Ugh.. So I've cut back on my carbs and I am SO hungry!

[aleutsi]

I'm easing into the South Beach thing (I need to eat up some food in my house first and then menu plan and shop for SB on payday) and I feel so hungry.

I'm still eating some carbs for breakfast (cereal, granola, fruit) and lunch (noodles) but the past two nights I've had tofu "grilled chicken" strips over steamed (frozen stir fry blend) veggies. I ate until my stomach stopped growling, but then 5 minutes later I felt like I hadn't eaten anything and I felt like I was starving. Even now my stomach is painfully grumbling. I'm downing water to try to fill it with something. I don't have any non-carb snacks in the house right now and I'm trying to keep from making myself buttery cinnamon toast. I'm not craving carbs particularly, I'm just HUNGRY and all I really have in the house are carbs. :gross:

I should probably give in? Eat the toast and start this low carb thing after I've planned and shopped, right? It's just when I get a notion to do something I don't want to wait.

Advice? BTDT? Is this normal and something you just have to deal with until it passes, or is it a sign I'm not eating enough food?

[aleutsi]

I'm easing into the South Beach thing (I need to eat up some food in my house first and then menu plan and shop for SB on payday) and I feel so hungry.

I'm still eating some carbs for breakfast (cereal, granola, fruit) and lunch (noodles) but the past two nights I've had tofu "grilled chicken" strips over steamed (frozen stir fry blend) veggies. I ate until my stomach stopped growling, but then 5 minutes later I felt like I hadn't eaten anything and I felt like I was starving. Even now my stomach is painfully grumbling. I'm downing water to try to fill it with something. I don't have any non-carb snacks in the house right now and I'm trying to keep from making myself buttery cinnamon toast. I'm not craving carbs particularly, I'm just HUNGRY and all I really have in the house are carbs. :gross:

I should probably give in? Eat the toast and start this low carb thing after I've planned and shopped, right? It's just when I get a notion to do something I don't want to wait.

Advice? BTDT? Is this normal and something you just have to deal with until it passes, or is it a sign I'm not eating enough food?

I'm bumping this up. I wonder if I should take digestive enzymes to help me digest the higher amounts of protein I'm eating? This is really weird, I've always heard that when you eat carbs you are hungry again sooner and protein keeps you fuller longer.. I'm finding this to be the reverse and I'm worried that I'm not digesting the protein. As a child I had doctors tell me that I would have problems with digestion in the future due to my mal occlusion, so I guess this is a possibility. I also suspected that I wasn't able to digest meats and that is why I feel so much better as a vegetarian than I did when I ate meat.

What are the easiest to digest plant based proteins?

[Sparrow]

Are you strictly vegetarian? What's your food plan for doing low carbs?

My lifesaver in my low carb life in sunflower seeds. They are so filling to me. Until you have a plan to food shop I would up your veggies and add a small amount of the most complex carbs you have. I only eat my carbs(complex) with my protien.

What is your reason for eating low carb? And what is your food plan as a vegeatarian? I can't even imagine doing that, lol. Have you looked into it? I look at the kinds of carbs I eat and then how much. I did no bread, no noodles, nothing made from grains but ate grains themselves. Brown wild rice, bulgar wheat, etc. I'm coming out of a carb relapse so I'm starting over with very very little carbs. This is all for my blood sugar. I've finally reached my goal weight(I'm no longer consider 'overweight' yay!) but I need to keep my blood sugar under control.

[agatha]

No advice, but watching this one with interest!

[aleutsi]

Are you strictly vegetarian? What's your food plan for doing low carbs?

My lifesaver in my low carb life in sunflower seeds. They are so filling to me. Until you have a plan to food shop I would up your veggies and add a small amount of the most complex carbs you have. I only eat my carbs(complex) with my protien.

What is your reason for eating low carb? And what is your food plan as a vegeatarian? I can't even imagine doing that, lol. Have you looked into it? I look at the kinds of carbs I eat and then how much. I did no bread, no noodles, nothing made from grains but ate grains themselves. Brown wild rice, bulgar wheat, etc. I'm coming out of a carb relapse so I'm starting over with very very little carbs. This is all for my blood sugar. I've finally reached my goal weight(I'm no longer consider 'overweight' yay!) but I need to keep my blood sugar under control.

