Timing of meals
DianaElena76
Posts: 1,241 Member
I have noticed I am hungry every 3 hours like clockwork. Is this normal for low carbers? Fortunately my job is such that I am able to eat every 3 hours. I have breakfast at 6am, a snack at 9am, lunch at noon, a snack at 3pm, and either another snack at 6pm and dinner at 9pm or dinner around 7. I've read some of your posts/comments saying you eat only once or twice a day. Will my body adjust and stop needing fuel so often as time goes by?
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How much are you eating each time? Maybe you just need to increase fat intake significantly at a couple of meals to carry you through a longer period without hunger?
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But what is wrong with eating every three hours if you are meeting your macros and calorie goals and maintaining ketosis? I find that I eat like that too.0
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It is not normal to be hungry every 3 hours when low-carbing. You should be easily able to last twice that long without issue. How many carbs are you eating? Are they from veggies or low-carb faux foods (atkin's bars, low-carb breads, etc.)?
How many calories are you eating each day? Each meal?
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Not sure about the OP, though from a different post she said she keeps it under 88gr. I keep mine under 30 total (there have been a couple days that went as high as 40) and I don't eat the Atkins stuff, I found I can't really even stomach a Quest bar and I used to love them. My calories are set at 1350, some days I hit that some days slightly under. I can only really eat one "meal" a day, dinner. It averages about 350 calories. I sort of eat little bits throughout the day. I can't eat too much at once due to some health issues (not enough room for hyperexpanded lungs and a very full tummy). All my other meals range from 100-200 calories give or take.0
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It took about 7 weeks to adjust but I now have my BPC around 8am, a small something, maybe a boiled egg around lunch and then a decent size meal at dinner. Not hungry ever.0
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I used to eat 3 or 4 meals a day plus snacks before low carb. Now I have 2 cups of (instant) coffee with cream added when I wake up, a main meal around 1pm and a slightly smaller meal around 8pm. Very occasionally I'll have a small piece of camembert cheese or similar around 11pm or midnight (we go to bed between 1am and 2.30am). That's it, I don't even think about food between times and even if I'm hungry it's not urgent, as it used to be.0
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Not sure what I am doing wrong then
I work out at least 5 times a week...don't know if that makes a difference or not. But I feel like I am doing something wrong.
Totally did not mean to hijack the OP's thread, but the question was soooo fitting!0 -
Your calories are almost certainly too low for the amount of exercise you're doing. That alone will drive hunger. You also say you can't eat large meals (500+ calories), so naturally you will have to eat more often.0
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Just to add, I followed the keto clarity book and found I was able to move to 2 meals a day, but haven't felt able to move to 1 a day! But I started with all meals while adjusting to keto so I could get the hang of this WOE.0
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All of us are different, use keto for different things, etc. Just because you get cravings after x-point or need to eat more often than most of us doesn't mean you're doing something wrong, just means we're all human.0
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There is no 'right' number of meals. I am currently eating 3-4 times a day. I have done 1. The main thing is that you should never feel like you NEED to eat all the time. If you are truly feeling hungry every couple of hours, something isn't right (or this is your first week).0
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IamUndrCnstruction wrote: »But what is wrong with eating every three hours if you are meeting your macros and calorie goals and maintaining ketosis? I find that I eat like that too.
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I'm another one who suffers from constant hunger but I DO eat artificial sweeteners and low carb bread. I guess out with those. Any other suggestions?0
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I avoid low carb products and artificial sweeteners in favor of real food. I think I'm not eating enough carbs early in the day. Breakfast around 5-6 am usually consists of eggs and cheese with a whole lot of coffee, which I drink black. Morning snack anywhere between 9-10 is low carb yogurt, more cheese, some raw veggies, or something like that. For lunch at noon I eat a protein and some cooked veggies or salad. That usually holds me longer, but sometimes I need a snack again at 3, and on my drive home from 4-5 I munch on raw carrots, cheese, olives, or nuts (partly to tide me over until dinnertime and partly to keep me awake on my commute). I haven't been eating dinner until somewhere between 7-9 pm, and it's just like lunch--either a cooked meat and cooked veggies or a cooked meat and a salad. It seems to be different on different days, and it is my first week. Today I only ate twice. I am finding that before dinner when I check my carbs I've only had around 10-15, and my daily goal is 88, so then I can be a little more liberal with dinner if I want, as that's the meal I eat with my non low carb hubby. For example, yesterday I had only had 11 carbs by dinnertime, and he wanted to get Pei Wei, so I was able to get a chicken and broccoli dish with brown rice without going over on my carbs (I only ate half of it along with a salad, because the whole thing certainly would have put me over my limit).0
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Also looking over what I just wrote I guess it's not really every 3 hours every day, but sometimes it is.0
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I avoid low carb products and artificial sweeteners in favor of real food. I think I'm not eating enough carbs early in the day. Breakfast around 5-6 am usually consists of eggs and cheese with a whole lot of coffee, which I drink black. Morning snack anywhere between 9-10 is low carb yogurt, more cheese, some raw veggies, or something like that. For lunch at noon I eat a protein and some cooked veggies or salad. That usually holds me longer, but sometimes I need a snack again at 3, and on my drive home from 4-5 I munch on raw carrots, cheese, olives, or nuts (partly to tide me over until dinnertime and partly to keep me awake on my commute). I haven't been eating dinner until somewhere between 7-9 pm, and it's just like lunch--either a cooked meat and cooked veggies or a cooked meat and a salad. It seems to be different on different days, and it is my first week. Today I only ate twice. I am finding that before dinner when I check my carbs I've only had around 10-15, and my daily goal is 88, so then I can be a little more liberal with dinner if I want, as that's the meal I eat with my non low carb hubby. For example, yesterday I had only had 11 carbs by dinnertime, and he wanted to get Pei Wei, so I was able to get a chicken and broccoli dish with brown rice without going over on my carbs (I only ate half of it along with a salad, because the whole thing certainly would have put me over my limit).
