Not hungry and not eating much

[billy]

Hi, 

I am a newbie. Started with Keto but after 4 weeks and doing a lot of youtube

research I went full carnivore and I am coming to the end of my 2nd week. i have

lost 6lb mostly this week, I started at 280lb (20 stone),

 

However this week I find myself missing a lot of meals, I just don't feel hungry

and i don't fancy food much... is this a problem? should I force a meal down

or just eat when In finally get hungry enough?

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice...

Billy

[Bob]

Welcome Billy,

There is definitely a balance to be had. On the one hand, many people intentionally practice fasting, either intermittently by eating within a certain window of time each day (your feasting window) and then not eating for the remainder of that day (your fasting window). Most people start with 16/8, which means 16 hours straight of no food (you sleep for about 8 of these) and then eating as needed within that 8-hour window. Others will shrink their feasting window and do 18/6 or 20/4, etc. And then there are those who like to do 24, 36, 48 hours of fasting or more. 

I broke my ankle in the May and knowing my physical activity would suffer I decided then to go full carnivore, 2 meals a day, on a 16/8 intermittent fasting schedule. I was satisfied and continued to lose 10 more pounds while I couldn't put weight on the leg. I made those 2 meals count. Breakfast was several eggs and a large portion of breakfast meat, and dinner was usually a minimum 16oz striploin steak or 1 lb. of ground beef.

The purpose of fasting is for healing. After about 16-24 hours your body starts experiencing autophagy, and it starts breaking down unnecessary cells for energy. This cleans up dead cells, fat cells, unnecessary cells, etc, while preserving important cells like muscle and organs.

Now on the other hand, under eating can signal to the body that there is a famine, and so the body will lower metabolism to conserve resources. This is the body's natural way of getting us through difficult times until food was more abundant. With a lowered metabolism, the weight comes off slower or stops coming off and you hit a plateau. When this happens, you need to eat more (maybe gradually) to signal to your body that the famine is over.

 

As a general rule, you want to eat 2-3 meals a day until you are comfortably full, with no snacking in-between, whether you are carnivore or ketovore. I woudn't necessarily force a meal down, but I may make sure that meal or meals are nice and hardy.

What do you eat in a typical day now that you don't feel hunger and find yourself skipping meals?

[billy]

Hi Bob, thanks for responding...

On one day I had a hearty breakfast of about 6 streaky bacon rashers, 3 poached eggs (i like them that way)

3 standard size pork sausages, a bit of fried Chorizo for fun, and two small burgers as they needed using

due to sell by date.., and of course plenty of salt and butter... I thoroughly enjoyed the meal but then did not

want or feel like eating all day and all the next day.. my next meal was the following evening, i had an 8oz

rump steak, two (rather thin) lamb shoulder chops, and two salmon fillets (about 130g each), i made a blue

cheese, full fat milk and butter sauce in a pan to go with it... again great meal, but missed breakfast the next

day ended up making myself eat the following evening. One thing to note is that since i started carnivore

i have never had a lunch meal, only breakfast and evening meal. I am wondering if my meals are to large?

I have been following the advice to eat until really full hence quite a lot on the plate.

Billy

[Bob]

7 hours ago, billy said:

I am wondering if my meals are to large?

I have been following the advice to eat until really full hence quite a lot on the plate.

Those are large meals, but I think you are doing fine. Although it is often said that there is no need to count calories on carnivore, we can still use it for reference. The average adult requires about 2000 calories per day. I know people who do OMAD (one meal a day) and when they sit down for that one meal, boy do they make it count. You basically want to get at least 1g of protein per pound of your goal weight, and then plenty of fat for energy. You are probably getting that with what you are eating. The foods you describe are going to be nutrient dense, so it's not surprising if you don't feel hungry.

If you were only eating 1000 calories a day I would warn you that portion controlling is going to throw off your metabolism and slow down your weight loss. But it doesn't sound like you are portion controlling. Eat until you are comfortably stuffed (not uncomfortably stuffed).

If you are happy with one meal a day, then you're probably fine with those hearty portions. If you want to do 2 meals a day, then maybe scale them back so you are spreading that 2000 calories (that we don't count) across 2 meals instead of one.

(And remember we are just using 2000 calories as an example. Maybe you eat 1800. Maybe you eat 2800. This will vary per person).

 

[Debashis]

It's not necessarily a problem if you're not feeling hungry and don't have an appetite. It's okay to eat when you feel hungry enough and listen to your body's cues. Just make sure you're still getting enough nutrients and staying hydrated. Trust your instincts and adjust your eating patterns accordingly.