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hungry all the time; question about the meal planning template


bedbug

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I'm trying to follow the whole 30 meal planning template, but doing so is not getting me to my next meal without being REALLY hungry for an hour or two while I wait for the clock to tick away.

 

I'm posting my food log in the forum for that purpose, but here's what I ate yesterday:

 

- MEAL 1 - ground turkey thigh with sauteed veges (zucchini, broccoli rabe, and celery) mixed in.; blueberries in some coconut milk.

 

- MEAL 2 - beef stew with veges; tuna salad (whole can of tuna, 1/2 an avocado, and some lime juice) rolled up in some kale leaves

 

- SNACK - (I know this should include protein, but the can of tuna I grabbed in my rush to get out the door for work belonged to my husband and not me -- and had soy oil in it, so I couldn't eat it.) Banana, homemade coconut yogurt w/ shredded coconut in it

 

- SNACK #2 (I have an hour drive home from work and I was SOOOOOOO hungry I couldn't stand it.) Apple

 

- MEAL 3 - ground beef with sautéed veges (zucchini, regular broccoli, and celery) mixed in on top of lettuce with an avocado dressing (avocado, coconut milk, lime juice, and dill)

 

My meal 3 was huge because I was ravenous...

 

I don't understand the fat guidelines for meals. The template says, "Add fat in the following recommended amounts per meal." Then there is a list that includes things like 1/2 to 1 avocado and 1 to 2 thumb size portions of coconut oil. You're only supposed to eat ONE of these per meal? If so, I'm eating way too much fat. :( For example, in meal 3 above, I sautéed the veges in probably 1 thumb size worth of coconut oil, had probably 1/4 of avocado and 1/8 of a cup of coconut milk in the amount of dressing I ate, and had all of the fat that comes with ground beef. That seems like it exceeds the amount of fat according to the template.

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I don't think your meals sound big at all, they're probably lacking in protein and fat. Your breakfast in particular doesn't sound very big - many people find having a bigger meal 1 sets them up better for the day.

I don't think the fat in meat counts towards your intake, and cooking fat is questionable as most stays in the pan!

You shouldn't be hungry - if you have huge gaps between meals, plan a mini meal of protein, fat and vegies (not fruit/nuts), but otherwise play with protein and fat portions and see how you go.

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On the fat portions, you are to have 1-2 of those options per meal. What amberino21 said is accurate.

Are you staying sufficiently hydrated? Aim for drinking water of at least half your body weight, in ounces, daily.

Experiment with upping your proteins and veggies and see if that helps. Maybe avoid fruit at your first meal (cut out natural sugar 1st thing in the morning) and only have it at meals 2 and 3? Your fruit serving should be the size of your fist.

 

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How far into your W30 are you? Some people are really hungry the first week or two, as the body switches into fat burning mode. As the weeks progress it should get better. It may be hard, especially if weight loss is a goal/hope, but you should try to just eat generous meals and not worry so much about portions right now. If you're getting really hungry between meals, have 2 palms of protein instead of 1 and add more fat. Snacks (mini-meals) or a fourth meal are perfectly acceptable, but you should find that you need those less as you progress through the 30 days.

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When did you start your W30?  I was hungry for the first 2 days, maybe 3 days.  I think I figured out I needed to add more fat and protein to my meals but also I think it just takes time for your insulin level to even out.  Anyway, after that initial period, that I really never had that ravenous hunger feeling again.  I did not snack at all, and hardly ever ate fruit but did have a half a sweet potato every day.  Also ate at least a half an avocado per day, if not a whole avocado.  And I lost a significant amount of weight.  I love the cookbook Well Fed both for the recipes but also for her attitude about and relationship to food.  She and her partner eat a LOT of clean, whole YUMMY food and her passion is preparing it in a way that tastes fantastic!

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Hungry like you are describing is not part of the plan. Increasing the size of meals and the amount of fat is an appropriate response. I find having a big breakfast is very important to me. Turkey is so lean that I try to add extra fat sources whenever I make something with turkey. Avocado slices, olives, something to give me the fat that turkey meat is missing. 

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All the Wise ones above me have said it well indeed. I would also add what kind of activity are you doing? If for example you are doing crossfit every day (please don't) then you would need to up the fat and protein intake.

 

You also do not mention portion sizes, or what size you are. If you let us know a bit more detail- including your girthage we can guide you like the shining lights that we are!  ^_^

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If you are hungry, you need to eat more.

 

It's really that simple. The diet industry tries to make everyone feel guilty about satisfying their body's needs for energy and nutrients, but this is not about the diet industry's pathologies. If you're hungry, eat. Eat until you're full, and enjoy it.

