Constantly hungry.

[Crainium]

I'm on day 2 of my Whole 30 and I have basically been ravenous the entire time. Hunger pangs even woke me up last night! I swear I'm eating tons of food and following the program. I've also noticed that "full" doesn't feel like it used to- anyone else notice this, or does this mean I'm not eating enough? I'm upping my food intake today- an extra egg at breakfast for a total of 4, and I picked up some snacks on the way to work today. It's just my first day was awful because I was SO hungry between meals. Do I just need to get used to the program, or am I doing something wrong? Based on my size and activity levels, I really should be feeling full for how much I'm eating, but I'm not.

[Keianna]

Can you post what you ate yesterday?

[Crainium]

Sure!

Breakfast- 3 eggs, half an avocado, handful of berries

Lunch- grilled chicken (1 breast) with kale and sweet potatoes (maybe about 2 cups of veggies, cooked)

Dinner- Sweet potato hash with two fried eggs on top

[Renee Lee]

How were you eating prior to doing the W30? It's likely that your brain's just panicking because it's lost its easy access to sugars. Day 2-10 are rough for a lot of people.

As long as you're following the meal template, you should be fine...maybe add some more fat?

[elle_croft]

I totally feel the same way, Cranium, and am also on day 2 (maybe it's just how everyone feels at the start). I have always been a hungry person, generally eating large portions of lots of carbs, although thankfully I have a very fast metabolism so don't tend to gain much weight. Am also usually fairly active but again, tend to carb load to keep up my energy. Day 2 into the Whole30, I'm eating a reasonable amount of protein and yet I'm still ready to devour my own arm after a few hours. I'm also more tired than usual, even falling asleep on the bus home last night which has never happened before. I am just not sure if this is normal or not!

[Crainium]

Newbie, I'm so glad someone else is experiencing the same thing! I thought I was the only one. Seems like this is one of the ways our bodies are adjusting.

Renee, I will try adding some fat and see how that works! I've been worried that I'm using too much, so clearly that isn't the case!

[LoisH99]

I don't think that looks like much food, to be honest. Could you cook up some meat and or vegetables with your breakfast? Leftover meat or quick cooking sausage/bacon doesn't take much time to do while you're cooking eggs. At lunchtime you could put what you had on a big bed of lettuce or spinach, toss a few olives or a bit of guacamole in for good measure (my typical lunch is a dinner place sized salad with all sorts of meat & veg, maybe a few olives, and guacamole as a sort of "dressing"). And dinner at our house is always some sort of protein with at least 2 cooked veg and maybe a piece of fruit. At some point during the afternoon I'll have fruit with a small bit of nuts. I do wake up hungry, but I think that's because there's no late-night eating going on!

[Tom Denham]

Sure!

Breakfast- 3 eggs, half an avocado, handful of berries

Lunch- grilled chicken (1 breast) with kale and sweet potatoes (maybe about 2 cups of veggies, cooked)

Dinner- Sweet potato hash with two fried eggs on top

Breakfast looks okay, but lunch might have been a bit thin and dinner looks way too light.

I find that chicken fails to satisfy me as well as beef or lamb and a chicken breast is naturally low fat. Kale and sweet potatoes are good, but you probably did not get enough fat at lunch.

Two eggs is a very small serving of protein. Whole eggs offer some good fat, but you needed more protein and maybe more fat at dinner.

I ate 4 or 5 and sometimes 6 times per day when I first began eating the Whole30 way. I was not purposefully eating small meals, I just was doing the best I could (this was before the meal template - http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf). Over time, I learned to eat bigger meals and now am very satisfied with 3 meals per day.

[Nadia B]

Hi all,

I can tell that it will get better or pass with time. I was eating like a mad woman my first Whole 30. My body was missing full signal. Full meant - I do not have space in my stomach to fit another piece of food. Don't stress over it, just patiently follow the guidelines. Convince your body that nutrients will always be available.

[Crainium]

Thanks for the feedback, Tom. I will try your suggestions and see how it goes. I've been using chicken because I'm comfortable cooking it and it's easy to find organic where I live. I do have some grass fed beef at home so I will start incorporating that into my meals. Seems like the general theme is- more protein, more fat! Here's hoping my hunger pangs go away!

[MrsKT]

^{I'm currently on Day 9 and had a similar issue from days 1- 5. Prior to beginning the Whole30, I was eating 5-6 meals per day so it definitely took my body several days to get used to "no snacking" and larger meals. It sounds as if this is the problem you might be experiencing.}

^{Also, as Tom said, I have tried to incorporate more fat info my lunch meal because of the stretch between lunch and dinner (typically 5-6 hours). My lunches as in or around the office, so I have taken nicely to bringing avocados as a fat source. I try to buy them on the smaller side and will eat a whole one, with a leaner meat (chicken or fish) and lots of veggies. If you like avocados, they are easy to transport and good fat to help keep you full}

[PaleoBubbleGum]

Do you buy whole chicken or individual chicken breasts?

I would eat at least 3 chicken thighs for lunch, preferably 4. I season them and bake in the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Very easy.

Then with that I would make a stir fry with some carrot, broccoli, onion and maybe mushrooms cooked with 3 spoons of lard.

I don't ever eat chicken breast, it's not worth it, no matter how many I eat I'm still hungry. The only way I would eat it is if I cook it into a curry, like one breast and one can of cononut milk and 3 spoons of coconut oil.

As for more protein and more fat, no... not more protein, just more fat. One chicken breast has 16g protein and 1g of fat. One chicken thigh has 8g protein and 3g of fat. 4 chicken thighs are very filling to me, but with 4 chicken breasts I feel hungry.