Does anyone else still get cravings?

IamUndrCnstruction

Am I doing something wrong? I still am getting cravings for certain things, despite being faithful to the LC way of eating. Not sweets so much, but I am craving a glass of milk in the worst way LOL. Just curious if I am not low carb enough or is this just a "thing" that happens...

hippygirl325

I have no cravings. How many carbs are you doing?

hippygirl325

I just looked at your diary and got an idea of your macros. Personally, I'd try to go lower on carbs. I cut mine back to 25 net a day when I first started and I still don't go over that, and I make sure they're coming from veggies and not anything with wheat, starch or added sugar. Sugar cravings are hard to beat, so you really have to beat them down to get rid of them. :P

ABrownGrl

Can you drink some heavy whipping cream? Lol...sounds nasty but I bet it would help. To answer your question...I was getting cravings and it was because I was eating "fake" sugar still. Once I divorced the quest bars and sugar free syrup in my BPC, all cravings (and headaches) went away!!

And how much fat are you getting daily? Cravings usually mean you're lacking something, usually fats!!

IamUndrCnstruction

I don't eat anything wheat, starch, or sugar.... So not sure what you saw that made you think I did. I may go over 25 net a day though, some days yes, some days no. I started this low carb by doing Medifast, but it's crap that actually has more carbs than anything else I eat, so I am phasing that out. I don't use artificial sweeteners as a rule, tried some liquid stevia in some homemade whipped cream once. It was....weird. I do have a hard time hitting my fat goals...just can't think of things to eat.

hippygirl325

I wasn't suggesting that you eat starch, sugar, or wheat, just was giving some general info about what I have done to avoid cravings, and if you're not using any artificial sweeteners either then my bet would be too little fat. I had a hard time with that too for a bit. I had to Google some stuff to figure out how to get my fat higher and I seem to have found a groove with it. It's hard to recommend anything specific because there are a lot of options but bacon, eggs, olive oil, coconut oil, butter, cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch, bleu cheese, avocado, almonds...those are the fattiest things I can think of that I try to eat on a regular basis.

NurseWizzle

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I still struggle too!

KetoGirl83

Not sure if this helps but I was craving fruit and found that I had the habit of eating fruit or OJ instead of water. I was just dehydrated. Now I drink hot water and it usually goes away, it's just the memory of how much I enjoyed the sweet taste. Since milk is also liquid and sweet, maybe you could try hot water with a bit of lemon, ginger or mint leaves?

ketorach

I no longer have cravings. I eat *a lot* of fat and I do make room in my carb count for 1/2 red grapefruit a day. It's Texas grapefruit season and they are my favorite! It's about half my carbs for the day, but does not seem to increase cravings at all.

It does take a while. I've been eating keto or low carb since September 2014. If you're drinking diet soda, that can exacerbate cravings in some people. (Not me; I drink 1-3 diet Cokes a day.)

x_Minerva_x

Once in a blue moon. However, I am the only one doing keto in the house - both my son and husband are cake and ice cream enthusiasts. We almost always have cake, ice cream, and or cookies along with chips, etc... in the house (they're both tall and thin - I am very jealous lol.)

I like to live dangerously, but sometimes I think it's just that I miss being able to eat it. I do realize that I would not be happy with the aftermath though (weight gain, breaking keto, feeling gross, headaches, real sugar cravings, etc...)

krichard08

I thought I was doing okay with cravings until yesterday. I am not sure what happened but I could not keep it in check. I was able to fight off the urge to plow into a bacon pizza that my husband and kids brought home but later on as the day went on I found myself grabbing Chips Ahoy cookies and before I knew it the end of the day came and I had eaten 6 freaking cookies!!!!! To top it off today I feel both literally and figuratively sick to my stomach. My jeans are tight today. I am really questioning whether this way of eating is something sustainable and if it will work for me. I really don't want to end up heavier than I was when I began. I am not sure what I am doing wrong to still have the binge eating cravings

DAM5412

Yep. Yesterday I just wanted to "eat (aka chew) something", although I really wasn't hungry. I think we all will have urges, but don't you feel when your carbs are controlled that they are not as strong? That's the key for me, I may want something, but I usually don't feel like I need it so much. However, Krichard08, there are days...you know during certain ToM when I really do not have good control...usually there are other factors (work frustration, cabin fever, stress) which contribute to it.

I found this helpful:

http://natureworksbest.com/naturopathy-works/food-cravings/

talks about what your body may be looking for when you crave specific things.

