Am i eating too much? I am always hungry.....

[ngel11]

I have been on Atkins for almost 3 weeks. I have loss 10 lbs. Today I found this forum and I have learned a lot. There are a few adjustments that I need to make. Like eliminating everything with aspartame. (which I thought it was fine to have) but I am not discouraged because I still think that 10 lbs is good for nearly 3 weeks.

I get lots of craving to eat during the day and I chose this diet because everyone I know thinks that I can have unlimited of what doesn't contain carbs, so I thought it was suitable for me because I can eat until I am full.

My impression was to eat as many and as much chicken, pork, fish, turkey, eggs etc and I want until I am full.
I have been reading some of the posts of people in this forum and I eat way more than their menus.

An example of my daily meals is:

3 eggs

6 slices of bacon

1 coffee with 3 splendas and 2 creams

4 0z of mozarella cheese (string cheeses)
about

40 oz of water

During the day i munch on pork rinds ( to supress my apetite)

2 cups of romaine lettuce

1 tsp of dressing= 1 g of carb

4 slices of cucumber

a big piece of steak or 6 roasted chicken wings, or 1 roasted pork chop or 1 cheese burger (without bread lol)

This basically throughout the day and i munch of the mozarella cheese and pork rinds to stop me from thinking about more food.

This is my daily food intake. What am i doing wrong? or what can i do better?

Can i fit more meat into this diet?

are portions an issue?

I thank you for any and all the help i can get.

[JulieB]

It would be helpful to know your stats: height/weight/age/gender.

You should eat when hungry, until not hungry anymore. Cheese is limited to 3-4oz per day...I'd guess that you are exceeding that limit. Caffeine is not recommended, but decaf is OK. It doesn't look to me like you are eating too much. How much water are you drinking? Are you taking supplements?

[ngel11]

yes, i am having 4 oz of cheese. Each string cheese is 1 oz. i eat 4 during the day.
Only 1 cup of coffee/day
40 oz of water/day

I am 33/ f/5'7/

Started at 210
Now 200

I am new to this forum and it seems like the ticketer did not work.

[chinadoll]

Hi Ngel- you are doing pretty well but I bet you could double your losses with a few tweaks.

You need to up your water and green veggies such as green beans, asparagus, broccoli, etc. offer you more nutrition that just lettuce so make sure you get a cup a day of these other veggies.

Water is necessary and 40 ounces isn't anywhere near enough. You should shoot for half your body weight in ounces. That means if you weigh 200 pounds you should shoot for 100 ounces a day. It should be JUST water--no drink packets added.

The short answer to your question is yes, you could add more meat, but Atkins is not meant to be a no holds barred protein fest. At some point you need to address why you eat. Are you hungry or just want to munch on something? Making the conscious decision to eat only when hungry (vs. eat when you feel like it) will allow you to automatically bring portion sizes down and eat in a healthier longterm pattern. Also try small portions five times a day rather than three larger meals. Although you are losing fine, by learning to exercise some control in your eating you will speed your loss up even more.

[imagood1]

Also -- watch the pork rinds....they are highly salty and that will make you retain water. I agree with Jill about needing more than 40oz of pure water daily. It's ok to eat 2 cups of salad veggies but make sure you get 1 cup daily of veggies off the "other vegetable" list...they have more fiber and will keep you full longer, help with your bowels and have more nutrition and plain lettuce.

What exercise are you doing? You should be adding some sort of daily exercise to your routine, Dr. Atkins said exercise was mandatory!

Good luck to you.

[ziggy]

did you have any stomach illnesses before starting atkins like IBS? that could be why your always hungry it could take like 6 months for your illnesses to be cured and have a normal hunger level but if your hungry make sure that you eat and later on when you are more healthy from the good food on atkins you will be less hungry


also aspartame can make you more hungry i think so that may have been the reason why your so hungry

and ya you need to drink more water that is very important

and also no coffee and make sure you get 3 cups of vegetables a day and if your like me it will have to be from the lowest carb ones like broccoli so you can eat alot of them with out going over 20 net carbs

and where you ask if you can fit more meat into the diet well you want to aim for 65% fat , 30% protein , 5% carbs and meat can be really high in protein and too high of protein could slow your weight loss down so if you do eat more meat make sure its the most fatty parts like the chicken skin or if thats not possible then eat more eggs instead

an egg is 61% fat also try and add unsalted butter to your diet


also i think 1 cheese string is 1 carb

and also pork rinds are really high in salt if you eat alot maybe try rinsing some of the salt off them i think to high of salt intake can make you retain alot of water and bounce your weight around on the scale you could have lost more than 10 pounds of fat and not know it

[liv]

Don't munch. Try not to. Try to drink water every time you think about food. (That is what I did) Plain water.
Plan out proper meals. Protein veggies and fat, If you have to have more than 3 proper meals so be it. But don't munch.

Keep going. It looks like you're off to a good start

[mizski]

Originally Posted by ngel11

My impression was to eat as many and as much chicken, pork, fish, turkey, eggs etc and I want until I am full.
I have been reading some of the posts of people in this forum and I eat way more than their menus.

I'm new to Atkins (just finished Induction and first week of OWL rung 1) but have not had the hunger issues you mention (except for the first few days of Induction). My biggest observation after looking at your typical menu is that it lacks variety and doesn't seem like it is enough food. I'm not sure if there are enough fats either (have you tried using a tracker to see how your food numbers add up?).

Anyways, here are my comments:

3 eggs - These are good. Maybe try scrambling them or making a frittata with some veggies like spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, and/or peppers.

6 slices of bacon - Is the bacon uncured (no nitrates/nitrates) with no sugar, MSG or other additives? Also, some other breakfast meats like pork or turkey/chicken sausages (check ingredients) or even a pork chop or steak is a nice change.

1 coffee with 3 splendas and 2 creams - Coffee needs to be decaf. Also, with my body, if I have 3 Splendas this early in the day I am ravenous about an hour after. I know it may be hard but try doing without the coffee for a few days and see if it helps.

4 0z of mozarella cheese (string cheeses)
about

40 oz of water - need at least 64 oz/day

During the day i munch on pork rinds ( to supress my apetite) - I would nix these altogether. They really are a junk food with loads of sodium. They only add to your hunger. For snacks it's better to have some protein/fat or even a rib of celery with cream cheese.

2 cups of romaine lettuce/4 slices of cucumber - Your salad needs more to it. Try different types of salad greens with other veggies PLUS some of the higher carb veggies like zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, etc.

1 tsp of dressing= 1 g of carb - Probably need MORE dressing. Remember that you can now have tasty full fat dressings like blue cheese or ranch too.

a big piece of steak or 6 roasted chicken wings, or 1 roasted pork chop or 1 cheese burger (without bread lol) - Is this your lunch and dinner? You could have one of these for lunch and another for dinner. It's good to have veggies with both...maybe salad with one and a cooked veggie with the other meal.

All in all I think your menu is pretty good, just a little light on veggies and protein and possibly fats. Again I would run things thru FitDay or other tracker to make sure you are getting enough food. You really shouldn't be hungry all the time. Good luck!

[Georgiana]

Also spread your veggies throughout the day. Do not have a big salad for lunch and eat no veggies in your other meals. Same with the fat and protein.

[ngel11]

Ladies, thank you so much. I can see how this board will help newbies like me and gives support to everyone. All your help will help me to make the adjustments i need to make. I will rethink my menu and implement all of those ideas. The hardest part will be water. Water makes me gag, but i understand that if i want the results i need to do it that way. I look foward to the next few weeks. I thank you and will keep posting my results