So hungry on Day 3

[Emtucky]

I finished Day 3 today and I'm ready to give up. I've been so hungry today and while I'm sure I could bulk up my meals with more veggies, I'm just not sure what else to do to survive this. I'm a hundred plus pounds overweight so my plan is to eat more calories than what Is likely recommended by eating larger protein portions (~5 oz) because I refuse to be hungry. I ate to my goal for my body weight (2,000 cals) and I am still laying in bed hungry.

Monday:

B: Sweet potato quiche and blackberries

L: Kalua pork on salad greens with guacamole

S: Apple with almond butter

D: Asian meatballs with carrots cooked in coconut oil and Brussels sprouts cooked in olive oil

Yesterday:

B: veggie scramble with blackberries

L: grilled salmon with roasted sweet potatoes and beets

S: 3 dates with almond butter and unsweetened shredded coconut

D: broccoli leek soup with Kalua pork

Today:

B: Sweet potato quiche and strawberries

L: Asian meatballs with carrots cooked in coconut oil and Brussels sprouts cooked in olive oil

Snack: Larabar

Dinner: Chipotle salad with carnitas, salsa, tomatoes and guacamole

Snack: 2 hard boiled eggs, ~20 almonds, blackberries

I know it's not compliant, but I have been having a snack because I am Hungry around 4, but don't want to eat an early dinner (prefer around 7ish). I work full time and go to school full time so I often go straight from Work to school (hence the chipotle) and don't get home until 9-10 pm. If I eat at 5ish, I'm hungry by time I get home, which is what happened tonight.

My plan is to up the veggie intake, but if you have constructive guidance I would be appreciative!

[GFChris]

Ok, first off, stop counting calories. Use satiety as your guide while on a Whole30, and use the recommended meal template to build your meals.

Snacks aren't against the rules - they're discouraged, as the idea is to get to a place where you eat meals that satiate you for 4-5 hours, in order to attain optimal hormonal balance.  The prevalence of snacks you listed makes me think that your earlier meals aren't big enough to satiate you.  Tweak the portion sizes in order to do so. Until you get there, if you are genuinely hungry in between meals (litmus test: you could eat something bland like steamed fish and broccoli), the recommended snack is a mini-meal of protein, veg and fat. Nuts/nut butters are a fat source on a Whole30. Reserve fruit to have with or immediately after your main meals only.

 

On the quiche and scramble, how many eggs are in your serving?  When eggs are your protein, the recommended serving size is the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand. For most folks, that's at least 3 eggs.

 

Drop the Lara Bars. Those are emergency food only on a Whole30.

 

Also, how's your water consumption? Aim for drinking 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of your current body weight, daily.

 

[missmary]

There was a time in my life that I was ravenous every day at 4pm, but not anymore. You really can change that pattern by increasing the food at earlier meals and avoiding sweet snacky things. Keep the dates and apples as small components of regular meals. Increase protein and good fat and vegetables at those meals too, and you should start seeing this shift.

[Jensamom23]

Don't give up!  The tweaks mentioned in the comments sound terrific and  I know you can do this.  I can attest to the fact that you WILL feel better. This will all make sense and you will be so very proud of yourself.

Stay strong and true to yourself.

[Emtucky]

Ok, first off, stop counting calories. Use satiety as your guide while on a Whole30, and use the recommended meal template to build your meals.

Snacks aren't against the rules - they're discouraged, as the idea is to get to a place where you eat meals that satiate you for 4-5 hours, in order to attain optimal hormonal balance.  The prevalence of snacks you listed makes me think that your earlier meals aren't big enough to satiate you.  Tweak the portion sizes in order to do so. Until you get there, if you are genuinely hungry in between meals (litmus test: you could eat something bland like steamed fish and broccoli), the recommended snack is a mini-meal of protein, veg and fat. Nuts/nut butters are a fat source on a Whole30. Reserve fruit to have with or immediately after your main meals only.

 

On the quiche and scramble, how many eggs are in your serving?  When eggs are your protein, the recommended serving size is the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand. For most folks, that's at least 3 eggs.

 

Drop the Lara Bars. Those are emergency food only on a Whole30.

 

Also, how's your water consumption? Aim for drinking 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of your current body weight, daily.