 

Maybe also try adding a little more starch; that can sometimes help.

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Thank you for all of your feedback. This is my second Whole 30. I did my first a few months ago and largely -- but not entirely -- stuck with the paleo eating between that Whole 30 and this one. I did start eating occasional non-gluten grains. And I also sweetened things with honey. 

 

The problems I describe above are problems I've had with paleo throughout. I get hungry! What I was doing before I started this new Whole 30 was over-relying on regular and dried fruits between meals. But I don't want to do that.

 

I am a different person since eating this way -- my brain fog (which had become constant) is completely gone, I'm never constipated, I never get bloated, I have more energy, etc. But getting the portions down right have been tricky for me. 

 

I am a 5'6" 130 pound (or around there -- I haven't weighed myself for many months) runner. I know I'm not doing the pre/post workout thing right. I run four days a week (long run on Saturdays, speed work on Wednesdays, easy runs on Tuesdays/Fridays), cross train on Mondays, and do strength training on Thursdays. I'm training for the Dallas marathon (not until the start of December) right now. So my long runs are only about  7 miles right now. And my short runs are around 3. But I have to admit that, except for my long run, which I do after meal 1, I do all other workouts during the week having eaten nothing more than a banana. :( I can't eat eggs. The few times I tried to eat meat before working out, I just felt sort of gross. Eating meat right when I wake up just doesn't sound good to me.

 

So then I workout, eat my first meal, shower, pack meal 2 -- and head off to work, which is an hours drive from my house. Given that I'm working out in the morning, I really don't think I'm eating enough for meal 1. And sometimes I do a lousy job packing a big enough lunch, so then I'm stuck at work with nothing I can grab in the cafeteria but bananas. I need to come up with a better plan of attack for both meals 1 and 2. The obvious thing would be to pack meal 2 the night before. But the night before I get home from work tired -- I eat dinner, work on other people's homework for an absurd amount of time, and then fall dead asleep. I guess the logical answer is to pack for lunch the next day what I eat for dinner the night before... I've just got to be smarter about it all.

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I'm a runner too and I'm shorter than you and weigh about 50 lbs more than you (last I checked) and I eat a lot more food than you do. So definitely eat more to support your activity level.

 

If you can't eat meat or eggs first thing in the morning what about eating just a fat source (coconut butter or almond butter) to get something in your body and let it know you are not starving yourself. I can not work out fasted...it just sets me up for disaster. 

 

I also have a long commute (30-60 minutes depending on traffic) so I eat meal 2 and meal 3 at work. It sounds like you could do 4 meals a day with the schedule and activity level you have. This would allow you to eat dinner with your family and not be starving.

 

Another thing to consider is that yes it starts with food, but it doesn't end there. Your current lifestyle sounds very stressful. My husband and I just made the difficult decision to give up our rental house for a much smaller apartment at nearly the same rent so that we could spend less time commuting each day and have less chores at home. What is the return on investment of that hour long commute?

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Physibeth, I'm about to go work out but am going to try eating some shredded coconut before I go. I'd never heard of coconut butter before, but I googled it and see that it is nothing more than shredded coconut put into a food processor until smooth. That sounds SOOO good. So I'm going to do that later today. Thanks!

 

I desperately wish I could simply my life. It's definitely too stressful. The good news is that i don't have to go to work every day. I'm a university professor and only have to drive to campus on days I teach or on days when I have major meetings. (I can Skype into smaller meetings.) So I typically go 2 to 3 days a week and work at home the rest. The school year just started up so I've been down there more than usual but it will ease off really soon. I don't love my job, but I like it. I'm in a tenure-track position and have two more years before I go up for tenure. I'm hoping that if/once I make tenure, the stress will ease up a bit.

 

My kids love their school/friends/neighborhood so we've got to stay put. We've been in the same house for 15 years. Also, while my commute is an hour south, my husband's is a 1/2 hour north. So while we're not exactly midway between our two jobs, we are --  sort of. And he has to go to work everyday (mon thru fri) AND is on call a lot too. So we can't move further away from his job than we already are. 

 

I would love, love, love to live a simpler life, though...

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I totally understand that simplifying is not always possible. As you are doing the best you can in that area I would plan as much as you can around the days you do need to go into work. Make those days 4 meal days, M1 before you leave, M2 and M3 at work, and M4 with your family at home. This will help you a lot I think. Even if M2 and M3 are just one big meal split in half (I do that with my mornings sometimes). I might also encourage you to not schedule workouts on your work days as you already have a lot of stress on those days. 

 

Do the best you can with what you have and always look for the little tweeks you can make to make it better.

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