Blood sugar issues are my main reason - I haven't been diagnosed officially of any blood sugar malady (because I've not seen a DR about my complaints) but various blood sugar issues run thick in my family and my symptoms match what they went through and I'd like to try diet before seeing a Dr. Also, I tend toward a high yeast population and I'd like to not be so hospitable to the beasties.

Weight loss is not an issue for me. Body wise, I want to tone what I've got.

AFA a meal plan. I'm finding I'm not so good at those, LOL! Basically I'm reading labels and choosing foods that have a higher protein than sugars/carbs.

I'm loosely following Phase 1 of this:
http://www.south-beach-diet-101.com/learn/south-beach-diet-vegetarian.html

I say loosely because I'm still having my daily Tazo Chia Tea - concentrate(it has added sugar) and mixing it with soy milk - now at least I did switch from sweetened vanilla soy milk to plain unsweetened soy milk. And I'm still eating bananas because I need the anti-muscle-cramp stuff they give me (potassium?).

Today

Breakfast:
Banana and chia tea latte (before this would have been a bowl of cereal or a fried in butter muffin)

Lunch
bowl of cooked millet (1/2cup) with butter and sliced almonds (1/4cup) and a Tbs of molasses (for iron). (before this would have been a bowl of Asian style noodles or a sandwhich or salad covered in ranch with crackers. I'd also drink my chai then)

Dinner
I'll have the soy grilled "chicken" strips over a bed of steamed mixed veggies. (before this would have been baked potatoes, spaghetti, mac & cheese, noodle/pasta based dishes, pizza, with Breads)

I'm not really a snacker - generally because I don't know what to snack ON... if I'm in the mood to snack, I'll just mix another chai latte and maybe eat a banana. But, like I said, since cutting my carbs down I'm actually hungry all the time.. it's not a craving for something tasty, it's an actual grumble in my tummy.

Another thing, due to my mal occlusion, I eat super slow. That's another reason why I don't snack too much - it takes me forever and I really don't want to eat all day (I also have TMJ, so it can be painful). Plus, I have so many aversions and sensitivities/allergies (eggs, milk, MSG and I'm allergic to olive oil)

I really don't like food. I wish I could just take a pill in the morning and not worry about it the rest of the day.

[Sparrow]

I don't like food either! I have a lot of foodie friends too and they think I'm crazy! The very hardest part of dealing with my blood sugar issues is that I have to make myself eat. I just dont get that much pleasure from food to make it worth it.

I would change what you eat in the morning. It really does set me up for the whole day. If you have to have your latte is their a protein breakfast you can pair it with? Or even a complex carb? I would totally avoid fruit and your latte. Save the banana for a snack during a high energy part of your day(or afternoon). Do you like nuts/seeds? I really would be lost without them. Maybe make up trail mix for breakfast/snacks.

I love my salad with ranch and crackers too, lol. I put sunflower seeds on it now but keep the ranch. If you like salads you could up those altho I have tmj too and all that chewing bothers me.

I don't know if this is the hungry feeling you're talking about but it really takes a while for your blood sugar to adjust and level out. I get this weird hungry/woozy feeling after I eat a high protein meal if I havent eaten like that in a while. Cause its just a cycle of highs and lows yk that you have to balance out. geez I have to go but I'll come back. I can't even begin to explain how much better i feel when my blood sugar is in balance.

[3andadog]

Advice? BTDT? Is this normal and something you just have to deal with until it passes, or is it a sign I'm not eating enough food?[/QUOTE]


Sounds to me like you need to eat more fat. Can you add a couple of tablespoons of melted butter to your steamed veggies? Maybe some celery spread thickly with natural peanut butter. Sliced mushrooms sauteed with lots of butter (mmmm...).

Robin

[Tangwystl]

Blood sugar issues are my main reason - I haven't been diagnosed officially of any blood sugar malady (because I've not seen a DR about my complaints) but various blood sugar issues run thick in my family and my symptoms match what they went through and I'd like to try diet before seeing a Dr. Also, I tend toward a high yeast population and I'd like to not be so hospitable to the beasties.

Weight loss is not an issue for me. Body wise, I want to tone what I've got.

AFA a meal plan. I'm finding I'm not so good at those, LOL! Basically I'm reading labels and choosing foods that have a higher protein than sugars/carbs.

