Starting two weeks of low carb from Monday - how to deal with cravings?

[SisterEmily]

I know it works, done it before.

I have a stone to lose, preferably by end of June. I know two weeks of 20g carbs will kickstart fat burning cycle but I find low carb SO difficult to stick to. Any tips on surviving the carb cravings welcome.

[linesandlines]

I'm no expert, but have just finished the 2 week bootcamp on Sunday, so do have recent experience!

It is hard, the cravings are bad in the first week especially, but there are several things you can try:

• chromium picolinate supplements from Holland & Barrett are supposed to suppress sugar cravings. Dr Briffa recommends 400-800mg spread out through the day.
  
• tell yourself it's not forever. I mentally committed to this WOE for 1 month, and see how I felt after that. As it will be Easter then, I promised myself 1 easter egg at the end. Already, I don't think I'll bother
  
• WATER. Shed loads of it
  
• Fat. More than you thought possible
  
• When cravings hit, go for something salty
  
• Grit your teeth and push on through. :(
  

Good luck, hopefully you'll sail through with ease!

[LesserOfTwoWeevils]

The cravings miraculously disappear after a surprisingly short time once you are eating enough fat.

[Mamtothree]

ive done a low carb diet and since october I've lost nearly 3 stone :D

i've relaxed it a bit as i'm now a size 10 :D

I did 40g a day, not 20g. I bought a book off Amazon for under £3 and I havent looked back. :D

I'd read that 20g is very low and its hard to get all you need nutritionally. My father lost 2 stone with no exercise with this book so I thought I'd give it a go and found it quite easy :D

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0091917336/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[HolgerDanske]

Just keep riding the waves of cravings is my best tip. Not much else you can do, really. Keep busy, distract yourself, examine why you are wanting to eat, etc etc.

I find it's usually about two days for me, then the carb-driven cravings go away and only really reappear as emotional cravings.

When I was last low carbing very seriously for several months and got to the point where I was really missing just a taste of something sweet, I got a jar of whole earth peanut butter and used to take a tiny smidge, probably equivalent to a single petit pois, of it and let it melt on my tongue. That was just enough to satisfy that specific hunger.

[antimatter]

In my experience craving for sweet happens if in the last 24-48 hours I have eaten any simple carbs.
Once you remove those after 48 hours your body is in it's own time finding enough sources of energy in fat stored in your body.