Just Started Keto Diet and Feeling ultra-HUNGRY!

Four days is not very far in. It can take up to three weeks before your body keto adapts. You usually feel like hell at first (headaches, fatigue) because you body is missing that glucose. It will eventually switch over to metabolizing ketones for fuel and the hunger will be nothing but a distant memory. Drink as much water as you can stand that helps with hunger. 65-70% fat isn't bad but if you could up it to around 80 or even higher you will go in to ketosis faster. And while you can maintain ketosis with 30 grams of carbs (some can and some can't) you will take longer to go in to ketosis initially. the lower you can keep your carbs the better. under ten grams being ideal. I don't remember being hungry but i did have headaches and fatigue. your body is trying to coax you in to eating carbs with that hunger but if you can stick it out it's so worth it! the energy and appetite suppression from ketones is amazing. most people don't give this diet anywhere near enough time before judging how it works. you need to give it at least 3-6 weeks not a week or two like most do. i always put a tablespoon of butter on top of my meat (usually steak) once it's done cooking to up the fat content. i eat ranch with all my veggies, put sour cream on everything, heavy cream in my coffee...look up some keto recipes...getting your fat up really isn't as hard as you might think. macadamia nuts are like 90% fat and only one or two net carbs. try to concentrate mostly on fatty meats (70/20 ground beef, ribeye), cheeses, eggs anything to keep your carbs under 10 grams until you go in to ketosis. you will get there so much faster. you have to burn through your livers sugar storage before you will go in to ketosis and the higher your carbs are the longer that is going to take. Good luck!

Lay off the Julian Bakery - Carb Zero Cinnamon (Gf) (I'm guessing that's a cinnamon roll?). It's got 27 carbs, which is a lot for a low carb diet.
Also: Edy's - Slow Churned Sugar Free Vanilla Ice Cream, and mangoes

I realize these look like reasonable snacks, but their carb content is high (for a keto diet). Stop eating these, replace those carbs/calories with vegetables. You might be able to add smaller portions of these things after your body becomes fat-adapted. But for the next month or two you should really avoid stuff like that.

When you eat something that's sweet (even if it claims 0 carbs; they usually contain artificial sweeteners), you produce insulin. Insulin tells your organs to stop burning fat and burn the glucose. When you have a heavy carb load (like a 27g cinnamon roll) the insulin sticks around for longer so even after the glucose is gone, you still can't burn fat and you feel hungry. What's more, your body is accustomed to carbs as it's primary fuel, so it doesn't quickly switch gears to burning fat.

You mentioned drinking the fat from the pan: I don't recommend that, but I do drain some of it onto my vegetables or cook vegetables in the fat after the meat is cooked.

Use these guidelines for picking your food:
- Cheese and Processed meat - less than 2 grams/serving
- Vegetables - less than 5 g per serving
- Fruit - less than 10 g per serving (eat sparingly). If you really want something like a mango, eat about a quarter of it. I love apples and used to have 1 small apple every day (22 carbs). When I realized that was a problem I chopped up the apples I had already bought and keep them in the freezer. Now if I really want apples, I weigh a few pieces so that the carb load is less than 10 g. A similar method will work for things like mangos. But you should avoid them altogether for a few weeks at least.

Avocado is good, just not all the time.

Others have already said this, but it's important, you've only been on it 4 days. It's going to take longer for your body to adapt. It took me about 4 weeks. The hunger and carb withdrawals (or "carb flu") only lasted a week, but I had other symptoms after that.

Once you get fat adapted, it will get easier.

Hey there, thanks for all the great information!

In regards to the Juliana Bakery products: it's supposed to be zero net carbs--meaning that all of it is fiber. Does that still spike my blood sugar? I thought net carbs are the only thing that matters here?

And, what's the deal with artificial sweeteners?

I honestly never understood the net carbs concept. I guess this is something Atkins included in his recommendations. But the modern day low-carb top expert is Gary Taubes, and he doesn't talk about net carbs, he includes all carbs together. I suggest you read his book: Why We Get Fat.

Fiber reduces blood sugar spikes by slowing down how long it takes the food to become glucose (or something like that). So you still get all the glucose, just at a slower rate. I think this advice is good for diabetics whose blood sugar is always a bit elevated so the spikes put them into dangerous levels. I don't know if it does anything for otherwise healthy people who are just trying to lose weight. It seems to me that it would just keep insulin in your body for a longer period of time, thus preventing you from burning fat for a longer period of time. But don't take my word on that, I'm guessing.

Artificial sweeteners seem to trick your body into producing insulin, despite the fact that there's no glucose to process. While there's insulin in your body, you can't burn fat. The insulin tells all your organs to store the fat and stop using it and get ready to process glucose. So eating artificial sweeteners can make you hungry. I read in one book that insulin specifically makes you crave more carbs, but I don't understand how that works.

Hang in there; I've been keto (cycled through carb-ups and am now carb backloading) for 3 months now. I realized that I cannot do true TKD without any carb "relief" days throughout so I found a way that works for me and have finally hit my goal weight (minus 10 vanity lbs since January thanks to keto).

I LOVE LOVE LOVE keto and the way it makes me feel (satisfied and in control) and I think if you stick with it, you will, too. Just be sure to be honest with yourself if you can give up carbs for a long period of time and, if not, be proactive about carbing up and jumping right back on the keto wagon (versus burning yourself out and then giving up, going on a carb binge and feeling bad about yourself and giving up on keto). Keto has helped lean me out and solved my digestive issues like nothing else ever has!

Bump

Why??

Update on Julian Bakery breads (by Jimmy Moore):

FDA Investigation Finds ‘Significant Violations’ In Julian Bakery Paleo Bread

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/fda-investigation-finds-significant-violations-in-julian-bakery-paleo-bread/23254?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+LivinLaVidaLowCarbBlog+(Jimmy+Moore's+Livin'+La+Vida+Low+Carb+Blog)