 

 

I really appreciate the suggestions. I count calories because I have an issue with binge eating and counting calories is something that keeps that in check. I could very well continue to eat 3000 "compliant" calories on this program. The quiche has 2.5 eggs per serving so I will be sure to add more next one I make. I will be adding more green vegetables to each meal, but I am already hitting the recommended amounts based on the meal template for protein at lunch and dinner (i.e. a serving of meatballs for me is 7 and a serving of the pork is 5 oz = 2 palmfuls) and good fat (except maybe at breakfast). I could easily eat steamed fish and broccoli for a snack, but unfortunately being out of the house for 12-14 hours a day means what I have room to pack with me are my lunch and dinner plus a piece of shelf stable fruit and/or a bar. Sounds like I need to roast up some chicken and have raw broccoli on-hand instead. My water is around 80-90 oz plus 2-3 cups of caffeine free tea so I can certainly drink more water.

[ladyshanny]

The trouble with counting calories and even with blindly following our template is that you are relying on outside guidance more than you are listening to your own body.  If you lay in bed after eating 2000 calories in the day and are legitimately hungry (enough that you would eat fish & brocoli), that is an honest signal from your body that you didn't eat enough, even if it looks like you did on paper.  Same thing with your comment that you can increase veggies but that you are already "hitting the recommended amounts".  Those recommendations are a guideline and you are meant to tweak your consumption based on YOUR personal context.

 

If you are out and in action for 12-14 hours per day, it is possible that you need an additional meal.  We recommend you get to a place where you can go 4-5 hours between meals.  We don't expect you to go excessive durations between meals so if there is a stint between M2 & M3 of 6 or 7 hours and you need something to get you over the hump, eat.  Just don't eat sugary sweet things because that causes an erratic blood sugar situation which can perpetuate ongoing hunger spikes.

 

You are a dynamic, alive human being.  Some scientist somewhere decided that 2,000 calories per day was enough for you.  Without meeting you or knowing your life or where you are in your cycle or how stressful your life is that day or if you are fighting off a cold or the flu.  Listen to YOUR body.  Trust yourself. 

[evaq]

So many good tips already suggested. I'm new to this too but what struck me was the notion of calories and eating within your numbers. I'm not saying we should always be ignorant of our caloric intake, but a big part about doing whole30 (for me) was about resetting the natural or intuitive eating patterns for what my/our bodies need. It's not about numbers. Once you take out sugar, dairy, grains and processed food, you eliminate a lot of distortion and cravings that are typical in our diets...and your body can finally communicate with you and tell you what it needs and what makes it happy.

 

So be patient with yourself and experiment a little until you're not feeling famished and snack-y. The mods all gave you some good pointers. Best of luck Emtucky.

[cinagain]

Emtucky, I've spent my entire adult life battling my weight.  At one point, I was at least 100 lbs overweight and that was AFTER years of counting calories, Weight Watchers, Body for Life, working as an aerobics instructor, martial arts, protein drinks, etc.  I eventually lost 85 lbs with the Lapband, kept most of that off for 7ish years, started having problems with the band, had it removed and converted to a sleeve.  In that time, I re-gained (I'm guessing) about 25-30 lbs.  I say I'm guessing because I quit weighing several years ago.  NOT in a "bury my head in the sand" type thing, but in a mental health reality check.  I know exactly when I'm gaining or losing weight because I can feel it in my clothes.  I don't need the crazy number fluctuations on the scale to mess me up on a daily basis.

 

I did my first Whole30 last fall. I'd recently gotten to the point where I couldn't wear a certain pair of jeans...who am I kidding?  LOL  I could barely button or zip them.  When I started Whole30, I didn't try them on for the first 2 (maybe it was 3?) weeks.  When I did try them on, I STILL couldn't wear them.  Talk about disappointing!  I was so tempted to quit eating the Whole30 way.  I'd been feeling like I was eating too much anyway...after a lifetime of dieting, eating MORE just felt WRONG.  And there are so many success stories with Whole30...people losing gobs of weight, and here I was...not losing anything.

 

But I continued and, amazingly enough, by the end of the 30 days, those jeans were loose and I could wear them comfortably!  After that Whole30, bad habits started creeping back in...but guess what?  I lot of GOOD habits stuck around, too!  Eating more protein and veggies, continuing to fix some of my favorite Whole30 recipes, more whole foods and less processed, etc.  My family is eating better, too, because as I keep more proteins and veggies in the fridge, they grab those for snacks/meals instead of the unhealthier stuff.

