Am I going to feel hungry for a year?

[ILoveAFullFridge]

Day 8 of my lose 5st in a year diet, and I'm hungry all the time. Mostly it's not unbearable, but sometimes...

Does it go away (the hunger, I mean)?

It depends. What is your diet ? If it's low fat and based around carbs which will give you permanently swinging blood-sugar, then yes, you will always feel hungry.

If you restrict carbs and focus on protein and fat then in a couple more days you will hardly ever feel hungry. This isn't the same as not being tempted by your favourite foods, but it's a lot easier to resist if you aren't overwhelmed by hunger.

MsRinky is absolutely right. There is no need to be hungry. If you follow a low carb diet, you are effectively controlling your blood sugars and key hormones which control the laying down of fat as well as your hunger.

Come and have a look at the Bootcamp threads - we're in week 6 (of 10) at the moment, but you're very welcome to come and join us and get a feel for it.

Here's a link to the first thread, which explains the rules

And here's a link to this week's chat thread

I presume, by the way, that if you're hungry and finding it unbearable, that you're probably counting calories/restricting calories. Whilst this works in the short term, if you can stick to it, in the longer term it's not great - your metabolism will slow down disproportionately, so that when you revert back to a 'normal' amount of calories once - if - you reach target, you will gain weight at a faster rate.

Read "Escape the Diet Trap" by Dr John Briffa, if you can. A brilliant book which explains in a really easy-to-read way the science behind all of this.

The key in Slimming World and WW is not feeling hungry. They are designed to make you feel full all the time and are balanced between protein and carbohydrates but the weight loss can be slow and rely on lots of excercise too. I'd try either but be prepared to only lose 1 or 2lb per week. WW would be my choice over SW. I question some of the unlimited foods ie a whole tin of beans and as much fruit and pasta as you like? And thinking of some healthy foods as syns isn't right imo. Ww just makes you count everything and understand the nutrirional value of everything a bit more.

Long term, sustainable weight loss should be between 1-2lbs - on any diet.

You can expect a large loss in the first week because you're losing water. On a low carb diet, you can expect bigger initial weight loss as you're also depleting your glycogen stores. But once you settle into it, the rate of loss will be the same.

The key difference is that you will not be hungry, and you will be able to eat more than if you're on a calorie-counting diet.

And nothing wrong with ketosis. It just describes the state your body is in when it is burning fat.

mirai - lots of 'programmes' advocate low carb these days. Even Rosemary Conley and Weight Watchers, I believe, are now cutting down on carbs.

So SW is really the popular 'programme' that advocates high carb at the moment. My friend lost 2.5 stone on WW in 6 months. This is with 5 weekly gym sessions, running, walking her dog twice a day and walking everywhere else as she got rid of her car. Anyway, ww allows you to do what you like with carbs but she couldn't shift her last 7lbs so went no carbs on the advice of her PT and had no energy whatsoever. She's now seeing a nutritionist who told her small portions of unrefined carbs Low GI as poss twice a day and one extra portion on the days she excercises the most. She put on weight doing this but is now 10st which I think is healthy for someone who's 5ft7. I think there might be something in the GI thing though. Worth looking at that if you must have carbs. Is this why Dukan says porridge for breakfast?

Briffa is good, as is Dr Charles Clarke. There isn't actually anything wrong with Atkins done properly rather than "Atkins" done on the basis of having read a newspaper article that says it's all about eating bacon and cream all day.

I haven't lost 5 stone in a year, but I have lost 45 pounds in less than 8 months, so I'm on track to do it...

Not if you eat your own body weight in veg. Be careful of course but you need to start eating low calorie density foods to fill up on, with sensible portions of nutrient dense food.

A low carb diet is exactly that - low carb, not no carb.

You should get your carbs from vegetables and salads, instead of refined/processed carbs like sugar, bread and pasta.

When you switch from a high carb to a low carb way of eating there is a short period of time where you may feel poorly or where you may lack energy. This is as your body is transitioning from burning carbs to burning fat. Once you are through this period you will feel fine.

Why do you think a personal trainer, who is all about the energy, would recommend low carbing if he/she didn't think it would work?

I'm not following any particular scheme. Just using a smaller plate, reducing the proportion of potatoes/rice/bread/etc in my meals and increasing veg, having muesli or porridge for breakfast, and having a piece of fresh fruit or veg instead of snacking. Drinking lots of water or green tea.

Trying to eat mindfully, too, and stop when I'm comfortable rather than listen to that last roastie calling to me from the tray.

I cannot possibly exercise intensively - too unfit and too many joint problems - but I'm trying to walk more. Hopefully will find it easier to increase my exercise when there's a bit less of me to haul around.

BTW, from the Boot Camp thread, if olives and fats are allowed - encouraged! - why no nuts or seeds?

Because nuts and seeds have carbs in them whereas olives are very low in carbs, and fats have no carbs.

I see. It's the absolute values that are important, not the proportions.

Do you have to go totally carb-free to eventually stop feeling hungry?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo It's not about being carb-free! See ^ earlier post!

It's about eating the right kind of carbs. Carbs from vegetables and salad.

And it is absolute values. Eat things that are low/zero carbs - like olives/fat rather than nuts/seeds.

By carbs I meant carb-rich foods, like potatoes and grains.

Is cutting out those sorts of carbs the only way to lose weight without constantly feeling hungry?

What about unrefined grains and similar low GI 'carbs'?

A little hunger is fine (some I'm sure is habit and both my body and my mind need re-educating) it's the overwhelming, distracting, headache-inducing hunger I struggle with.

My friend's nutritionist told her to introduce a few non refined carbs a day and low GI as poss as you don't get enough carbs or at least she wasn't just from veg and salad. As I said I think this is why Dukan says eat porridge and one of the others mentioned above would say 1 slice of brown bread too. I find I need wholegrains in my diet but each to their own I suppose. Having said that too, when my friend was low carbing she was snacking on nuts mid morning. Just 4 brazil nuts. Also, do you like cinnamon? The chrommium in it is supposed to stop you feeling hungry. I go through phases of putting it on everything instead of sugar.

Feeling hungry is the effect of the hormones on your blood sugar levels. If you keep your blood sugar levels even, you are much less likely to feel hungry.

It's up to you whether or not you include grains, but they are quite carb-heavy, quite quickly. On a 'true' low-carb diet, you certainly wouldn't be able to include these in the earlier stages, while you are seeking to lose weight. They are things to introduce gradually when you move into the maintenance phase - so after you've lost the weight.

And you can get plenty of nutrition and carbs from vegetables and salads.

Because when you eat something with so much carbohydrate, you body turns it into sugar. Not much difference between eating table sugar and a potato.

Just out of interest what would you eat on an average day on this basis do you allow yourself any treats and how do you choose what to have when you eat out?

Are you asking me or BIWI?

An average day would be:

Breakfast - boiled eggs (or scrambled/poached)
Lunch - some form of protein e. g. Pork chop/chicken breast/thighs with salad or vegetables, with dressing or fired in butter or with butter added
Dinner - whatever I have cooked for the family minus the potatoes/rice/pasta - so roast chicken with cabbage and broccoli.

I don't do treats - although very occasionally will allow myself a dessert on a special occasion.

Protein is your friend.

10 days ago I cut out ALL bread/pasta/potatoes/pastry/cake.

I've been mostly eating eggs, lean chicken and fish and the odd steak along with heaps of veg.

I genuinely never feel hungry. And I've lost a stone.

It's also worth saying that when I know the effect that sugar has on my body and my health, that I don't see sugary things as pleasurable treats any more. Just as things that do damage.