pasta, etc. Have been reading labels and making an effort to consume only whole grains and naturally occuring sugars, such as those found in dairy and fruit.

Well, this week I have been constantly hungry. Because I am surrounded at work with sweets and stuff (for example, birthday cake and frosted animal cookies are in the break area today, not to mention the ever-present bowl of candy at the front desk), I am eating fewer carbs than normal. I am trying to compensate by eating more veggies, more good fat such as a little extra peanut butter or a little extra olive oil on my salad, and more lean protein. But carbs make me feel full and have always been my go-to for feeling satisfied and happy.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Will I eventually adapt and stop being hungry all the time? Should I try to eat more carbs, but only whole grain? It is also TOM, so that may have something to do with it, but today I am afraid that I am going to overeat and gain back the little bit of weight that it has taken me so long to get rid of.

I love carbs - but they don't love me. When I stopped eating them, I was hungry all the time. Are you tracking your calories to make sure you are eating enough? For me, that was a real problem - so I focused on lean protein and a little healthy fat, like you mentioned.

I think you need more protein unless you are vegetarian? Try adding some eggs into your diet for breakfast, more lean meats in your lunches and dinners as well I do south beach and protein is very important for me.

PROTEIN! Your best friend. BEANS. They are wonderful. Eggs are great, and nuts (but limit it to a small serving every day). Also TOM makes me ravenous...I just want to eat everything, but honestly if you bump up the protein/fiber you will see a huge reduction in your hunger level.

You say "more" vegetables, but can I recommend positively obscene amounts of vegetables? I am talking about salads made in a mixing bowl, baby carrots by the bag, whole butternut squash. Just eat, eat, eat. Hunger is a diet killer.

Just to echo everybody else, yup, load up on the veggies and protein will be your best friend. I use to be a huge carb queen, it was the only thing that kept me full. It also helped keep me fat, because I'm carb sensitive. When I cut back on my carbs (and moved to good carbs), I was hungry too but I knew from past experience that loading up on protein would really help. Now so long as I get plenty of protein, I feel full. Get your share of fiber too!

I agree 100% with the beans and huge veggies advice above. I cut refined carbs, too, and I know exactly what you mean about the hunger. The thing is, if you're eating around 300- to 400-calorie meals and then a couple of snacks a day, you are liable to be hungry before you eat. That's okay--if it's stomach hunger and not "head" hunger, if you get my drift. I actually get really hungry during the day now if I miss a snack or if a meal is delayed, and for the first time in my life, I wake up hungry and ready for breakfast instead of slightly queasy and sluggish.

Hunger can lead us to make poor decisions sometimes, but if you look at it as your body's signal to refuel, it's not grim. It's not pleasant, but it's not the end of the world. If you absolutely don't want to feel hunger, keep a little friendly food with you (plan for it) at all times--fiber-rich food that combines protein with high-quality carbs that you can eat any time (fruit and string cheese, a butter dish with some salad with beans on it, whole-wheat bread with some peanut butter).

I also eat salads from a mixing bowl (I don't want to tell you how much cabbage I eat every day, because you'll think I'm some kind of freak, but it's one of my staple foods!) and am glad to know I'm not the only one!! LOL I don't use salad dressing, so it's very filling for very few calories, especially when I toss on 1/2 c. of pinto beans or black-eyed peas (my favs!).

BEST WISHES to you--you don't have to go hungry just to keep the bad carbs away. Experiment a little and see what combination works for you.

It sounds to me as if you are not experiencing true hunger, but cravings. And yes, those cravings and feelings of "I want it, I want it, I want it, I have to have it" WILL pass - if you allow them too. And the only way to do that is by going cold turkey and time. And it takes waaaay less time then you'd imagine - provided you go that cold turkey route. Because every time you let it back in, you stir up those feelings again and you have to start the cycle once more. It is a truly vicious cycle.

So though you're eliminating the refined stuff - like every one has said - MAKE CERTAIN to ADD in good, healthy, (truly) satiating stuff - such as the veggies, veggies and more veggies and the good proteins.

Plan ahead, be prepared, map out your food schedule in advance. ALWAYS have a healthy option on hand. And before you know it - it's the good stuff you'll be craving and hungering for. The other stuff - your desires for them will lessen and lessen and before long you will wonder what you ever saw in them.

Refined carbs cause immediate release of insulin in the body making us feel full - for an hour, then you are ready to eat again. They are not good for anyone.

The one thing that keeps you feel full and satisfied is protein with every meal and snack, plenty of fruits and vegetables, dairy and some complex carbs.

Thank you, everyone, for the support and advice! It sounds like I need to add more protein and even more veggies to what I am already eating. Over the past couple of months I had slowly been reducing refined carbs and I think I am actually over the cravings. For example, I did not even want the bagels, cake, and cookies at work. Previously, though, I would have eaten a bagel just to satisfy my hunger. However, none of it looked good, I didn't eat it, I was hungry.

This past week when I cut refined carbs completely, I probably did not add in enough protein, veggies, or good fats to compensate. I think I eat a lot and always carry snacks with me, but this past week it just wasn't enough. I guess I need to re-think and add more healthy food.