 

Why am I telling you this?  LOL  To say that I can empathize with your weight struggles and, I think, your binge eating, counting calories, etc.  You've already gotten some good advice from here...I hope you'll really think about it and give it a try.  Do you really want to spend the rest of your life counting calories?  I doubt it.  As for the bingeing?  Calorie counting doesn't really stop that...you can still binge on carrots without going over a calorie restriction, but it's still a binge.  And if the calorie counting leaves you hungry, that in itself is a strong trigger for bingeing.  Calorie counting also doesn't help to lose weight in the long term unless you can really stick to that restriction...and most people can't.  It's biology.

 

So try following the meal templates *without* the calorie counting.  If you're staying hungry, eat MORE at your meals.  Yes, that's going to feel wrong in many ways, but if you're trying to RESET your metabolism, it's RIGHT.  You can still stick to the lower caloric foods...not as many nuts, lower calorie vegetables, etc, but you need to eat for satiety...not a number, either in calories or on a scale.

 

As for me, I'm on day 3 of my 2nd Whole30.  Plan to do a few things a bit better this time around, tweak a few others to fit my lifestyle.  Those jeans are snug again, but still *wearable* so I'm hoping after this Whole30, they'll be even looser, MORE good habits will stick while a few bad ones will fall by the wayside. It's all a process, and even if it's 2 steps forward and 1 step back, that's still one more step forward that I wasn't doing before.

[MeadowLily]

My grandmother is a WW Legacy Lifer member, so are my aunties.  There is irony in that.  Grandmaw started counting calories in the 70's when she joined the WW, and she paved the way for the rest of the family.   Now, I have cousins that are WW Lifers.  

 

Counting calories and points has been their legacy but I'm breaking that mold.   Several had a gastric bypass.   Two of them regained that WLS (weight loss surgery) weight after that painful surgery/recovery.   The WLS was a bandaid that did not fix the mind/body connection.   One of them died from complications after surgery.

 

For those that struggle with food addictions, I don't believe in snacking.  I believe it is the 3 excellent meals aday, going 4-5 hours inbetween meals that break the old cycles of thrill eating.   I read ISWF in one day and started the  next.   I'm not looking back.

 

It is so worth it to keep breaking the food cycles so we can heal.   The moderators are helping you right your ship. They've given you some great advice.  I believe it is the snacking that hinders the arrival of Tiger Blood.  Allowing the stomach to empty inbetween meals stops blood sugar spikes.   It takes more than will power.   Will power is like white knuckling it with clenched teeth.

 

If you'll follow the meal template to the Teee-I-izzzz, it is the recipe for success.   Your three meals may be larger in the beginning but your body will respond.   Snacking genes that have been hardwired into our DNA will be turned off.

 

A compliant 30 days will weave new messages into your brain.   Stay the course, follow the advice and you'll be happy with your decisions in a very short time.   Cravings will pass if you resist them.   

[Emtucky]

Thanks for all the support, everyone. I have not tracked the past two days. I do feel like I'm over eating a bit but the last two days have been:

B: sweet potato quiche 1/2 avocado

L: 4 oz salmon, salad with oil and vinegar & 2 hard boiled eggs and small dry baked potato

D: 7 oz pork on xlarge baked potato with whole avocado

B: veggie scramble with half avocado and half potato sautéed

L: 7 oz pork on 2 cups of greens and whole avocado

D: 6 oz chicken, 2 eggs and 2 cups broccoli and snap peas tossed in sunshine sauce

Writing that out makes me realize I've eaten a lot of white potatoes. I know they are compliant, but should I be working on my variety? If anyone else has any recommendations based on this, I would love to hear it.

[ladyshanny]

So how have you felt from meal to meal? Are you satisfied at the end of each or feeling overstuffed? Around 4-5 hours are you getting hungry? The best way to determine what is the right amount for yourself is to ask yourself these questions and do some regular checking in.

As far as the white potatoes go, they were, at one time excluded, partially for the reason that people would use them over and above all other veggies because they are easy and familiar. We do recommend at least one serving per day of starchy veggies but do try to vary that a bit and include carrots, beets, rutabaga, turnips, radishes etc.