Hello Low Carbers - a question for you all....

[siezethenight]

I began low carbing about the time you guys started off your boot camp. I have to do it in stages as if I want to succeed and treat it as a lifestyle change as opposed to diet otherwise I will fail as I will rebel against being told/telling myself - no, you can't have this and this and that - always been a rebel against rules!
I have totally cut out white things, white potato, white bread, pasta and so on and so forth. This is week 3 and I am starting to crave these foods very badly. Is this normal? I am resisting but I am craving and also I am always hungry, even after eating. Is this my body getting used to the new eating pattern or am I wrong to completely cut out all white things?
Thanks for any advice in advance.

sounds like you're doing really well, you can't go wrong with cutting out heavily processed carbohydrates, so don't give in! the cravings sound pretty normal as you're cutting down on a relatively easy energy source for the body and (hopefully) it will be switching over to fat burning.

however, this does depend a bit on what else you're eating. are you still eating fruit, higher carb veg like sweet potato, carrots, peas? are you eating sugar, honey etc? rice? are you eating enough protein and fat to keep you full? are you eating enough generally?

the idea of low carb is to change the proportions of your meals from (high) carbohydrate:protein:fat (low) to (high) fat:protein:carbohydrate (low). the low carbohydrates keeps your insulin low and your blood sugar steady, so you're less likely to have the blood sugar highs and lows that make you hungry quickly and crave carbohydrates and sugary things particularly. the higher fat and protein makes you feel satiated and sends 'full' signals to the brain, so you should eventually be able to go quite long periods without needing to eat. have you done any reading into low carbing?

the fact that you're feeling so hungry suggests that you may well be still consuming a moderately high level of carbohydrates, and/or you're not eating enough generally, or not enough fat and protein to keep you feeling full.

even if you're not keen to reduce carbohydrates further than you already have, reducing the amount of processed carbs you eat can only be good for you

I'm eating a lot of sweet potato and brown rice. Wholewheat pasta. If I get really, really hungry I am prone to fainting, heaven knows why, I have been like this all my life, its just how I am. I am not diabetic at all. Worst case scenario and I am out or can't get to actual food? Its a couple of squares of chocolate. Best its a breakfast biscuit - carbohydrate I know but really, I will pass out without it.
I don't use sugar, never have. Always used skimmed milk as I guess its how we grew up, in my mothers there was never sugar and always skimmed milk - if I have proper milk in coffee its really horrible.

I have to do this in stages as I am viewing it as a long term change over going on a diet. It took me 4 years to gain the 2 stone I want to shed so am not trying to do it in 4 months. I need a change of diet gradually if this is going to work and become routine for me, normal.

I feel hugely confused at diets in general, its too much information for me to take in when I have so much going on and I have always thought, there has to be an easier way to manage weight than to be bombarded with information and rules. However, the low carb diet seems to suit me as I can cope with the foods and the change of routine seems easier to manage. If I had to calorie count I would give up in week one.

I have what can only be termed a vanilla pallet - I do not like anything spicy, I don't like onions, they make me sick, actually sick. Mushrooms revolt me, the texture of them. Picky, as its been called.... So have to moderate any diet to take into account the fact I have limited foods I can enjoy.
I am going to so this by hook or by crook as I might have been feeling hungry and need to tweak things but I have had elevated energy levels over the last week, not had that mid afternoon slump - had that for almost all my life. To not feel the need to nap at 3pm last week was amazing.

I am keeping an eye on your threads and learning from you all as I go... Stalking you...

I am a swimmer - 90 lengths 4/5 times a week. Even with this level of exercise I gained weight. That is a testimony to how much food I was eating. Portions were always huge.
I can't eat before I swim. It makes the session sluggish so I wait until after it to have food. I am in the pool within 2 hours of getting up. Get the kids out and get going sort of thing.
Maybe this hunger is because I have just eaten such massive portions in the past and my stomach is used to having them? I have cut to a sensible portion size, a smaller plate then...

Ok... You say "I don't use sugar" but you are eating a LOT of carbohydrates, including grain carbohydrates, and are describing symptoms of wildly fluctuating blood-sugar levels.

Many people don't realise, when they start low carb, that ALL carbohydrates are sugar, they ALL affect your blood sugar... And it sounds like you are quite sensitive to that, as you are feeling faint (crashing blood sugar) and hungry (your body trying to get more carbohydrate to raise your blood sugar.

The answer to both the hunger and the faintness is to cut your carb intake right down, to let your blood sugar normalise, and to cut out all grains too, they affect hunger levels too. And eat more protein and fat!

It's important to be really strict about it for a couple of months, then you may be able to add in a bit more carbohydrate and see how your weight and health cope with it. Some people can eat more, some people need to stay on quite low levels, it's very individual.

The above is meant to be helpful btw, not critical! .

If you're still eating bread, pasta, rice etc, the difference to the effect on your blood sugar between eating brown versions and white versions is so marginal as to be essentially meaningless. It's the equivalent of smoking 18 fags a day instead of 20. Wholewheat pasta has about 63g carb per 100g instead of about 70g, but it will still send your blood sugar up and down like a yo-yo.

I can see why you want to try to make gradual changes to try and make them sustainable. However, switching to a low carb diet is about changing your biochemistry and how your body burns fuel. This is why nearly all low carb diets start out with a short period of very low carbs, gradually adding more back in. You seem to be trying to do it the other way round and gradually reducing, and I don't think it will be effective.

Thanks so much for the replies - have been working therefore late getting to reply.
Don't worry, I do not think you are being critical at all. You are being helpful
Okay - I guess I have to grow a pair and get tough with myself and just go for the entire thing from the off.
We shall eat what we have got in for the week ahead then on the next shop I will be armed with a proper list for this and just bite the bullet and do it.
Thank you - am off to peruse low carb shopping lists and recipes...

Lol at "grow a pair" but yes, actually the first few days can be really tough if your blood sugar has been crashing so low ... Try very hard to resist the temptation to keep topping up on carbs because it will just prolong that stage... Or if you REALLY feel faint, have a small amount of something med. carb (handfull of berry fruits and nuts but not grains!

It took me about 4 days ( I was one of those people with spiking, crashing blood sugar too... Sick and dizzy in the morning without a digestive whole grain before I even got out of bed in the morning, couldn't go more than a couple of hours without a carby snack, or I'd feel so shaky and ill...

I think the people who can start a low carb diet gradually, are the ones who don't really react badly to carbs, and don't get such huge blood sugar swings as us lucky people!

Thanks raw I have my low carb books out of the dusty under stairs and plan an afternoon of going through for shopping lists and recipes tomorrow.
Thanks for all the input.

I love the pig to twig recipe book it really helps our family stay on track with new and interesting meals.