If you really want milk, have you tried the HVC watered down and blended? Or almond milk?

krichard08

Thank you, DAMS5412. I will look this over!

sljohnson1207

Your carbs are pretty low, but I do see some things that you could tweak as well to maybe help in this regard:

Up your fats. They are mostly below your proteins.

Up your calories. It looks like you may not be eating enough. It could just be 50-100 cals that makes all the difference in your cravings.

Switch out half n' half for pure cream.

Eliminate all sources of sweeteners (natural or otherwise): Medifast shakes, Designer Whey protein.

It's probably negligible, but there is usually starch added to shredded cheeses unless you buy the blocks and shred your own.

Try this calculator http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
for your macros, and meet them for a few weeks and see what happens with the cravings. Good luck!

Nicole9187

I still get cravings (I think mostly habit). But not nearly as bad as when I eat all the carbs in the world. I notice that they are less, and honestly I think it's more out of convenience at times that I miss them. If I up my fats for a few days it typically helps out.

m_puppy

I came to scour the boards specifically to see if other keto dieters were having cravings. The first month was easy for me. Any cravings I had were brief. It was like I could taste the food I was craving and then it would just go away within minutes. I'm now starting week 3 of bad cravings. The last two weeks I ate a lot of calories. I had a carb cheat day last Monday because I finally couldn't take it any longer. I was so sick of craving sweets. The rest of the week I did fine with low carb eating but horrible with calories. I implemented a fat bomb coffee drink this week because I was reading about so many people having cravings and it was because of lack of fat. It's only causing me to go over my calories, I'm just as hungry. Turns out that was a crock of *kitten* for me. I just ate half of cauliflower mashed. It's the only thing I can eat that keeps me feeling full. I know a lot of the super low carbers will cringe at the thought of eating that many carbs at one meal but it keeps me full longer than fat.

All of that to say I noticed I wasn't staying on top of taking my vitamins, so I made sure to take those today. Also, I will be cutting the fatty coffee.

ABrownGrl

Also, if you haven't read Keto Clarity, it's a great book! Very informative about the ketogenic diet. It's so much deeper than low carb, Hugh fat. Keeping your protein at a moderate level is just as important or you'll never get into nutritional ketosis.

IamUndrCnstruction

Thanks everyone. Glad to know I am not the only one. Though over the past couple of days I have cut out the Medifast products, and that seems to be doing the trick. They are pretty sneaky with there sweet flavored stuff, and I think it was just making me want more sweets. As far as the milk thing, I have always had super strong cravings for it around my ToM, weird huh? I will try maybe some watered down heavy cream. I haven't broken keto yet, and don't plan on doing it now LOL, but I am still new at this so I appreciate the tips and info.

m_puppy

I strongly recommend making sure you're taking at least a multi-vitamin, especially during period time. I think it's the best way to ensure you're hitting some nutrients you otherwise will miss through this diet (or any diet really). I was also going to push vitamin D but I see one of us is lucky enough to live in Florida!

IamUndrCnstruction

It does have it's advantages! I do take a multivitamin, but have some medical issues that mess with my potassium, magnesium, and sodium levels so I am on prescribed supplements too.

Dragonwolf

krichard08 wrote: »

I thought I was doing okay with cravings until yesterday. I am not sure what happened but I could not keep it in check. I was able to fight off the urge to plow into a bacon pizza that my husband and kids brought home but later on as the day went on I found myself grabbing Chips Ahoy cookies and before I knew it the end of the day came and I had eaten 6 freaking cookies!!!!! To top it off today I feel both literally and figuratively sick to my stomach. My jeans are tight today. I am really questioning whether this way of eating is something sustainable and if it will work for me. I really don't want to end up heavier than I was when I began. I am not sure what I am doing wrong to still have the binge eating cravings

I've found that it takes a little tweaking to find what works to deal with cravings and hunger in general. Here's what I've found:

