Hi everyone,
I’ve just finished reading The Blood Sugar Diet book, and I’ve also purchased the companion recipe book. I came to this site and saw the forums to be an exceptionally friendly and helpful community so I thought I might ask for help here
I’m fully convinced and on-board with this diet, but something is holding me back from even starting; I seem to have an irrational fear of hunger! I’ve studied the ‘week to view’ pictures in the book and I just imagine I would be so insanely hungry all the time because the quantity of food seems far less than I am used to eating. I know that’s partly the point of the diet as 800 calories is very low and of course the sensible thing to do would be to try it for myself and see how I feel, but at this point I think I’m scared to even try! I feel silly writing it but it’s true! I’m a bit of a ‘wimp’ and not somebody who can easily ignore pain or discomfort, I think this is the reason I’ve slowly and surely been gaining weight my whole life.
Does anyone have any advice for me? My question is how terrible is the hunger and how do you manage it? I’m curious if people are just eating two or three tiny meals like in the book and no snacks?

Hi Lonoa, Welcome to the forum.
Depending how carb heavy your current diet is there may be a short period of adjustment, which (in my experience is more about mind set than body signals) while your body gets used to low carb eating.. But once you are used to being low carb, then you don’t have the same hunger patterns. – If you eat a high carb diet, once your body has used up/ transferred to fat storage the energy from your last meal it prompts you to eat again. – When low carb so you are keeping your insulin levels low, your body can quite happily use your own fat for fuel so you don’t get the hunger signals in the same way.

Hi Loana, Yes you will feel hungry at the start because you are eating so much less than before. It doesnt last long, around 2 to 3 weeks until you get used to it. My advice to avoid that gnawing feeling is to make sure you eat good satisfying foods that will fill you up and eat something different every day at every meal so you dont get bored. Following the menu planners is a good idea but leave a little bit of food over for those times when you are going to feel hungry. For example, when i make the fritatta I cut a small slice to have as a snack later in the evening – it also tastes better cold. As a diabetic i save a small snack for mid afternoon and again for bedtime, it doesnt have to be much, just a couple of spoons of yoghurt or a slice of ham, that will just take the edge off. Remember you can fill up on vegetables (as long as they are on the allowed list – so no root veg). Drink plenty of water, often people think they are hungry when they are, in fact, thirsty. The water will also fill up your stomach. Depending on why you are doing this diet rather than another that is not so strict, you might want to add maybe 100 more calories for snacks. The main thing is that you try it – what can happen to you if you feel a bit hungry now and then, unless you are diabetic and have seriously low blood glucose – just take care.

Thanks both for the welcome and replies. I feel reassured hearing you both confirm that hunger decreases after the initial adjustment. I know MM states several times in the book that hunger decreases with less carbs, I guess I just need to put doubt aside and try it. I have been reading that several people here on the forums are additionally mindful of carbs and are keeping carbs very low (around 20g per day) I’m thinking this might be good for me too as I currently eat carbs with every meal, and I still feel hungry, even though I’m gaining weight!!!
You give excellent advice Sunshine Girl! I have taken note of some of your tips to refer to as needed, particularly saving a small portion of your cooking for later (what a great idea!) Interesting you ask “what can happen to you if you feel a bit hungry now and then” thinking over this has led me to realise I’m not really afraid of hunger itself, but of hunger causing me to feel sad & depressed. I won’t over share details but I think working on this issue directly will help me a lot.
Thank you. I will stop second guessing and get started now!

Remember that you should feel a little hungry just before a meal, even when not dieting.

When I started this diet I found the hunger between meals wore of quite quickly and I now crave bread, chocolate etc far less now than when I was eating it regularly. It seems the more sugary and carby things we eat, the more we want.

Do drink lots of plain water – it really does seem to help.

One of the things that cause cravings and hunger are carbs. When you eat them they fill you up very quickly but the sugar rush soon goes, leaving you with a need for more carbs. You can mistake this for true hunger but really it is just craving. We all crave certain foods but that is just a psychological craving which you elude to in your post, yes making you feel sad and depressed. I remember when i gave up smoking i thought i would never enjoy anything in life again. No nights out would be the same, even making a telephone call was a chore as i was used to lighting up beforehand. That shows that once the actual drug craving has gone the psychological cravings can last for a long time after but they are just that. In the mind. You have to do something to counter them like going for a brisk walk, knitting, sewing, phone a friend or even eating something which is not on your craving list just to give you ‘mouth satisfaction’ – the feeling that you have had something. Think yoghurt, a couple of prunes, a few nuts, a square of cheese and so on. Hope this helps.

