Hungry at night?

I am new to the keto world and am trying to read through the forums and websites to fill the gaps but sometimes its easier to just ask! I have ben at it for 7 days and so far so good, I have lost about 6 lbs in what I am assuming to be water weight and my energy is slowly increasing, Tonight I was starving around 930, I caved and ate a bunch of pistachios and now am over my calorie goal or the day, but I was so hungry. Should I ride the hunger wave until morning? Or maybe I should have had a more well rounded fatty dinner? I find it hard to get all the fat in because I am a nurse and sometimes don't have the time to eat a lot in the day.

Replies

  • Drop the guilt altogether! My understanding is that until you get keto-adapted (same thing as fat-adapted), you should eat as much as you need as long as you maintain your ratios. There's a lot of information about how calories aren't nearly as important as we have repeatedly been told, but that's really a different discussion, and I encourage you to look into it. For the next one to five weeks, eat what you feel. You'll notice vastly reduced hunger pangs and soon you'll be able to maintain practically any amount of calorie restriction you want. (TL;DR: don't worry about calories until your body has adapted to fat and fat-derived fuels)

    Paraphrasing the ideas of Drs. Phinney and Volek from the book The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, there are two stages of the ketogenic diet. In the first, you restrict carbs and therefore go into ketosis. Your body begins producing ketones within a few days but is not ready to burn them efficiently. This is where the keto-flu comes in, but you sound like you may have more or less missed this. The second stage is keto-adaptation, when your body has produced the enzymes and such that are required to efficiently use fat and ketones. This can take anywhere from two weeks to two months. Be kind to yourself and you'll see there are many rewards that come from patience and sticking to it.

    Source: On the diet since 11/13; many books, articles, blog and Reddit posts absorbed.
    Edit: semi-colon added.
  • Caeyla
    Caeyla Posts: 42 Member
    I don't believe in restricting calories for at least the first week or 2 of keto. The first time I did it, I ate at least 3000 calories a day for the first few days (and it's been a while, but I'm pretty sure it was over 4000 at least one of those days!) because I was constantly hungry! Usually at some point in the first couple weeks, appetite will decrease as your body gets used to it, and it won't be so difficult to stay within your calorie goal.
  • SnowFlinga
    SnowFlinga Posts: 124 Member
    The advice to ignore calories in the beginning is spot on. I have coached a few friends who became intrigued with keto after my weight loss. Until you are fully keto-adapted I wouldn't even consider counting calories; just make sure your macros are on target. You should be eating at least a 2:1 ratio of fat to protein while holding net carbs low (<20g carbs is good for when you're starting out).

    BTW - Pistachios are a less preferable nut choice when on keto. Better choices are Macadamia, Pecan, Brazil, or Almonds (in that order).

    Down the road when you have keto rolling strong, but you feel like you may have hit a weight loss stall (or plateau) it will be time to consider the amount of food you are eating. I don't use counting calories as a measure of the energy in/energy out crap (that''s been debunked thoroughly), I instead use it as a tool to gauge how much I'm eating from day to day.
  • I am new to this group, fairly low to the keto diet, and am a raging member of the Hungry At Night Club!

    Can someone please direct me to a site that has reliable info about how to do the keto diet successfully? Even when I get into ketosis, I don't always lose the weight! That seems to set me up for a cycle of frustration and sabotage. Gotta get a grip on this and turn things around but not quite sure how to go about it.

    As far as what to do about the hunger at night, I have found that drinking a "tea" made from warm water, 1 oz. organic apple cider vinegar, 1 T. flaxmeal, 1 T. chia seeds (optional), and organic stevia brings the satiety I need and holds me til morning. It also stimulates the kidneys, so you might want to enjoy this elixir about an hour before bed in order to avoid having to get up once you're asleep.

