AIBU to feel constantly hungry on a low-carb diet?

[Touty]

Been doing low carb for a while now and seems to be the only way for me post middle age

But OMG I’m hungry all the time, like a wolf. I find myself snacking on peanut butter and cheese to keep me going.

Tonight I’ve eaten a whole tray of turkey meatballs, must be about 350g of meat, I’m still hungry.

Any tips?

Low carb never worked for me. Terrible for energy levels, fucked up my stomach, and very boring. I do a lot better on a balanced diet.

I like spinach, but 3/4 of a plate? No thank you.

This.
Black beans, lentils, added to protein are very filling.
Roasting trays of sweet potatoes added to meals are great.

Read up on Resistant Starch, aka day old cold pasta, potatoes, rice.....basically calorie free carbs, as is bread if you freeze and then eat or toast.

So worth checking out.

As someone for whom low carb is perfect my advice if you’re hungry is to up the fats. Lots of butter on veg, mayo on salad, berries with cream, coffee with cream. It all helps to fill you up and is long lasting.

I’m eating cottage cheese for breakfast at the moment and find it keeps me full for a good long time. For me, a lot of it is about shifting how my body feels: if I eat more protein, I feel more satiated and calm. If I eat more carbs I want to snack all the time. I understand maybe not everyone wants to eat à tub of cottage cheese with morning coffee. But for me it seems to start the day off on the right note for my body. My appetite is much less noisy.
what are you successful low carbers having for breakfast?

(1) How long have you been eating low carb? If it’s only a couple of weeks then your metabolism won’t have fully switched over to fat burning which can take up to six weeks.
(2) Were you on a reduced calorie diet before starting low carb? If you’ve been under eating for a while then your body may need more energy temporarily.
(3) How low carb are you eating? It needs to be under 50g carbohydrate a day for true low carb and some people get better results on an even lower amount of carbs.
(4) Have you increased your fat intake? You have to replace the carb calories with something so your fat intake should have gone up. If you’re still eating low fat foods then you may not be eating enough.
(5) Are you eating enough volume? If I eat a bowl of scrambled eggs for breakfast, I’ll be hungry. If I eat the same amount of eggs made into an omelette with mushrooms and spinach then the fibre in the vegetables and the larger volume of food will keep me full until lunch.
(6) Are you tracking your calorie intake and macros? You could genuinely be under eating and that’s why you’re hungry - you need more food!
(7) How many times a day are you eating? Low carb is more accurately a low insulin diet so you get best results by eating 2-4 times a day. Constant snacking could be sending your insulin, and therefore blood glucose, up and down causing hunger. You may need to eat more at breakfast or lunch so that you don’t feel the need to snack before your next meal.
(8) Are there any other factors that could cause hunger such as your period being due, being in perimenopause, or certain medications e.g. corticosteroids or progesterone.

Scrambled eggs, ham and tomato with mayo, a cheese omelette, smoked salmon with scrambled egg or cream cheese. I also make savoury muffins with cheese and bacon - so easy when time is short.

Personally, on Keto, I get constipated without fibre.

Protein leaves me ravenous, large omelette for breakfast and I’m starving by 10.00 am, a couple of slices of wholemeal toast and I don’t even think about food until about lunchtime, my normal lunch would be a banana sandwich and then don’t need to eat again until dinner so by that time I’ve consumed less than 600 calories, if I was eating protein to try keep full my calorie count would be much higher and I would be starving, low carb just doesn’t suit some people.

You don’t need to count calories if you’re doing low carb. You need to make that large omelette with butter and add a good handful of cheese and you definitely won’t be starving.

OP are you getting enough water and salt and eating green vegetables?

I couldn’t manage on mostly meat, cheese and butter, it felt too rich for me, but I love big salads with lot of olive oil dressing, olives, cheese, nuts etc. I like cauliflower puree with meat or a couple of eggs and a drizzle of olive oil.

Texture helps me feel satisfied too, I add nuts or toasted seeds to everything, otherwise I found I could end up just eating wet and soft food.

I can’t eat breakfast, makes me feel starving!

Now if you’d had a 10% fat minced beef ball with a sauce made of blue cheese, cream and some broccoli you’d probs feel far more sated.

I manage great on low carb but I do have double cream in my coffee and eat full fat yogurt and cheese. The fat really helps me and I don’t have to calorie count along as I keep my carbs low.

But you do need fibre. Don’t you eat any vegetables at all?

Umm my lived experience tells me otherwise, if it suits you great, it doesn’t work for me at all, butter or cheese makes no difference whatsoever.

Sounds like it's not for you

@BIossomtoes thanks for the inspo. I know as autumn comes I’ll not want chilly tub of cottage cheese. I like the idea of making cheesy low carb or Keto muffins that I can prepare in advance, for breakfast. It’s actually good fun to discover a different way of doing things. I was brought up on toast for breakfast.

A low carb diet isnt cutting out 'a whole food group'

She isnt doing keto though is she?

I eat low carb. I have milk, apples, cherries, salads, small amount of quinoa. I try to aim for around 100g of carbs a day.

As PP have said, low carb is just that - low. Not 'no'

And as for not cutting out whole food groups, it's funny how people are quite happy to cut out fat!

I highly recommend watch on YouTube tge channel of Madeleine Rascan. She’s a personal trainer that like big portions and doesn’t believe in going hungry.

Her recipes are delicious and they really do keep me full. She’s great!

I also like Mindy Pell for advice on fasting.

Protein doesn’t fill me up either. Neither would half a plate of broccoli suggested 😂Unless you’re eating beans legumes etc you are unlikely to be getting sufficient fibre. Low carb is quite old fashioned imo.

if you’re hungry all the time it won’t work. Switch it up and try something else

You won’t be healthy when you find out you’ve got colon cancer in 10 years

I chop dates and add cinnamon to cottage cheese and find it very filling.