Starting reintro - and CRAVINGS!

[katyroq]

I started reintroduction yesterday with non-gluten grains, and ate 2 servings of rice. My carb/sugar cravings were through the roof last night, so that I ate nuts, avocado, 2 bananas, made cooked banana/oats, and even had a few chocolate chips after dinner. This kind of thing happened a lot pre-whole30. In the past week or so, I have been very hungry/had cravings in the evening. So, I can't decide if it's the rice that caused yesterday to be so intense, or if I'm just not eating enough fat/protein lately. Can someone comment on this? In the past 2 weeks, I've been eating for the most part:

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, salsa, 2 cups of sauteed spinach (1-2T Olive oil used in cooking)

Lunch: veggie stir fry with chicken (2 lb for one batch of ~8 servings, so 0.25 lb per serving), sweet potato with 1T coconut oil, salsa

Daytime snack: raw almonds

Dinner: either veggie stir fry or chicken curry over cooked cauliflower/cabbage

After dinner around 8 I get super hungry, and eat sunflower seeds, raisins, and avocado.

I've been waking up starving in the morning...

I'd appreciate any help! For now, I'm going to do a few more days whole30 and try to figure this out before reintroducing anything else.

[kb0426]

Hi,

It looks to me, from my own experience, that your breakfasts are a little light on protein. I also wonder if you might feel a little better with adding some more fat in with that meal as well. Maybe some avocado or olives?

If I don't eat enough at breakfast, I am hungrier throughout the day.

Additionally, how are you sleeping? That affects my hunger levels as well.

[Kirsteen]

I honestly don't think you've been eating enough. Tom Denham has said a couple of times today

"My answer to most craving questions is to eat bigger meals with substantial portions of protein, fat, and veggies. Our diet culture makes it hard for most of us to appreciate how much food we should be eating at meals and we eat too little. Then we snack because we are genuinely hungry. My goal at meals is to finish so full that I don't think about food for another 4 or 5 hours".

Can you really only hold 2 eggs in your hand? I can manage 3 or 4 easily. If you're getting hungry eat at the higher end of the meal template. Try 2 palm sizes of protein instead of 1. Add in more fat and make sure there's enough veggies. I'm sure if you up your meal sizes it'll help stop the hunger and cravings.

Well done on deciding to carry on with W30 until you get sorted. Good luck

[katyroq]

Thanks for the quick responses. I had a hunch that maybe I wasn't eating enough...

Though I feel like I'm eating enough. I feel full after eating each meal (except dinner, sometimes I just can't get enough at that point). Actually, I think Whole30 has caused me to feel full sooner and actually stop eating just because the food is there. Today at lunch, I felt full after my veggie/chicken dish, so I skipped the sweet potato. Now, only 2 hours later, I'm hungry. Is it okay to force myself to eat beyond being full if I know from experience that it won't carry me through to the next meal? Does my body just need to adjust to eating larger amounts 3x/day?

[CaseyD]

If you're needing to eat 2 hours later, then you probably aren't eating enough at that meal.

How do you take your meals? Are you distracted during them? I know that if I do other things while I'm eating, I'll eat less and wind up needing to eat again sooner. I know that can be hard to avoid, but if you can try for a while to just focus on the food you eat, you may learn something. Or, if that's not an issue, maybe you just need to eat a little more because you know a certain meal won't hold you for more than a couple hours. That whole snacking and small meal mentality can be hard to break, if you had that before doing the Whole30.

As far as cravings being intense as soon as you started reintroducing - that could be a sign that you need to go longer. 30 days is not long enough for me to truly get past my sugar cravings. I feel better after the month, but the second I have a taste, I start right back over with the bad cravings. This may be what's going on for you too.

[jennycash]

i would agree that the overall meals seem a little small and mostly lean protein. make sure you're eating plenty of starchy veggies. i can sound like a broken record because i say it on so many replies, but the starchy veg is a TOTAL difference maker for me when it comes to cravings and energy. it may be for you as well?

i'd try upping the fat (eat 1/2 an avocado with breakfast; smear your sweet potato with coconut butter....oh god, i'm getting hungry! ). maybe swap out one of the chicken dishes for a steak or grassfed burger if you like beef.