I'm loosely following Phase 1 of this:
http://www.south-beach-diet-101.com/learn/south-beach-diet-vegetarian.html

I say loosely because I'm still having my daily Tazo Chia Tea - concentrate(it has added sugar) and mixing it with soy milk - now at least I did switch from sweetened vanilla soy milk to plain unsweetened soy milk. And I'm still eating bananas because I need the anti-muscle-cramp stuff they give me (potassium?).

Today

Breakfast:
Banana and chia tea latte (before this would have been a bowl of cereal or a fried in butter muffin)

Lunch
bowl of cooked millet (1/2cup) with butter and sliced almonds (1/4cup) and a Tbs of molasses (for iron). (before this would have been a bowl of Asian style noodles or a sandwhich or salad covered in ranch with crackers. I'd also drink my chai then)

Dinner
I'll have the soy grilled "chicken" strips over a bed of steamed mixed veggies. (before this would have been baked potatoes, spaghetti, mac & cheese, noodle/pasta based dishes, pizza, with Breads)

I'm not really a snacker - generally because I don't know what to snack ON... if I'm in the mood to snack, I'll just mix another chai latte and maybe eat a banana. But, like I said, since cutting my carbs down I'm actually hungry all the time.. it's not a craving for something tasty, it's an actual grumble in my tummy.

Another thing, due to my mal occlusion, I eat super slow. That's another reason why I don't snack too much - it takes me forever and I really don't want to eat all day (I also have TMJ, so it can be painful). Plus, I have so many aversions and sensitivities/allergies (eggs, milk, MSG and I'm allergic to olive oil)

I really don't like food. I wish I could just take a pill in the morning and not worry about it the rest of the day.

If you don't need to lose weight but are trying to regulate your blood sugar why are you doing South Beach? Is it supposed to be good for diabetics? Really I'm just curious. If you are that hungry all the time I would suggest eating whole grains for straight carbs and just avoiding actual sugar. Eating this way does wonders for me. In the last couple weeks I have drastically cut back in the sugar and the less I eat the less I want it. I don't get crashes in my blood sugar either.

And if you get some chai tea bags and make half a cup of strong tea and add the soy it will be like a latte but no sugar. :)

[aleutsi]

If you don't need to lose weight but are trying to regulate your blood sugar why are you doing South Beach? Is it supposed to be good for diabetics? Really I'm just curious. If you are that hungry all the time I would suggest eating whole grains for straight carbs and just avoiding actual sugar. Eating this way does wonders for me. In the last couple weeks I have drastically cut back in the sugar and the less I eat the less I want it. I don't get crashes in my blood sugar either.

And if you get some chai tea bags and make half a cup of strong tea and add the soy it will be like a latte but no sugar. :)

A quick google turned up this and explains better than me, LOL, at why I wanted to give it a try:

http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_100/102_eating_well.html

The diet is actually based on the idea that high-glycemic carbohydrates -- those that rate higher than 55 on the glycemic scale -- or bad carbs, such as white bread and white rice, lead to weight gain.

These types of simple carbohydrates are digested very quickly, cause a blood sugar spike, and then leave the body with an elevated insulin level. The excess of insulin then lowers your blood sugar levels, causing you to crave more simple carbs, resulting in an endless cycle of cravings and indulgence.

The South Beach Diet thus recommends that dieters consume more low-glycemic carbs, or good carbs, such as whole grains and vegetables, which take longer to break down, expend more energy as they break down, and don't lead to empty cravings.

I don't have high blood sugar, I have too much insulin causing me to have low blood sugar.. or so I suspect - but it is probably because of all the sugar/bad carbs that I eat spiking my insulin. This later can lead to high blood sugar when your body gets burned out on producing insulin.

Also, while I don't want to lose weight.. I'm nearing the top of my weight scale and I'd like not to follow my family pattern and gain more. Also running in my family are high cholesterol, heart disease and high blood pressure.

Today I cheated and had a fruit smoothie (it was a promo freebie at a local juice bar) I crashed hard and slept for 2 hours. :gross:

[Amanda_Reyasmom]

Today I cheated and had a fruit smoothie (it was a promo freebie at a local juice bar) I crashed hard and slept for 2 hours. :gross:

I hate that feeling. You reminded me I need to be more consistant with my chromium.