Starting low carb - how to manage cravings

[KeepItGoingFitness]

Hello all, I would love to join the next boot camp - when will it start? I will keep an eye out. In the meantime I’m starting to adjust my diet and already feeling the inevitable craving for carbs. Tips on how to manage this would be most welcome. Thank you 🙏

Why wouldn’t you have some carbs? You’re craving them for a reason because your body needs them. You need to cut down on overall calories if you want to lose weight but you still need fat, protein AND carbs.

@SweetBabyCheeses99

Why wouldn’t you have some carbs? You’re craving them for a reason because your body needs them. You need to cut down on overall calories if you want to lose weight but you still need fat, protein AND carbs.

Sorry but this is absolutely not true.

Your body doesn't need carbs, and you don't need to cut calories to lose weight.

@SweetBabyCheeses99 this is the low carb Bootcamp topic, so not quite sure why you want to post about calorie counting here?

@KeepItGoingFitness the next Bootcamp will probably start around mid-January, but I haven't worked out a date yet. In the meantime, well done for starting already! The best tip I can give you for dealing with the cravings it to make sure that you haven't got any foods in the house that might tempt you! And keep your diet full of fat and protein, so you're satiated - as well as drinking lots and lots of water.

The other really important thing to do is to read about low carbing - the science and its benefits. Whenever I have had a wobble, reading about the longer term health benefits - beyond weight loss - keeps me focused.

Oh, and for the sake of accuracy, I should point out that @SweetBabyCheeses99 is right that we do need carbs - but we can get plenty of them by eating vegetables, salad and some fruit.

But not bread/pasta/rice/potatoes/sugar ...

Is there a book or website you could recommend @BIWI ?

@sweetpaws

First, have a look at the resources on the Low Carb Bootcamp spreadsheet Look at the tabs at the bottom.

Good books are:

Escape The Diet Trap, by Dr John Briffa
The Diet Delusion, by Gary Taubes
The Big Fat Surprise, by Nina Teicholz

... and if you're up for something more sciencey, The Art and Science of Low Carb Living, and The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance, both by Drs Phinney and Volek

I'd also seriously recommend a more recent book, called Why We Eat (Too Much) by Dr Andrew Jenkinson. There's a lot of science in here, but it's presented and written in a very engaging way, so not difficult to read.

@BIWI thank you! I love the spreadsheet, I'll have a good look at it later, it looks really useful.

I know they aren’t really allowed but I found gorging on raw carrot for the first few days got me out of the sugar/pasta/bread trap, and then I got rid of the carrots when the cravings subsided.

That's a good idea @WhatDidISayAlan. Carrots aren't forbidden - just one of the vegetables to be careful about including in your diet. And it's hardly a bad thing to eat, given the nutrients you would have been consuming, compared to biscuits/chocolate/cake!

Good luck on your low carb journey KeepItGoingFitness.
I started in September and lost my cravings for carbs within the first week. I never felt the need for crisps or chocolate and cake after that,although did sometimes feel I should 'award' myself with one small chocolate on a Saturday but as the weight shifted my thinking changed.
I lost 17lbs in 12 weeks.
I've had four days of full carbs over Christmas and weighed myself today,2lbs up. Not too bad! Back on the low carb way of eating from today and changing my mind set back to wanting the tasty and wholesome food of low carb.

Wow thank you all for the information and support. Will read the resources and check out the books. I helped myself to a little piece of cheese and chocolate. But only because there weren’t healthy alternatives on offer! Am going to do a low carb shop and plan my meals better this week. Dreading having to weigh myself but I know I’ll feel better in the next week or so. I’ve also started long walks and short runs - it’s like medicine for me. Need to start Pilates up again too.

Wow I've already lost pounds! I am drinking lots of water but finding my sweet tooth in the evening quite difficult to overcome. I bought some dark chocolate to nibble on. I am trying to cut it completely.

What's the cocoa content of that chocolate @KeepItGoingFitness? Just beware that if it's not a high content that you'll still be eating loads of carbs!

The best way, I'm sorry to have to tell you, to cut the sugar cravings, is to go cold turkey.

Hi BIWI it's 70% - Green and Blacks. I'm having one cube every evening, out of desperation, but I aim to completely eliminate it.

I found going cold turkey best too. If I was hungry I filled up on eggs/meat/fish. But tbh it wasn't so much hungry as craving sweet things/junk food. Took 4/5 days for the cravings and headache/weariness to go. After that it's much, much easier. Now I have my eating under control and rarely feel hungry. If I do, it's good wholesome hunger that is wiling to wait for my meal.

It's been 3 days now. Hope it gets better. I had an awful migraine for two days. I'm drinking lots, taking vitamins, eating greek yoghurt etc.

I drink a lot of herbal teas!

I think days 3/4 are the worst. You'll wake up tomorrow or the next day day with a clear head if you're anything like me!

@KeepItGoingFitness if you're suffering from headaches, that's a sign that your electrolytes are out of balance - you need sodium, magnesium and potassium. Sodium is particularly important, which means plenty of salt. Cook with it and add it to your food.

Other good food sources are salmon, avocado, spinach and full fat natural yoghurt.

Alternatively, you can get a supplement like Zero, by High5

@SweetBabyCheeses99

Why wouldn’t you have some carbs? You’re craving them for a reason because your body needs them. You need to cut down on overall calories if you want to lose weight but you still need fat, protein AND carbs.

This is inaccurate, and you can't base a healthy diet on the idea that if you crave something, that must mean your body needs it.

We don't actually need any carbs at all, but our bodies are mostly programmed to only know how to use them, rather than our stored fat, for energy, which is why so many of us continue to carry fat and can't get rid of it: the body prioritises using carbs because it's more energy efficient than using fat.

The less carbs you eat, the more your body learns to use fat.

The reason we crave carbs is because our body is reluctant to spend extra energy converting fat into energy, but that's how weight loss happens.

@KeepItGoingFitness just to let you know, the next Bootcamp is starting on 17 January.

... and the sign-up thread is here

Oh thank you so much BIWI. I have lost a few pounds this week already. I had what I think was horrendous indigestion last night and vomited. I wonder if I am eating too rich/fatty foods, so will take a careful look at my diet, and make some healthier choices.

Well, a low carb diet is a high fat one. But sorry to hear that you were poorly last night.