Why am I so hungry?

dyannajoy

Between avacadoes, butter and coconut oil, I am certainly getting plenty of fat. And plenty of calories. But I find myself still starving by the end of the day. I am eating things like more fat and protein, but still........I feel like I am way too hungry. I am just on day 5. Do you think this will subside or might I be doing something wrong? Thanks!!

MMAQueen

i had a peek at your diary, that is a LOT of avacado. they aren't very big, but are packed in calories and fat. which is fine. but your stomach is probably used to getting lots of filler which it isn't anymore. Give it a few more days for your body to adjust to the different sizes of things that it's getting and i think you'll notice your not as hungry anymore.

dyannajoy

and unfortunately, that is not all.....I just quit putting things in my diary because I am embarrassed about the volume of food I am eating..............hoping it stops.........or I shall be the only one to ever gain weight eating Paleo

alaskaang

Well I peaked at your diary before I saw your comment about not puting everything in there, so this may or may not help. One thing I would double check is your protein drink - make sure it's not full of sugar. Also, I personally do not find drinking my calories to be filling and would drop the shake in favor of more meat and seafood. One chicken leg and 4oz of shrimp, just isn't much. And while we don't need to be afraid of fat, lean protein is much more satisfying and higher volume that just pure fat. For example, 6oz of moose meat is about the same calories as 1/2 an avocado.

And another suggestion is eat more vegetables. Literally half of my plate is full of veggies for dinner. Two cups of broccoli is only 38 calories, but a lot of volume which will make you feel fuller. Same thing with having a huge salad.

Jindra12

You are in the withdraw phase from the carb/sugar. Just hang on for another week or two.

Shadowknight137

and unfortunately, that is not all.....I just quit putting things in my diary because I am embarrassed about the volume of food I am eating..............hoping it stops.........or I shall be the only one to ever gain weight eating Paleo

Ha, you should see my diary - your volume probably pales in comparison to my gluttonous feeds. :P

I agree with Alaskaang on veggies - seriously, load your plate with them. They don't have many calories, are extremely filling and should be the main part of your meal.

Now, a lot of people may disagree with me here, but I don't think you need to put such a great emphasis on fat intake. Fat is great - don't get me wrong on that, around at least 40% of calories of your diet will naturally be of fat by eating Primal/Paleo, but mainly an emphasis should be put on real food.
What I mean by this is, well, remember how I mentioned sweet potato? While, yes, it's fairly low in fat and predominantly carbs, you can eat more of it for your calorie buck. Let's compare the two.

300g Sweet Potato: 258kcal
300g Avocado: 480kcal

Now, in all honesty, which one will keep you fuller for long? Don't know about you, but I could easily scarf down a bowl of avocados. They're creamy, smooth, delicious, and I'm weird. But sweet potato? A baked, crispy sweet potato is a lot harder to eat, it's heavier and will keep you much fuller. Hell, you could even eat double the serving sizes of sweet potato I listed above and you'd be at roughly the same caloric count as the serving of avocado.

Don't concentrate on macros (low carb, high fat, whatever) but on real foods and satiation. Hey - to make the sweet potato more palatable you could add a bit of butter, or some yoghurt or sour cream. The added fat will probably keep you fuller and will make it tastier, and will still be less caloricaly dense than the avocado.
Avocados really should be eaten in moderation, like nuts, IMO.

Bleh. Anyway. This little novella is just my two cents. :P

JohnNull

You are in the withdraw phase from the carb/sugar. Just hang on for another week or two.

I find this highly likely.

However, I highly disagree with Howl's advice of adding veggies. Looking quickly through a couple entries, you're going over on the allotted carbs, which is already high for the vast majority of people, IMO. Carbs, even from veggies, will ramp up your hunger more than anything else. Period.

Getting rid of all fruit would only help you. Or nearly all, if that's really not something you're willing to adopt.

caribougal

I enjoy fruit, but try to limit myself to one piece a day. Berries if I have them. Otherwise I purposefully try to buy small apples and pears, which are sugar bombs, but I love them. I eat pear with pancetta or proscuiito and cheese, and apple with nuts or nut butter, to slow down the glucose spike. Once I'm eating at maintenance I might eat 2 servings of fruit if I'm feeling wild and crazy.

My goal, which I don't often achieve, is 4-6 cups of raw or 1-2 cups of cooked veggies with EVERY MEAL. Now, I wouldn't fill 1/2 plate of heaping carrots or spuds, but I do fill up with the green stuff. I also try to avoid drinking calories except for coconut water. I love that stuff and add a few ounces to flavor regular water. Good luck. Hang in there and you'll find what works for you.

SweetxCatastrophe

More protein! I would also take a look at the protein powder, the sausages and the bird's eye broccoli and cheese. Sausages can have a lot of hidden sugars -- and so can that pack of broccoli and cheese. I would cook fresh (or frozen) broccoli unsauced, and add my own cheese on top if I wanted cheese. Those pre-sauced things can have some less than appealing ingredients.
Like I mentioned in another thread, stick to the green veggies and fill up on them. Fresh or frozen is fine, and sauce them yourself. Not only is buying the vegetable unprocessed usually cheaper, its going to end up better for you since you know everything that is going into it.


I'd back off on the fruit personally also. I rarely eat fruit, and as caribougal does -- I keep it to berries (though I've had to have a mandarin today since its christmas time aka, mandarin season).

meghanner

Try cutting out all processed foods. Cut out the whey protein powders (it's junk), limit fruit to one serving a day, increase your consumption of green leafy vegetables (you can cook them too to get more in) and lean meats. This may help.

JohnNull

Thor, I missed the whey powder! Throw it out. Now.

That Silk crap, too.

ichorica

I agree with getting rid of the powder stuff! Eat more protein! Definitely limit fruits and increase veggies. I personally dont calories count but just listen to my body cues on hunger. Since you are still adjusting however I would continue to track and ask for support and advice!

twinmom01

Coming in late here...

first off you have to remember Paleo is not a weight loss diet...it is a way of eating...just like any other way of eating you can loose weight on it...

that being said I agree with a lot of what other posters have said -

get rid of protien powder....eat more volumes of food to actually fill your stomach.....

Protien - keep things like chicken or turkey on hand (buy a rotissiere chicken and pick off of it), boil a dozen eggs and grab one when you want to munch, make some homemade jerky to have on hand - make up a crustless quiche to have on hand to snack on

Veggies - veggies, veggies, veggies can fill you up...if you can't go fresh then get some bags of the fresh frozen without any sauce or seasonings on them...I will throw them in the microwave to thaw and then throw in a sauce pan with some spices

Fruits - stick with lower sugar fruits like berries (I like frozen blueberries - let them thaw just a bit and eat up - a nice cold sweet treat)...you can even go for something like a small tangerine or mandrine (dont' know where you live but they are in season right now in the US - and about 10 carbs for one)

While good fats are good for you - they are very easy to overdo...and fat has more calories then protien and carbs...so ODing on fat increases your calorie intake which - if you are looking to loose weight could be a real hindrence