Hunger pains?

For what it is worth....the hunger pangs will ease up as time goes on. The first three weeks I  was starving ALL the time. One of the reasons I chose to test run the keto deit was cuz I kept reading "and you won't feel hungry!!"

BUUUHHHH-LOOOOOOW-KNEEEE!😣😝

It does get better tho!

Drink as much liquid as you can stand. Water is best...but that gets boring I go for coffee, green tea ( I go for decaff after 10 A.M.) Also like flavored no cal sparkling water with a bit of water enhancer. Careful with the enhancers tho, so of them are heavy on carbs.

Find a fiber powder and work your way to an amount that suits your age. You can google it to find out what is the right amount for your age group, I get about 15 grams a day..over an 18 hour period. WORK UP SLOW or you will be miserable! My go to is agave inulin and brewed chicory (great no caffeine alternative to coffee) I drink an 8oz glass of water with a scoop of powder every four-five hours...hungry or not.

Make sure you are eating things that will get your gut health balanced, add a a pre/probiotic supplement. (Agave inulin and chicory are both prebotics)

One thing I do with any diet..when I start feeling hungry but I know I shouldn't be...I drink an 8 oz glass of water...set a timer for 30 minutes, then try to get myself focused on something. When the timer goes off, if I am still feeling the pangs, I eat a 1/2 oz of cheese or four/five almonds....and I chew it REALLLLLLLY SLOW.

In that vein, don't gulp your food, chew-chew-chew and take time between bites.

It takes time for your brain to catch up with your gut to know you have eaten and then getting the chemical stew of hormones to tell your gut to hush..it is full. Chewing is part of that process...so the more you chew, the slower you chew...the sooner your brain will clue in to start doing its part.

I make sure I get some kind of fat every three-four hours, the fat really helps cut down on the ick hungry feeling for me.

When I am having a meal, I take a sip of water between each bite. Some days I mix apple cider vinegar into the water I'll sip during my meal, the tang helps ease the  hunger pangs in the digest process.

If you can handle carbonated liquids.....sip on sparkling water, it helps create the sense of fullness. Don't chug it or guzzle it, sip on it...again..slow is the idea.

Adding "bitters" to water can help get the gnawing to ease up, just double check the bitters' carb content, some are off the charts loaded. My go to is Strongwater Orange Cocktail Bitters, this one is zero carb, I get it on Amazon. Anything bitter get your liver pumping out good stuff to help ease the hangries....just adding a small dash of lemon or lime to water will help.( Might not be keto kosher, but I do this on my fasting days to help me stay on track with the fast.

It takes 10 minutes or so for me to notice it is helping. I do this with the "30 minute" thing....more often then not...after 30 minutes I'm not feeling that"OMG I am starving"  ick in my gut.

Good luck and do hang in there.....it will ease up the longer you stick with the diet.

VickP Wow!!! Thanks for such a long and detailed reply. Great info!!! Really thanks so much I got a lot from that. 

Morgan said:
Really thanks so much I got a lot from that. 

 Most welcome, I'm glad you found the info helpful. Be interesting to know, if you try any of the ideas, how they work for you.  My youngest daughter employess all of them and she say's they do help her.

I have to watch myself with the water enhancer....cuz I can end up drinking an extra seven/eight carbs not thinking about it.

Each serving of the ones I use don't have quite a full carb, but it has enough that five/six servings can about three to seven carbs..and when you limit crabs...it sucks to figure out you kinda wasted 'em on something "empty"😮😡🥴

I am addicted to Bubly cherry flavored water with a shot of Great Value (Wal Mart)cherry limeade water enhancer. It tastes exactly like I grabbed a cherry limeade at Sonic...and....Bubly peach water with peach tea enhancer, it's like a peach mimosa.

It's kinda funny..since I posted to this thread I have been kind of noticing things I do when the "feed me-feed-me-feed-me beast" is trolling my brain from my gut.

I keep bone broth ready to go, heat and sip it. For me, I find warm liquids seem to create the sating feeling of food more then cold drinks.

I discovered an amazing broth a few days ago : Simply Asia Vietnamese Pho Beef Broth (Wal-Mart) that is an amazing gurgling beast gut tamer. One eight oz cup  has one carb and five grams protein....it has anise, cinnamon and ginger in it, it SMELLS wonderful and the spices are appetite suppressants and jack up metabolism.

I have been blessed to have some amazing nutritionally educated folks in my life who have taught me about how the brain works when it comes to food, smell counts as much as chewing when it comes to cuing the brain into doing its job telling the gut it is full. I use Jasmine oil in my wax melt pot cuz that scent takes the edge off " I'm hungr,y feed me".