1. Keep carbs low and avoid sugar sources (including possibly artificial sweeteners). Every time I reduce my carb max, I find it easier to stay under it. I could do 100g pretty easily, but 75g was a bit rough, but when I went to 50g, then 40g, it reached a tipping point and got easier.
2. Keep protein up to your adequate level. For a while, my protein intake was sinking into the 60-80g range, which I was okay with, since I haven't been working out much, but I found that I was hungry more, and had issues keeping my calories down. When I can keep my protein up around 100g or so, I have much fewer issues on the hunger front. The exact number for you will be different.
3. Try intermittent fasting. It works well with LCHF/keto, but even on its own, it can help with hunger and calorie control. If you're already inclined toward skipping a meal, this may be something worth looking into. Eating only one or two meals a day allows you to eat larger meals, which help deal with the hunger issues.
4. Avoid snacking. Even if you don't try intermittent fasting, if you're feeling the need to snack due to hunger, then your previous meal probably wasn't big enough. Try to make sure you get adequate food in your meals, so that you do not feel the need to snack. Yeah, 500+ calories in a single sitting may seem huge, but as long as it still all adds up to your calorie allotment or thereabouts, you're fine. I know for me, the "eat six small meals a day" thing was a total fail, because I never really experienced much of a difference between hunger and fullness (there was never enough time to really get hungry, and the meals were never large enough to really feel even kind of "full").

tru2one

I started low carbing in the late 90s w/ Atkins, and one thing he suggested for cravings not related to real, physical hunger was to take the amino acid L-Glutamine along with a Tbsp or so of some fat (cream cheese works). Worked for me when it was "mind hunger" rather than physical hunger.

IamUndrCnstruction

4. Avoid snacking. Even if you don't try intermittent fasting, if you're feeling the need to snack due to hunger, then your previous meal probably wasn't big enough. Try to make sure you get adequate food in your meals, so that you do not feel the need to snack. Yeah, 500+ calories in a single sitting may seem huge, but as long as it still all adds up to your calorie allotment or thereabouts, you're fine. I know for me, the "eat six small meals a day" thing was a total fail, because I never really experienced much of a difference between hunger and fullness (there was never enough time to really get hungry, and the meals were never large enough to really feel even kind of "full").[/quote]

This! I think this may help. I do not eat much at one time...at all. Partly because I am so stuck in the "must eat six small meals a day" mentality, and partly because I can't. Long story short, there's not enough room in me for my lungs and a full stomach anymore. So I just am always slightly hungry. But! I have noticed that with as far down as I have cut the carbs, it has helped this problem immensely (the "no room for both" feeling. So I think with a little more time, I will adjust.

Edited to say I messed that whole quote thing all up...but you get the point LOL

krichard08

Thank you for the ideas and for the info. I actually have been trying to do a little tweaking by only having my coffee with cream in the morning and skipping breakfast. But the afternoon snack gets to me.. lol I have known for a while that i need to cut back on the snacking when I look at my log.

Dragonwolf wrote: »

krichard08 wrote: »

I thought I was doing okay with cravings until yesterday. I am not sure what happened but I could not keep it in check. I was able to fight off the urge to plow into a bacon pizza that my husband and kids brought home but later on as the day went on I found myself grabbing Chips Ahoy cookies and before I knew it the end of the day came and I had eaten 6 freaking cookies!!!!! To top it off today I feel both literally and figuratively sick to my stomach. My jeans are tight today. I am really questioning whether this way of eating is something sustainable and if it will work for me. I really don't want to end up heavier than I was when I began. I am not sure what I am doing wrong to still have the binge eating cravings

I've found that it takes a little tweaking to find what works to deal with cravings and hunger in general. Here's what I've found:

1. Keep carbs low and avoid sugar sources (including possibly artificial sweeteners). Every time I reduce my carb max, I find it easier to stay under it. I could do 100g pretty easily, but 75g was a bit rough, but when I went to 50g, then 40g, it reached a tipping point and got easier.
2. Keep protein up to your adequate level. For a while, my protein intake was sinking into the 60-80g range, which I was okay with, since I haven't been working out much, but I found that I was hungry more, and had issues keeping my calories down. When I can keep my protein up around 100g or so, I have much fewer issues on the hunger front. The exact number for you will be different.
3. Try intermittent fasting. It works well with LCHF/keto, but even on its own, it can help with hunger and calorie control. If you're already inclined toward skipping a meal, this may be something worth looking into. Eating only one or two meals a day allows you to eat larger meals, which help deal with the hunger issues.
4. Avoid snacking. Even if you don't try intermittent fasting, if you're feeling the need to snack due to hunger, then your previous meal probably wasn't big enough. Try to make sure you get adequate food in your meals, so that you do not feel the need to snack. Yeah, 500+ calories in a single sitting may seem huge, but as long as it still all adds up to your calorie allotment or thereabouts, you're fine. I know for me, the "eat six small meals a day" thing was a total fail, because I never really experienced much of a difference between hunger and fullness (there was never enough time to really get hungry, and the meals were never large enough to really feel even kind of "full").