I'm starving…...

What type of diet has your doctor put you on? Do you have any flexibility in what you can choose to eat? You don't have to be hungry if you choose the right kinds of food. If you want advice, please give us some more info about what you are eating

afoolandhercupcakewillsoonpart wrote: »

Its a low carb, high fat and protein diet. I think I'm in ketosis right now. I'm shaking, hungry and feel exhausted. I actually went over my caloric intake last night….it was almost 1900 calories and I'm supposed to have 1300. I have low leptin so I will always feel hungry. Are there any doctors on this site? Lol. Thank you for responding.

If you've only just started, you will go through a period of feeling like absolute poo. Like you could curl up and die. It does get better. Are you getting enough salt and water?

afoolandhercupcakewillsoonpart wrote: »

So this hell I'm experiencing is called Paleo? Lol. I didn't know what the heck it was. Thank you. I started last week and fell off the wagon over the weekend when I had a Baby Ruth (so good), fruit and a whole bag of candy corn I forgot I had (Smores….they were good too). It is so hard to adjust to this. I've never been much of a meat eater and I'm beginning to wonder if my lab results were off because even though I eat, I eat poorly and maybe malnourished. I love my goodies. This is so hard. I've never been obese before….Overweight, yes. Obese..no.

Low carb =/= Paleo. It sounds like, like you indicated in your earlier post, that you're doing Keto. I'm not an expert on Keto diet/Ketosis (little extreme for me), but there's a lot of people on here who can point you in the right direction.

Paleo involves more than low carb, it refers to eating less processed, unrefined foods, that were available in the Paleolithic period. It's also referred to as the "caveman diet". No flour, added sugar, etc. There are a lot of rules on what's allowed.

Question OP: Is this your first time trying to lose weight? Are you new to calorie counting and dieting? IMO, it's a lifestyle change, and extreme diets aren't the best way to kick that off.

afoolandhercupcakewillsoonpart wrote: »

So this hell I'm experiencing is called Paleo? Lol. I didn't know what the heck it was. Thank you. I started last week and fell off the wagon over the weekend when I had a Baby Ruth (so good), fruit and a whole bag of candy corn I forgot I had (Smores….they were good too). It is so hard to adjust to this. I've never been much of a meat eater and I'm beginning to wonder if my lab results were off because even though I eat, I eat poorly and maybe malnourished. I love my goodies. This is so hard. I've never been obese before….Overweight, yes. Obese..no.

No, you're not doing Paleo.

You may love your goodies, but do you love being obese? You can keep doing what you're doing, and get bigger, or make changes and change your body for the better. It may be hard, but there are likely things more difficult due to being obese.

afoolandhercupcakewillsoonpart wrote: »

You are right. Thank you. I know I can't eat the goodies anymore but it is really hard. Years ago and back in high school, I was bulimic….I would starve, exercise profusely and take laxatives/water pills. It's amazing I didn't die. I was 97 pounds and everyone said I "looked good". Excuse me for saying this but what the hell did they know? I also had issues with low blood sugar so when I shake, I get nervous. A big part of me wants to at least be an overweight normal but another part of me is scared **#@less. I sincerely thank you all for listening and responding.

You don't need to deprive yourself of goodies forever. But focusing on health as well as weight involves making nutritious choices more often than not. Depending on your relationship with food, avoiding these things altogether might be helpful... Some people can do moderation and portion control, others not.

People often base health on looks. Some people with amazing bodies are a wreck inside,physically and emotionally.

Hopefully working with a Dr (or dietician?) will help you get your health and weight sorted out. You may want to find someone to help you work through any issues that cause you to have problems with food (if any..)

Basically, if your end goal is to lose weight, and I'm sure that you've heard this before, you need to be in a calorie deficit. In order to figure out how many calories your body needs minimally to function (think sitting on the couch all day, how many calories will your body need for support basic functioning), use this formula:

For women: 655 + (4.35 × weight) + (4.7 × height) – (4.7 × age) =
For men: 66 + (6.23 × weight) + (12.7 × height) – (6.8 × age) =

This will tell you how many calories per day your body burns while you are sedentary. This being said, you will need to calculate the amount of calories you ingest in one day to be under this amount, hence calorie deficit. In my experience, it is easiest to take your "diet," I don't call it a diet I would say more like your eating plan (because it's a lifestyle change, not something that that you will be doing for a short period of time), one day at a time. Just think about the day that you're present in at the moment, think about what you're going to eat and drink and plan for the entire day (key word: PLAN). It helps you focus not on what you can't have but on things that you can have, this is important to get your mindset in the right place.

The best way that I have learned to keep full while being in a caloric deficit is to eat foods high in PROTEIN while maintaining a CLEAN diet. For example, tuna fish, chicken, beans, eggs, extra lean ground turkey and I like to supplement with whey protein powder (sometimes whey isolate); these meats are what comprises most of my diet.

Start your day out with 5 hard boiled eggs, just the egg whites with maybe some hot sauce if you like it (I know, the yolk is my favorite part too and I cringe throwing the best part of the egg out, however maintaining a clean diet is key in weight loss and especially OVERALL health). You can throw in some veges too, you can never have enough!

For mid-morning snack I'll have a protein shake, here are 2 yummy examples of what I drink: 1. coffee, 1 tbsp peanut/almond butter, scoop of vanilla whey isolate and cinnamon and 2. 4 large fresh strawberries, 1/2 banana, water to cover all the fruit and a scoop of vanilla whey isolate...these 2 smoothies are SO yummy (hint-when using 1/2 a banana at a time, saran wrap the other half and put in freezer to use the next time you want a smoothie).

For lunch I'll choose ~5oz. lean meat and unlimited veges. I try to stick to leafy green vegetables as much as possible with salads or greens.

For mid-afternoon snack I'll have ~5oz. of lean meat, veges and I'll add a starch. Be careful that when you add starches to your meals that they are clean, whole grain and those that are high in fat (avocados, granola) are eaten in moderation. Because although they have a lot of health benefits and are very good for overall health, too much of a good thing here can be bad.

For dinner I'll usually repeat what I had for lunch, ~5oz. of lean meat and unlimited veges. Notice no starch here, for me I've noticed that if I keep my high fat foods and starches in my meals in the beginning of the day, my stomach feels flatter in the morning.

If at any time you get hungry in between all of these meals you can always try a cup of non fat greek yogurt, a slice of cheese (I tend to stay away from cheese and dairy because of fat content and I know I can't control myself around cheese, it's my weakness!), a small handful of nuts like almonds, an apple, cottage cheese, more hard boiled egg whites (in my experience you can never have too many) or a cup of coffee (try to stay away from sugar, especially if you are drinking fruit protein smoothies!).

Last but not least, water, water, water!!!! I have to force myself to drink it because I don't really like it but it will keep you fuller in between meals, improve your skin, hair and nails and it aids in digestion which means your metabolism will kick up; so many great benefits for drinking water that you just SHOULD drink a lot of it!

I also try to limit condiments, they too are a downfall for me because I love them all so much. What I've widdled my list down to is any kind of mustard, balsamic vinegar, HOT SAUCE (literally I put it on everything), worcestershire sauce for marinade, low sodium soy sauce and I use ALL of the Mrs. Dash seasonings for flavor for the meats.

I hope this information helps, if you would like any additional ideas or tips from my experience, don't hesitate to ask, I'd be happy to help!