Hi guys,

I'm on Day 2 and I'm starving. Please tell me this gets easier in terms of cravings and feeling weak.

Hi PudgyFlamingo! It will get easier. I am edging towards week three and my cravings really are minimal. I know it's hard to believe, but I've been around pasta, cookies, and pizza and not even flinched.

I will say I still feel hungry a lot but it's easier to manage, and my mindset has changed so I'm not giving into the urges.

You're doing great and remember to take it day by day.

I know it's hard to believe right now, but it WILL get better. You'll feel better in a day or two, it takes about a month for your body to completely adjust and get your energy back, but in a day or two you'll find it much easier. Stick with it, you CAN do this!

Thanks guys! I am finding it a bit hard because I work in a restaurant. HOWEVER, I am finding it easier that I dont have to THINK of what to eat! Ive gainec about 20 lbs in the past month ( comfort eating because of a broken hand and subsequent surgery) so I'm probably eating less then half what I am used to.

Your first week or two you can add an extra Medifast meal if you're starving. For me, I was only hungry for the first couple of days, and I haven't been hungry since.

Stick with it, it truly works! I'm on week 8 and down 30 pounds. My start weight was close to yours...

Thanks for the advice! I am feeling better today. Yesterday I was having really strong cravings and I realized that I think I was craving salt because I am eating a lot less of it, so i had some salt on a tomato and that helped a ton.

Today is feeling better already!

Ok so today end of day 3. I cheated with a slice of tomato and salt yesterdaybut other than that been totally OP. hunger is getting lessbut still thrre. Howling before you guys stopped wanting to gnaw off your limbs?

Ok end of day 3 and im having wicked cravings again. Im not HUNGRY but i am craving realllly strongly steak, pizza, baked potato type stuff. Did you guys get these cravings at first? This is always my dieting downfall - craving certain foods, that makes me give up. With ketosis, do the cravings subside or just the hunger?

For me I had some pretty bizarre cravings the first week or so - for instance one night I wanted gravy so bad I thought I was going crazy. And I don't even LIKE gravy. I attribute this to my carb addiction.

I did have a lot of crazy food dreams the first few weeks - some nights I dreamt about food all night long. Donuts, baked potatoes, bacon, ice cream, and on and on and on...

When I get a salt craving I eat a pickle spear (it's considered an optional snack), it really helps.

I'm on week 8 or 9 (I've actually lost track) and I experience cravings very infrequently, maybe once a week.

Thanks so much! I've been having the gravy craving too! So bizarre. I keep fantasizing about it!!! How do you get through those moments where you want something so bad you feel like you're going to go nuts? Or is it never as bad as the first week?

For me cravings haven't been a problem for several weeks. The only exception really was this past weekend when I went a bit off plan and drank 3 vodka tonics (a total no-no), I was insane craving Mac n cheese... If I wasn't in a hotel I probably would have made myself some. Lesson learned - drinking is not only off-plan, it leads to poor food choices too...

I lose control when I drink too!

Ok just had my first shake of the day. I feel bloated and its kind of sitting in my tummy like cement.

This still happens to me, unfortunately. Usually my first and last meals of the day make me feel bloated and heavy. I've not yet figured out how to fix that

The cravings to subside, I had them BAD at first but not so much anymore. There are often lean and greens or recipes you can make to satiate some cravings. A mocha frap with some peppermint extract takes care of my want for starbucks usually...Mcdonalds is another weakness so I went on a hunt for an OP recipe and found one yesterday from IP that gave me my McDonalds fix. I posted it in the recipes thread. Medifast does make a gravy. Of course nothing is perfect but once you start substituting I think your body adjusts to the new food. I don't crave starbucks anymore, but I do crave my mocha fraps I hven't even attempted to give me my alcohol fix, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself at just one glass.