    Thanks for the support, everyone! Your posts are motivating!
  • meggers84
    meggers84 Posts: 17
    Thanks for the info everyone, I guess I am still in the calorie tracking mind set because that is always what I have focused on in the past, and to be honest all the fat intake is intimidating! I struggle with "am I feeling better because I have lowered my carbs and with it a lot of processed foods or am I feeling better because my body is beginning to utilize fats more efficiently? Or both!?"
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    Your diary is closed, its hard to say why you might be hungry. Try eating real food, not the low carb advertised pre packaged stuff. Also try to get enough fat with every meal and keep the carbs under 20 for first 2 weeks. I was eating 3500 cals in first 2-3 weeks of keto-adaption.
  • meggers84
    meggers84 Posts: 17
    I had my diary set to friends, its open now!
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    Here are the few things which jump out.
    1. Too much snacking (on some days, most of the cals are from snacks). Eat big meals and if you still need to snack, do it.
    2. Try to hit the Fat goal and % for every meal. Remember protein is insulogenic, which means you will get hungry if there isn't enough fat in the meal. Try to eat like 40 g protein 50 g fat in a meal, rather than 60 g of protein and 10g of fat.
    3. Keep the carb level to under 25, the reason is your insulin can spike if there are more than 10g of carbs/hr especially in the first 2-3 weeks. keep it low so you don't have to worry about it. Avoid eating ton of carbs in a short duration of time.
    If you are still hungry after eating enough fat in each meal then snack.
  • meggers84
    meggers84 Posts: 17
    I think I was focusing on meeting my numbers by then end of the day so thanks for the tips! It will be hard to cut back on the several smalls meals I eat in a day because of my lifestyle but hopefully once I find more food ideas and get more into a rhythm with keto Ill be able to focus on bigger meals. My energy was super low yesterday, I was active all day and just couldn't find something to eat to give me that boost of energy I needed, hopefully today I can balance out my fat protein ratio and see if that helps.
  • SnowFlinga
    SnowFlinga Posts: 124 Member
    You may be trying to do too much, too soon. There's good advice that for many you really should slow down while you're in the process of becoming keto-adapted. You're in a "limbo" period where you're not yet fully keto-adapted so you're body is still looking to glucose as its primary fuel, but you're not giving it that fuel since it's not predominantly in your diet. You might try going with some coconut oil/cream and/or MCT oil. They will both help you along with becoming fully adapted and provide additional energy as your adaptation progresses.
  • Niccidawn092
    Niccidawn092 Posts: 64 Member
    Besides what everyone else said, when I am getting back into ketosis and feel hunger pains, I always think back to how much water I have had that day. Usually I haven't had enough, and that is what I am feeling. Sometimes I really am hungry though! You will learn a lot about listening to your body through this way of eating. So don't sweat it. :)
  • PatchEFog
    PatchEFog Posts: 152 Member
    Here are the few things which jump out.
    1. Too much snacking (on some days, most of the cals are from snacks). Eat big meals and if you still need to snack, do it.
    2. Try to hit the Fat goal and % for every meal. Remember protein is insulogenic, which means you will get hungry if there isn't enough fat in the meal. Try to eat like 40 g protein 50 g fat in a meal, rather than 60 g of protein and 10g of fat.
    3. Keep the carb level to under 25, the reason is your insulin can spike if there are more than 10g of carbs/hr especially in the first 2-3 weeks. keep it low so you don't have to worry about it. Avoid eating ton of carbs in a short duration of time.
    If you are still hungry after eating enough fat in each meal then snack.
    ^^^ This. What he said.
    An absolute minimum of 30 gm protein a meal. Eat every 3 hours. Check what Phinney and Volek recommend for recommended protein and if your situation is applicable, listen to what Dr. Westman has to say about it as well.
    I started with keeping carbs under 20 gm/day, then decreased them further to around 10-15 gm/day, sometime less and only very rarely (like once a month) around 25 gm for one day (and always because I added more non-starch veggies to my meal like broccoli/cauliflower - NEVER breads or grain-based carbs).
    Fill in the rest with fat: Fattier cuts of beef, chicken skin, bacon, butter, coconut oil.
    My macro percentages are like 75-80% fat/20-25% protein/5-6% carb on any given day.
    The better you are in ketosis, the better your appetite suppression and craving control will be.
    Some people need a bedtime snack, so factor that into your eating pattern as well to be sure that you have coverage at potential binge times like "being hungry at night."