Shmead and Lilik, I too eat mixing-bowl salads for lunch. My co-workers love to watch me prepare my salad each day. But they have noticed my weight loss and see the correlation. I think I will try adding beans to my salad to see if that helps. Or maybe cooking more meat for dinner, so I have leftovers I can add the following day. And taking even more veggies for snacking, in addition to what I already eat. When I stopped drinking an 8 oz fruit smoothie each morning for breakfast, I substituted a hard-cooked egg. Maybe I need two.

Brown, I understand what you mean about the fat. A few months ago, when I first started reducing refined carbs (and because I am surrounded by mostly refined carbs, really almost all carbs), I did increase "good" fats, such as eating a whole avocado with my salad instead of just one-quarter, and that is when I really started to slim. When one of my co-workers asked how I've slimmed, I said I stopped being afraid of fat.

You all have given my some terrific ideas and, more importantly, hope that cutting this group of "food" from my diet will not make me hungry forever. Thank you so much!!

For me, TOM hunger seems to be very difficult to control with diet alone. No matter how much and no matter what I'm eating, it's never enough for my PMS/TOM body/brain. Eating low-carb helps, and eating high-volume (the obscene amount of veggies) really help, but nothing really solves the problem of TOM/PMS hunger completely. Everything I put in my mouth, I need to really think about whether it's going to make the hunger worse or better - carbs always make it worse in the long run. I feel great for 20 minutes to an hour, and then I'm even hungrier than I started.

Except for hormonal hunger issues during TOM/PMS, I find that lower-carb eating reduces my hunger (in most ways, and in the long run) but it took a while to get used to the different pattern and types of hunger.

In most ways lower-carb reduces my hunger and appetite. One notable exception is that happy, sedated, drowsy feeling after eating a high-carb meal. The extreme example is what is sometimes jokingly called "food coma." That after-Thanksgiving dinner "sedated" feeling.

When I eat low-carb, I never get that drowsy, contented feeling. And at first I missed it (if I was still alert, I tended to assume I still must be hungry). Eating smaller, low-carb meals, I was never "hungry" but I was never "full" either. I had to get used to not feeling that post-meal contentment/drowsiness/happiness.

Over time, I stopped associating that feeling with fullness or satisfaction. To the point that when I do feel it, it's actually unpleasant. The other day, hubby and I went out to eat, and I chose Pad Thai (high carb from the rice noodles). I didn't overstuff myself, as the portion was quite reasonable (skimpy by local restaurant standards. It's one of the reasons we like this particular restaurant - small portions and very, very low prices).

We were out running errands, when "food coma" hit (considering the small portion, I was surprised it hit so hard), and instead of feeling "happy and contented," I felt drugged. It was horrible. It was an actual battle to stay awake. Thankfully hubby was driving, because I was actually affected enough that my driving would have been impaired.

That really scares me (now), realizing that carbohydrates can have that severe an effect on me.

Wow. What your describing is what happens to me now when I over carb, especially with grains.... it scared the bejeebers out of me. When I went off plan a couple of weeks ago I had the "coma" type of feelings your described, felt hung over, fogged out, overwhelmed and fatigued for several days, joint pain came back, etc. It really scared me, I was afraid it was the onset of some awful new condition. (Don't need any more, lol) I eat lots of veggies, low GI fruits, protein and fats. (don't add fats much, just don't limit them much, actually eat less grams now that I have eliminated most fried and all breaded stuff. I eat eggs, meat, fish, poultry, etc) Grains are my problem. I use them sparingly if at all. I hope to be able to add them in small amounts some day. My Thai restaurant prepares most of my dishes with sides of shredded cabbage instead of rice. Course, the rice noodles are Pad Thai, so that might not work. My fave is Tai-po Pork or chicken over the cabbage, yum. They give me a small dish of raw, and a small dish of steamed cabbage.

I usually do request modifications, and will often ask that noodles be replaced with bean sprouts... And in this case, there were definitely better choices on the menu than the pad thai, I just was deliberately "splurging" and wasn't prepared for the consequences.

I was perfectly willing to deal with the possibility of reduced weight loss this week, I wasn't prepared to feel like I'd been drugged. It ws severe enough to give me a mild panic attack (what the heck is going on).

kaplods, thank you for your comment.

Part of my fear is that I will just eat and eat and eat, and undo what has taken years to achieve (it's taken about 2 years to shed about 10 pounds). My hunger today is not as bad as a few days ago, but I am nearing the end of TOM so I am not sure if it is that or my slightly-revised food choices.

I also wonder if this part of what I am feeling. While I believe my hunger pangs this past week were very real, I never felt the completely "satisfied" feeling after a meal or snack. It's probably not a bad thing; I do like that I did not have to struggle to stay awake after lunch. This is something that I will just have to adapt to.

Like everyone else has said, up your fats, proteins & veggies. They will definitely keep you satisfied for much longer. Also, try to eat several small meals through out the day. I don't really have cravings during my TOM so I can't help with that but remember that there is ALWAYS a healthier, more satisfying option. I hope you find a solution!