Today when I was at the top end of my carb limit but the naughty fed me gut beast was buggin me, I got a cup of the broth  added half teaspoon unsalted butter, dash of sea salt and pepper and five almonds, sat down so I would slow down and not gulp everything down. I sipped the broth and ate the almonds, one at time...between sips of broth...took me about 15 minutes.....and fours hours later when it was time for dinner, I wasn't hungry! My husband say's it does the same for him, he likes to add a dash of sriracha to his....which adds to the metabolism jack up/appetite suppressant factor.

My oldest daughter swears by chewing gum when the mid afternoon munchies kick in on her. I don't chew gum, kills my jaws...LOL...but guess it could be worth a try!! Just got to check the nutrition contents....carbs hide the most ODD places😡😳

VickP it’s getting cold and broth just warms and makes the world right when you’re starved. I’m definitely looking for Simply Asia Vietnamese Pho Beef Broth (Wal-Mart). Waiting for hubby to return from out of town, he does all the shopping now with covid!! I can’t wait for normalcy. LOL I drink water plain I really like JUST water and get plenty of it. I might try gum I haven’t chewed it in years but use to when I was a flight attendant and didn’t know when my next meal would come so I know that helps too!!

Morgan said:
I might try gum I haven’t chewed it in years but use to when I was a flight attendant and didn’t know

 See that's good to know! I may have to figure out how to suffer thru the jaw aggravations on fasting days😄

Morgan said:
 it’s getting cold and broth just warms and makes the world right when you’re starved.

 Hear,hear!

I live on the Gulf Coast but we still have some days/evenings that have me wanting to curl up on the sofa with a nice hot mug of something warm and get lost in the warmth of the mug, both my girls say the same that "warm" helps fight the "fed me" beast better than cold, especially on cold days.

The friend who suggested the Jasmine scent in the air to cut the screamin "give me sugar" me-mes...I thought she was bonkers...but is is working. I have also started fixing a cup of Jasmine tea and inhaling the scent in between sips and it may be a "placebo" thing...but it is helping in the evenings when that beast really starts grumbling at me.

Mind over matter...the Jasmine makes my mind think sugar don't matter!!

Be careful on some fiber powders - they have a lot of carbs in them and can easily crash your ketosis.

Pat F said:
they have a lot of carbs in them and can easily crash your ketosis.

I have yet to come across a fiber powder that has digestible fiber, thus creating a + carb count. Do you have a specific one in mind that folks need to be on the look out for?

VickP :  Sure!  Metamucil has ten total carbs per two tablespoon serving (as listed on the container); five net.  You can search for it right here on Carb Manager.

If you’re one of the folks that chooses to track total carbs, that’s a lot.  No way around it.

Hope this helps!

Looks like must be looking at the the flavored powders..the "flavored fiber drinks"?   If you go for the "fiber drinks" they will have stuff in them that will jack the carb count, none of that is related to the fiber content tho. Just stick with plain 'ol fiber powder

Metamucil Clear and natural JUST the fiber powder, has 6 carbs but it is 5 grams fiber so it is one net carb.

This is why I use chicory and agave inulin, nothing but fiber, no additives and a heckofuh a lot cheaper then the fancy smacy name brands😁.

Good for you!

One large hard boiled egg with salt or  one cup of cabbage fried in butter is tasty, filling with low carbs. The Aldi’s Elevation bars Carmel Nut Flavor are great only 2 carbs and you feel like you are getting a treat.

Ah, The Elevation bars might be a couple more carbs than 2, it’s been awhile since I ate one.

Has it gotten better after a month? What is the gap between your last meal and when you get hungry?

I cried yesterday from the hunger from fasting 16 hours, not worth being unhappy and crying, but i will stick to low carb and just a 12 hour fast. 

It was SO hard for me at the beginning too, the hunger pains were terrible. Now, I do a bulletproof coffee (1 tbsp ea of Coconut oil & Ghee + 2 tbsp heavy cream & pinch of pink salt) mid morning as a “breakfast” and LOTS of water! (Tech not breaking my fast since all fats.)

Now I can fast 18-20 hrs. It has taken a few months to build up to it. But not all bodies are equal, just add 30-60 mins until you can do it...or stick with what works for you! Any fast is better than none!

Lots of great suggestions here.

To fight hunger pains, I have a cup of hot hot hot tea.  It takes me forever to drink it, keeps my hands busy and by the time I finish it I have talked myself out of being so hungry.

VickP Interesting.  I just looked up the simply asian pho broth and the second ingredient is cane sugar.  I only point this out as this keto thing has me confused.  I've been watching videos on you tube that say you should avoid any food that has any sugar at all in it.  I'm a newbie, so certainly don't understand.!!!