Maybe try taking the carrots and low carb yogurt out of your snacks and just having the more fat oriented items; save the carbs for your "meals". See if that helps the hungries or eliminates the need for later snacking.0 -
I generally eat three times daily, but am low calorie and low carb, not necessarily high fat. I find that my timing depends more on the habit I make of it, not really whether I am hungry or not. If I have a snack at 10am every day for a week, I will probably want a snack every day at 10am going forward.0
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I think a meal should keep one satisfied for 4-5 hours. Grazing and snacking seems that it just keeps you in "digestion" mode all day.0
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Over the weekend I was able to get by on just two meals a day, the first around noon and the second around 8pm. I was a bit hungry between but not starving, so either my body is adjusting to the reduced carb intake or my weekday eating has more to do with habits and maybe even boredom than actual hunger. Although if I'd had healthy snacks available between meals this weekend I surely would have eaten them. We were just too busy! I can't reach my daily calorie goal or any of my macros on two meals a day, though. Last night I even indulged in a single Boston lager and an ice cream bar and still didn't reach my calorie or macro goals. I think for me it works better to eat more or more often because otherwise I start giving myself latitude to eat the things I said I wouldn't eat anymore, like the taco I just ate that my in-laws brought from Taco Bell, after going hungry all day. I just feel less healthy that way, personally, especially since my goal was to go more carb AND to stop eating processed foods.0
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One of the features which attract many people here is avoiding "going hungry all day" and then eating or drinking something which causes inner conflict. A fast for a purpose is fine. If it's caused by being too busy, not so much. It's easier for me because I control the menus most days. I can plan to have a Friday night beer with my son & son-in-law without obsessing over it. I'm not super low carb so I can budget something like that.
I don't want to beat you up, I've been there: looking at a clock and telling my stomach "Nothing for you until 6 PM." It's a miserable place to be. If what you are doing isn't working, listen to your body. Review what you're doing, tweak it, throw it out & re-engineer it, talk with friends or forum friends, do what's necessary to get your balance back.0 -
i usually eat 2 meals a day and maybe a small snack while preparing food (i'm a grazer), but today felt really hungry this morning as cals had been lower yesterday because i wasn't feel well, so maybe it's just that you're not eating enough? I can't view your food diary, but you will know yourself.0
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@totaloblivia, I thought I left my diary open..... BTW, I love your screenname.
@KeithF6250, I did not do that intentionally--"fast" all day and then eat something less healthy. It was just that I had unintentionally gone most of the day without eating (have I mentioned I have 3 kids under the age of 3?) and wanted to get closer to my macros for the day so my body wouldn't go into starvation mode. But what I did eat later in the day (e.g., that dang taco) seemed to have stalled the feelings of awesomeness I was having in my midsection. I'm back to feeling bloated again. On weekdays, when I'm at the office, I do much better by snacking between meals. I guess the key to what you said was "listen to your body." Thanks so much for the feedback! I think the biggest reason earlier attempts at changing my way of eating have failed is due to lack of support and feeling like I'm alone in this thing--this group is so helpful!0 -
@sbom1, that's a good idea. I do try to eat cheese or something else fatty with each snack, but I run out. Cheese is my favorite snack, but keeping a family of five cheese-lovers stocked up on it isn't cheap! Carrots are cheap.
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Okay, I unlocked my diary. Please give tips freely!0
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Listen to your body and eat when you need to eat. If you're not feeling full enough, eat fat. Remember, carbs to target, protein to goal, fat to satiety. 0
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OH- also fyi about your comment about feeling bloated after the taco you ate- you might have a corn sensitivity. I have the same exact issue - and this Latina loves some corn tortillas. It was a sad day when I said goodbye- and when I do decide to to have them, boy do I pay for it.
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I love cheese crisps as a chip/cracker substitute! And I loved to sit and eat tortilla chips and salsa. I could eat buckets! Have you tried them yet, @BetterBalancedMe2015 ?0
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I can't remember which of your threads you asked about breast-feeding but I've just come across this really interesting (brief!) podcast by Professor Tim Noakes on the topic and thought you may like to hear it talkfeed.co.za/breastfeeding-banting-lchf-diet/0
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Thank you for sharing that! I also just read this morning (on the Atkins website) that the new Atkins 40 plan (which I believe is comparable to the OWL or pre-maintenance phase on the older system, I'm not sure which) is the one breastfeeding women should use. So I've adjusted my macros yet again using that keto calculator website with a daily carb goal of 40 (does MFP allow you to use bet carbs, or do you just have to enter that instead of total carbs when you enter the food?). My milk supply has definitely dropped since I started eating differently, but I think just like that link said I'm just not eating enough in general. Maybe I'll get this right eventually.....0
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Of course I had to adjust my carb levels right after I made a huge batch of mashed potatoes, LOL.0
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