Depending on what is triggering the feeling of hunger you could be:

1) Short on calories. I know when I finally bit the bullet and started clamping down on my carbs, I found I was not getting enough fat and fiber to help the protein stick around for very long. If I had just eggs for breakfast, I was scavaging in the kitchen within a few hours for something, ANYTHING, to eat. However, if I paired the eggs with a smoothie, or other food, I would feel full at least until after my first class. Same with just nuts, or any other "pure" protein source. About the only thing that method didn't work for was salads. I could stuff myself with leafy veggies topped with cheese, avacado, baby shrimp, and dressing then be starving again a few hours later. (I think the leafy stuff compacted down quite a bit once it was chewed, so it took up a LOT less room in the tummy.)

2) If you are just now switching over to a lower carb/ higher protein menu, especially if you are leaving behind the sugar laden foods, the hunger feeling should subside in as little as a few days, but as long as a month while your body switches metabolic gears away from the sugar addiction. In the mean time, the feeling of hunger is probably your body demanding a fuel source that you no longer want to include in your daily menu. I agree with Crochetluvr about not making any food taboo because of the rebound when you finally cave into the cravings. Delaying the satisfaction of those cravings, along with a very strict portion control will help ease them, and eventually MAY help get rid of them. Everyone is different in this regard. Some can quit the sugar addiction cold turkey, others have to wean out of it, and some get lucky with the addiction breaking on its own.

3) What are you hungry FOR? (And, I'm not including sugar in this category.) As you switch your menu over to a more glucose control friendly menu, some of the carb sources you are eliminating may have vitamins and minerals that you are not getting enough of from other sources in your diet. If this is the case, then perhaps the reason you are hungry is because you are trying to find what ever you are short on. Generally, if you like a wide variety of foods, your hunger will have a "pull" towards a TYPE of food - and that "pull" is your body's way of telling you that you are short of something you can get from that category. (Example - if you are short betacaotine, you may feel hungry for carrots. If you are short some of the omega fatty acids, you may feel hungry for fatty/oily fish.) Some of this can be satisfied from daily multi vitamins, but if you are hungry for a certain type of food, listening to your body may help get things balanced a little quicker.

Hope this helps.

K

If you are feeling deprived of the yummy carby food out there, I would advise you Google low carb (insert the food you crave). Quite often you can find what you want with a lower carb count. I eat under 25g of carbs a day, I don't feel deprived but I do sometimes wish I could have certain things. So far I have always been able to find a low carb alternative.

Good luck, it's a doable diet with the help of all the low carb cooks on the www. :-)