I need your suggestions for evening "Carb Cravings"

fireman8123

I have been very disciplined with my eating during the day. I have breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. I had been doing very well with cutting out evening snacking. But lately, I start getting carb cravings before bedtime. I have tried waiting 15 minutes, drinking a glass of water, drinking mulberry tea (suggested by my Dr), but none of this seems to work. I will actually give myself a headache if I dont succumb to these cravings. My choices seem to be 1) give in to the cravings or 2)go to bed. Problem is, I cant go to bed at 8 o'clock every night. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Have any of youexperienced this?

mn_omagh

Hi mate,

Like you, I am on a low-carb diet and finding it hard to suppress carb cravings, but I have this advice for you: make sure you are eating enough calories and not skipping meals during the day - when a person's calorie intake is too low, the brain senses "famine," sending a stong signal to the body which encourages a person to eat carbs.

I eat a lot of protein and also fats during my day and am seeing great results.... who knew that you had to consume fats to lose fat!! :-) But I won't complain because I love cheese, olive oil and nuts!

By the sounds of it, you might be under-eating, especially if you are getting headaches for not succumbing to your cravings. If you aren't eating enough, your blood sugar will drop causing a spike in insulin levels which stimulates the cravings for carb rich foods.

I would recommend you do your workout in the evening (if possible), giving you a much needed distraction from your carb cravings. Once you are finished your workout, have a banana with a protein shake - a medium sized banana contains 27g of carbs and the protein shake will trick your body into burning off the carbs while using the protein to repair the muscles - this works best with weight lifting.

Let us know how you get on and good luck!

fireman8123

Thanks, that sounds like great advice. What you say makes sense because I have been using Myfitnesspal for about 12 weeks now and in the last 4 weeks or so, it cut my calorie intake back by 100 calories a day. It was about that time that I started having the carb craving problem. Also I will try to increase my proteins and fats to see if that helps. I have to say, I never miss my meals or morning/afternoon snacks (usually a piece of fruit and a hard boiled egg).
Thanks again

albertabeefy

We can't see your food diary so I can't comment much on that, but bear in mind that the cravings diminish if you're truly in ketosis (your metabolism is fat-adapted instead of glucose-adapted), but not necessarily if you're just "low-carb".

Ketosis is a binary state, you're either in it, or you're not. There is no "somewhat" to it. It's all or nothing.

As such if you're eating low-carb - and your intake is too low to properly fuel what's still a carbohydrate-metabolism, but not low-enough to be ketogenic, your body will still use glucose as it's "preferred" source of fuel, and you'll get those cravings if calorie/carbohydrate-restricted.

The key to a ketogenic diet, whether Atkins, Paleo/Keto or 'generic' LCHF (low-carb/high-fat) is a macronutrient profile of "very low carb" (usually 10% or less of calories from carbohydrate), high-fat (usually 65-70% calories from fat) and moderate protein (20-25%). Higher protein or carbohydrate concentrations will often keep people OUT of ketosis.

If your goal is simply to reduce carbohydrate but NOT to the point of ketosis, I would recommend you simply eliminate refined carbohydrate (flours, sugars) from your diet and eat a good variety of fresh vegetables and moderate amounts of fruit for your carbohydrate.

xiamjackie

I completely agree with the above posts, I tend to have cravings for all sorts of things, especially carbs, when my calorie intake is too low. Make sure you aren't eating too few calories. When your calorie reduction is enough that you'll lose weight but still be satisfied, you shouldn't have these awful cravings anymore.

fireman8123

Thanks everyone for your tips and motivation. Albertabeefy, I guess I am not as low carb as I thought. I have been eating alot of fruits and vegetables. I have however, cut out sugar, pastas, rice, breads, and as for potatoes, I have 1 baked potato (plain) once a week for potassium. When i do have carbs, I try to have a protein with it at the same time. eg. fresh pineapple/cottage cheese or apple/hard boiled egg.

number1mummyhen

Hi fireman

I'm on the paleo diet, only just started a week ago and had the same issue re late night snacks. Someone suggested almond butter. I made up a batch at home, it's done the trick, the texture and slight saltiness has kicked the craving.

I've also made sure I'm having an egg or fish for lunch or dinner. The high fat and protein combination seems to reduce the craving for carbs, eggs especially for me!

Best Regards

fireman8123

Thanks for the tip. Do you have a recipe for the Almond butter? Do you put it on crackers?

FP4HSharon

I found that evenings were my weakest time, especially the later I stayed up. I started going to bed earlier & that really helped. Another thing I'll do is drink water until I feel uncomfortably full when I'm trying to avoid giving in. If that doesn't work, I'll eat some low fat popcorn, because it's light on calories, but fills me up. Hope you find something that works for you.