I'm hungry all the time

[csepucha]

ok, so it's only been 2 days, but I have been eating regularly, with LOTS of snacks and I always feel like my stomach is empty! What's the deal? Is this normal because I don't have any starchy stuff sitting in my stomach globbing onto everything? Will I get used to it over time?

Thanks!

[ladyshanny]

Hi there,

 

First, it would be helpful to know what you've been eating and in what quantities/timing in order to provide any relevant feedback. Please post the last two days of intake including portions and fluids.

 

Second, check out the Whole30 resources linked below and note that the Whole30 discourages snacking. We want you to eat three meals a day (at least), 4-5 hours apart and avoid snacking in between in order to give your digestive system a rest. Eating within an hour of waking is critical to balancing hormones and blood sugars also.

 

Post some further details and we can take a look into it.

[Munkers]

Ten bucks says your meals aren't big enough and/or they're not fitting the meal template.

[csepucha]

OK, I haven't been keeping meticulous track of everything, but here's what I can remember...

 

Yesterday:

3 cups of black coffee (half decaf)

breakfast- 2 scrambled eggs with 1/2 avocado

snacks- raw carrots, bell peppers, apple

lunch- big salad with kale, arugula, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber. about 2 cups of cooked spaghetti squash with olive oil.

snack- a small bowl of nuts

dinner- Paleo Pad Thai (I ate about 3/4 of the recipe listed on the website theclothesmakethegirl.com)

snack- 2 dates with a handful of macadamia nuts

 

Today:

3 cups of black coffee (half decaf)

breakfast- about 1/3 lb ground beef with spaghetti squash and ghee

snack- a bunch of raw carrots and bell peppers, 1/2 chicken breast with sunshine sauce

lunch- a big salad of kale, arugula, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, 1/4 avocado, roasted sweet potatoes and beets, sunflower seeds, vinegar & olive oil

 

I generally drink about 5-8 glasses (16oz) of water a day.

 

I did a soft start last Wednesday, cutting out sugars and milk, and reducing grains. I started completely on Monday morning.

 

I did go for a jog this morning and didn't eat until 1.5 hours after I woke up.

 

I'm guessing I could add more to my meals, but I eat until I feel full, then about 1 hour later, it's back to feeling hungry again!!

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

 

 

[Munkers]

Where is your protein with lunch? Yesterday's lunch was also missing a fat. Anyone would be starving after that.

 

It can take a little getting used to to sit down and tuck in to a full template meal. If that's the case, then continue to focus on building a template meal, eat as much of it as you can, and then wrap up the rest. As soon as you're hungry again, grab your leftovers and finish your meal. Your body will adjust and it'll get easier to eat a full meal in one sitting. If you're going to use eggs as your protein, then your serving size is however many whole eggs (in the shell) you can hold in one hand without dropping. Visual reference here. If you don't want to eat more than 2 eggs in one sitting, then add some other kind of protein like leftover ground beef, compliant sausage, etc.

 

When eating fruit like apples and dates, try to keep it to one or two servings per day and ALWAYS eat it with a meal--not by itself as a snack.

[jmcbn]

Ok, first off coffee is an appetite suppressant so please keep your coffee to have WITH or after meal one.

Your meal one is low in protein & missing veggies - avocado is a fat. A serving of eggs when they are your only source of protein should be the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand, which is 3-4 for most people.

Add 1-3 cups of veggies, with 3 being optimum, to your meal one and you'll lose the need for the mid morning snack. 

Your lunch has no protein, and it is the protein that will tide you over for the 4-5hrs - add protein, lose the need for the mid afternoon snack.

Your tea looks better, but given the cumulative effects of the day you'd have understandably been hungry again in the evening.

You need to be eating within an hour of wakening to get your hormones back into whack, and you want to be losing the snacks for optimum results - if you MUST snack through genuine hunger pick two of the three macro-nutrients - so fat & protein, fat & carbs, or carbs & protein. Fruit should not be eaten on it's own as it will spike your blood sugar. Nuts are a poor fat source and should be eaten in moderation.

Make these tweaks and I guarantee you will not be so hungry going forward....

[csepucha]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips. 

After writing down what I ate, I knew the protein was missing from my lunch. I've just been so focused on not eating the stuff I'm not supposed to eat, I guess I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what I was actually eating!