Hello all – I’ve been following the forums for a few weeks now and appreciating all the advice and inspiration – thanks! I would really appreciate some advice from the collective wisdom. I am 6 weeks into the 8 week Fast800 but still struggling a lot with hunger. Not cravings, but stomach gnawing, getting cranky, wobbly-at-times hunger. I try to deal with it during the day by drinking warm water or herbal tea (it’s winter here now) or sometimes a carb-free electrolyte drink. But I often have several wakenings at night (toilet, tending to young children, and because it seems this diet is making my sleep worse). I often really struggle to get back to sleep due to hunger and usually need to have a snack – a teaspoon of almond butter is my go-to as it’s quick and seems to do the trick.
I’m not diabetic but have an autoimmune condition that affects my joints and feet and contributed to weight gain. I was on a keto diet (i.e. less than 20g carbs/day) for a few months last year, but after a while it affected my digestion and made my autoimmune symptoms worse. Testing of my gut biome revealed I had decimated my gut flora… and that I have a prevalence of a species that contributes to inflammation if I eat too much fat.
So I’m keeping my net carbs at 30-50 g a day to allow for more variety in fibre to support my gut health; protein at around 60-65g, and the rest fat. I usually hit just over 1000 cal/day, mostly due to needing the snack overnight. I eat more of my calories later in the day to try to help with the overnight hunger, but this often leaves me hungry and cranky in the morning.
I’ve lost 6kg in 6 weeks, but 3.5 kg of that was in the first 2 weeks. At this rate, I’ll need to do at least another round of 8 weeks to get to my goal weight/waist circumference, but I am really struggling to see how I’ll manage that with the ongoing hunger. If you’ve read all the way through, thanks – and any advice very gratefully received!