BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb What is an average weight loss?

Hmmm you never should be hungry on low carb. Something to keep in mind is that you really eat low carb that your hunger levels drop naturally. Your blood sugar isn't going through the spike-plummet of normal eating, so you don't get hungry again quickly. I'm not hungry at all eating this way, I am full most of the time.

Let's take it step by step. Say for breakfast you eat a nice big omelet with ham pieces and let's throw in cheese too. You have two cups of camomile tea with that. If you eat that at 9am, will you really be hungry again before noon comes around? Even if you drink a glass of water in the middle?

Yeah, I'd start to feel hungry about 10:30 or 11:00. By noon I'd have had the 2 cups of tea (well, ok coffee, cause I love tea, but have to have the coffee inthe morning) as well as at least 1, probably 2 bottles of water. So, if I'm in a spot where I can get to food, I'd have a hard boiled egg, chunk of cheese, cuke, tomato, pepper.... before lunch. I've always had a high metabolism (until lately I guess, cause I gained 20 lbs in the last 2 or 3 years, I attribute that to pre menopause plus stress) and I've always had low blood sugar. The low sugar seems to have corrected itself with this way of eating, which is really nice, but I do still get hungry.

OK I'm sure you won't like to hear this, but let's try weaning you off coffee. If you are revving yourself up in the morning, then you're *making* your metabolism high, so it quickly burns up that food and makes you want more. You want a much more even keel in life. Also, caffeine is a diuretic meaning that the liquids you drink are getting peed out of you quickly which isn't good for fullness or for nutrition. Caffeine raises your blood pressure (of course) and also helps make your body resistant to insulin which can harm your weight loss plans.

I really think that the coffee is causing a problem with you being hungry again after only an hour and a half of eating a healthy breakfast. That seems far too quick for me.

If you really like the flavor of coffee over tea, then go with a decaf coffee for now. It'll be hard the first few days because caffeine is addictive - but it really is worth it for your long term health.

Let's try a whole breakfast routine. It should be long, slow and leisurely. The more relaxed and slowly you eat your food, the more thoroughly you digest it - meaning the fuller you feel and the more nutrition your body gets out of what you're eating.

So don't eat while watching TV or doing other activities where it's "mindless" and you're not savoring the food. Put on some slow music. Really. Set out a nice table. Make sure you add herbs to the omelet so it's really tasty to you - whatever herbs you enjoy. Eat slowly, enjoying each bite. Drink at least 2 big glasses of decaf liquid - maybe sugar-free lemonade, or sugar-free raspberry drink, or decaf tea, or decaf coffee, or whatever. Savor the meal.

Make a note of when the meal ends ... and then when you get hungry again, make a note of that. Don't obsess about getting hungry again because you will <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Carry around a water bottle with you and deliberately focus on things that will keep you occupied. A lot of times if we make a routine - like cookies and milk when we get home from school - we train ourselves to be hungry then because it's our habit.

Let's try this for 2 weeks, and see if we can help your body into the habit of not being hungry again until lunchtime. Sometimes little changes are the easiest to make and really show good results. I don't want you to "struggle through the hunger". I'm hoping you really *won't* be hungry - naturally - if we do this right.

I can do without the coffee, it's not an addiction, just like the creamy smoothness first thing in the am, so that's ok. the other problem may be the breakfast routine. I have to be at work at 8, so breakfast is kinda cooked around getting lunch ready, spending a few mins with dh, doing chores (have a farm) and all the other stuff (hair, shower....) But, I'll try. I don't set an alarm because I normally wake up early and it would wake up dh who normally wakes up much later. But I guess I could go ahead and make a nice breakfast and then sit and eat w hubby, then he would have breakfast too, which he's always not wanted, but...
ok, I'll try it.

He doesn't want breakfast? But breakfast is really the most important part of the day! Or does he not want to eat it with you <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If you're busy eating breakfast super quickly while drinking 2 cups of coffee I can see how you'd get hungry again. Also it sounds like you're not eating it at 9, you're eating it at 7 or something. So then it makes a little more sense that you're hungry again at 10:30. That at least is 3 1/2 hrs not just 1 1/2 hrs like in our original scenario <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Eating a snack every 3 1/2 hrs is much more normal than eating a snack every 1 1/2 hrs! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It really does help a lot - with your whole day - if you're able to sit and have a quiet breakfast vs racing around and eating it on the run. You digest it much better, you get fuller more quickly and the food lasts longer because of how it digests. And it's soooo nice to have relaxed quiet time with your special someone before you start your day. So really do try to see if it can work. If not, at least if you eat it more slowly than you are now, without caffeine, we'll consider that a good start and move on to your pre-lunch snack, to see if having a quieter breakfast helps minimize the snack volume you need to get by to lunch.

Ok, if I just have a snack first thing in the am, then I can eat breakfast about 9 and am ok. That seems to work. I'm able to fix and eat breakfast at work, it's a very laid back place, so there's no problem with that. Then I start getting hungry again about noon or so.
But I still am not losing weight. It's been close to 3 months and only still holding at 10 lbs. I know I have more to lose, it's not just a vanity thing. I'd love to lose 10 more, but it's not going fast enough for me ;-)
So... now what?

OK so far so good. You're drinking 8 glasses or so of water each day? Taking vitamins each day? List out a menu now of what you're eating and let's take a look. We need to make sure you're taking in enough that your body isn't "holding on" because it thinks you're in a famine - but not so much that your body gets all the energy it needs and doesn't need to touch your fat reserves.

Also, write down for yourself your various measurements - waist, chest etc. There are many times during dieting where you are the same weight but your sizes shrink as your body balances itself out. So by measuring yourself you'll be able to see if that is happening.

Ok, thanks, Lisa.
I've been trying to watch the carb counts, and trying some of your recipes. Guess it's just gonna take awhile. I'm at 12 lbs now and really really happy about that. Looks like it's gonna be about 1 lb a week, which is probably way healthier anyway. I splurged and bought some salmon steaks at the grocery. 6 bucks! But it lasted 2 meals, so I guess that's not bad, and it sure was good! 8 lbs more to go and then I'll reevaluate.

A pound a week is a bit slow but as you said slow and steady is very healthy for you.

Salmon steaks are GREAT for you and especially as you got them to last multiple meals that is wonderful. I love salmon and tuna. They have such good fish oils in there and are of course zero carb.

Try doing little things to get some extra movement into your life. Play dancy music that you enjoy when you're getting ready in the morning. Go to your local mall and stroll all around it, people watching. You don't need to "exercise" - find fun things that involve movement. It really can make a huge difference <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

lol, exercise? that's too funny. I'm a farmer in my off hours, working with horses, and cows... throwing hay, hauling grain and of course all the movement that goes into climbing into haylofts, and working with animals....
At my work, I sit at a computer a lot, but I also run up and down stairs frequently, haul boxes up and down stairs and around outside, do maintenance work (lawns, weeding...) Don't really think I need more exercise, but after all of everything is done, sometimes I'll take a walk. Does the walk count? ;-)
Now, for the belly fat which I attribute to having kids and being close to the age where things change...