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Fat adaption


jhcowan

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I have finally reached fat adaption and find that I am RARELY hungry these days. Should I be eating my 3 meals per day, regardless, or try to listen to my bodys hunger cues? Do you need less food when you become fat adapted? I have more fat to lose, so I don't want to starve myself, but I am just not hungry most of the time.

(I should also say that I am almost 2 months in to a whole 30+...)

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So has it taken you 2 months to get there? I am still not fully there, but I'm about 15 days in (had 11 days before that with some accidental non compliance in there with oils and added sugar.) I have days where I'm not at all hungry, but generally can't get to meals without a little something in between, even using the right mind set. I really am hungry... Did it come kind of gradually? This is the result I'm most looking for and am therefore most focused on....

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Hmmm...I'm sure someone more in the know than me will chime in...but, I think you need to determine if you think your body is healed and functioning optimally or if you are still working out some issues...(inflammation, intolerance's, etc.)...If so (healed) I would say listen to your body and eat when you are hungry...BUT if not then I would stick to your three meals.

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You should probably keep eating three meals per day whether you feel hungry or not. Two months into this way of eating is great, but you have more adapting and adjusting to do. If you don't eat enough, your body will go into conservation mode and losing weight will get harder. I wouldn't think about skipping meals until you've been doing this for about a year.

When you eat a lot of carbs like bread, pasta, and cereal, your body burns carbs for energy and is not efficient at burning fat. You feel hungry when the carbs burn off and you need to eat more to feel okay. The feeling of hunger tends to be very sharp. And because carbs burn fast, you have to eat frequently to keep feeling okay.

Fat adaption is when your body burns fat efficiently. Your body (even if you are thin) has large stores of fat, so you always have something to draw on for energy. The feeling of hunger tends to be mild or at least less sharp. You don't crash when you get hungry because you are burning fat.

I was infamous for getting mean and demanding when I was hungry before I became fat adapted. At work, people would ask if I had had lunch if I was critical. And I was mean when hungry. Now that my body has adjusted to burning fat efficiently, I don't get mean from hunger. And I can fast for most of a day without feeling bad. I know I am hungry and would enjoy eating, but waiting is not especially difficult. Because of my work schedule, I actually fast from bed time until late the next afternoon several times per year when I need to have fasting blood work done. My doctor's office is shocked that I come in at 1 in the afternoon fasted, but it really is not very difficult. I'm not sure I could sleep that night without eating, but going all day is relatively easy.

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Thanks for the explanation Tom!

I am w a y far from where you are. I had fasting bloodwork this morning scheduled for 8am, and I was at the clinic by 7:50 with hard boiled eggs, sweet potato and coconut whipped cream just waiting for when I could hit the cafe and have my coffee and breakfast!

I may certainly be getting there, however. I can leave work at 5:30 and think "I am hungry". I can also sit in traffic, get home, changes my clothes, go through the mail, and pay some bills before I even think about starting to cook dinner. In the past, I would have gotten home, and hit the crackers and cheese, along with wine, to hold me over until dinner. Of course, the small bite size chocolates that I used to justify at 3pm were likely the cause for this.

I think I get it and am getting there!

Thanks!

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Thanks everyone! I appreciate the info!

MingoNW and kb0426- Before I started Whole30, I ate the "conventional wisdom" recommendation of 5-6 meals per day. I would be HUNGRY and sometimes shaking every 2-3 hours. I would also get horrible migraines if I went beyond 3 hours without food. About 3-4 weeks into my first WHole30, I noticed that I was not hungry without my morning snack ( a huge deal for me) and I could even push lunch off until 1or 1:30. That means going 6 hours at times between meals!! No hunger, no shaking, no short temper, no migraines! My only conclusion was that my body is finally using fat stores for energy. The first month on WHole30, I saw some inprovement in body composotion, but this second month I have see HUGE changes! I haven't weighed since day 31 (disappointed with only a 3 lb loss), but I have lost 2 inches this month in my wasit and I have dropped a size, so I don't really care what the scale says! I just wanted to make sure that I was eating enough, so I don't go into starvation mode, but does that happen in fat adaption?

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LOL! The whole time I was reading about Tom being 'mean' at work when he was hungry, all I could see was that commercial where the guy does the same and they feed him a Snickers bar! Like a candy bar is an acceptable 'food' when you're hungry.

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