Thanks Sunshine Girl for sharing your experience of quitting smoking (good going by the way!) It sounds exactly like how I’m imagining dieting, I feel like a large part of my enjoyment of experiences is tied to the food I eat and suddenly imagining a barren wasteland of my future life with no snacks, no desserts, no popcorn on movie night(!!!) is a bit depressing. I definitely think instead of cutting these things out entirely, I’d be better off looking at healthier alternatives like the ones you suggested – I had a small handful of pepitas instead of a bowl of buttery popcorn with my movie and found I really enjoyed them, had the same crunchy texture!
Doing crafts as distraction is a great idea too! I used to cross stitch, I have some unfinished kits around I could pick up when I feel like snacking or while watching tv in the evening (prime snack time). Exercise is good too, I have a very active job and have noticed I never get hungry when I’m at work (although it hits hard the very minute I get home haha).
Today I made one small change to my diet, I ate less carbs and more fats, because I was predicting I would massively overeat because of the delicious fats, and wanted to find out if that was true. Well, I certainly did NOT overeat, if fact I couldn’t finish the whole meal because my body was telling me it was full and without carbs it was simply too difficult to overeat! This is really exciting to me because this never normally happens haha. I was also amazed how much more satisfying the meal was, I felt fuller for longer and only ate 2 meals today instead of my usual 3 because I didn’t even feel hungry between.
I have a lot more confidence starting the diet now, making plans to begin this weekend. I know it won’t be effortless but I feel much better prepared. Thanks to all for the help, it’s been much appreciated!

You are starting to learn the tricks and the body certainly doesnt need carbs and the fats do fill us up nicely – just watch the calories. Another trick of mine when i want to nibble is to paint my nails. Impossible to pick at food with wet nails. Keep going, you will get there.

Lonoa, congrats on a great start and for quickly recognizing the biggest advantage of this diet…..no hunger. Amazing isn’t it. Through trial and error you will find what level of carbs per day you have stay under to find the “sweet spot” where you can easily reduce calories to 800 a day without hunger. For some it is 30 (or maybe a bit more). For older dieters carrying extra weight for many years it seems to be 20. But you will find your level. And fats ARE your friend on BSD. They keep you satiated and make all those goreous veg much more delightful.

Wishing you a successful journey.

LTC

Loonoa, it’s great that you’ve found that you can enjoy low carb foods – and that they don’t make you feel straving hungry!

If you can stop eating in front of the TV, I think it would make the diet a lot easier. We used to eat every evening meal on a tray in front of the TV and would then often have a big bag of crisps or something between us – they literally sat between us on the sofa and vanished, leaving the empty bag and we both thought the other had eaten most of them. It’s so easy to overeat that way, plus you don’t really enjoy the food properly. We work from home and tended to eat lunch at our desks, which is just as bad.

Just switching to eating dinner at the table, with no TV on, and not eating lunch in front of our computers, meant we ate less and enjoyed it far more.

Haha love your story about sharing the crisps Squidge, I had to laugh, so true about distracted eating! I’ve often done the same thing at the computer having a snack and before I know it I’ve eaten the whole packet with barely the faintest memory of actually eating it! So I agree 100% it’s something to watch out for, thanks for the tip.

Thanks also LTC and Sunshine for the well wishes

I’ve started the diet and have made a couple of recipes from the book now, and have to say the quantity of food you can eat is a lot more than I was expecting. I made the Melon, Blueberry, and Spinach Smoothie, and in the book it looked like just a tiny 200ml cup you could have, but mine made over 500ml! Just to be sure, I weighed everything out and logged the calories in Calorieking, and it all seems correct (only 16 calories out). I also made Pepper with Jeweled Feta and it was a decent meal, very tasty and enjoyable, hard to believe both recipes are so low in calories! Goes to show, the way you choose to fill up your plate (proportion of carbs vs fats vs veggies) can make such a difference to the total calorie content, even if the amount you eat is the same

Truth be told, I am feeling pretty hungry right now, but it’s bearable. I keep reminding myself I’m only doing this until I’ve reached my goal weight. My plan then is to stay with the low carb medit style eating and maybe do 5:2 to maintain. I keep visiting these forums because they’re an excellent source of information and inspiration thanks to the lovely community

Lonoa, good work hanging in there. You are right….volume on the plate is a lot less meaningful than the calorie density that will fill you up. If you are feeling hungry, have something with some fat. For me it is a mug of strong coffee with 2 Tbs of heavy cream….that usually zaps it. Or even a scrambled egg or 2 with a generous amount of butter. Once the hunger calms down I am so much better at sticking to whatever calories I have left in the day.