This forum is a lifesaver
 

This is my third day, and I've been doing fine, until tonight.

I had lunch about 12 today, corned beef (0 carbs) and about 5 or 6 grams of salad carbs with it, and full fat mayo squirted all over it, it was great, a decent sized plateful, not massive........but after it I felt stuffed and satisfied, and still do 8 hours later

But a couple of hours ago the mind games started, I was desperate for doughnuts, or biscuits, or chocolate......all the crap I used to eat! but the thing is I'm not hungry in the slightest

This went on for the last hour or so, but I was hard on myself, you know, going through all the reasons I shouldn't, seriously I was 5 minutes away from jumping in the car and going to the local supermarket to stock up on that sh** again.

I came back on the forum to try reading a few posts, I came across one explaining how these high carb/sugar foods are just an unsatisfying drug, I re-read it and started thinking more about how true the post was, now I'm happily back in the right frame of mind, still not really hungry, but I might have some cauliflower cheese later tonight and that'll keep me going till lunch tomorrow (I've never been a morning eater)

I'm following the basics of Atkins, except for the bit that says don't skip meals, I'm following the advice of 'Butter Bob'.....(search for him on youtube if you haven't heard of him). His advice on that particular subject sounded more sensible to me, the 3 meals a day thing that we all know is a relatively modern thing, about the last 80-100 years, his advice is not to eat just because its a certain time of day, only eat when your hungry.

But back to the really bad carb/sugar cravings, surely I'm not the only newbie climbing the walls with it......how long do I have to put up with it, before the switch in my head goes on, and I no longer really think about it

Hi krh :wave: ,

I'm new here, too. I've just got through my first month. In my newbie’s understanding, the first couple of days your body might still have access to stored glycogen. So even though you’re not eating carbs, it still does not have to switch to fat burning. Then the glycogen stores run out. You’re not hungry because you're eating plenty of satiating fat, but your body is still in carb burning mode and so sends you the desperate fuel-tank-is-empty signal: a monster carb craving.

So you must resist - which you did: great job! - and then it finally starts to make the switch over to fat burning. After a week so, assuming you keep carbs low enough, it should be completely switched over to fat burning and have an always full tank, and thus no cravings. If you don’t resist and eat carbs, it sticks to carb burning and will keep sending out tank-empty cravings.

However, once you get past that initial week or so, there are other sorts of carb cravings besides the fuel-tank-empty ones: emotional, the addictive dopamine hit, stress, late night eating. How strong those are and how long they last will probably depend on how much you were relying on carbs for these things in the past. For me, 99% of the battle is now dealing with those cravings. (The other 1% is learning what/how to eat, what supplements I might need, how to handle special events, eating out, traveling, dealing with palate boredom, and so on.) In the past I've managed to stick to LC eating for a month or two only to finally cave to cravings and give up, I know that I'll be dealing with these for a while and need to stay alert and on top of strategies for trying to handle them.

So, great job handling the first bad attack! I think the fact you've taken note of specifically how you countered it will help you in the future. It's a strong start on your anti-craving arsenal!

About the skipping meals, I'm kind of inconsistent there, too. Right now I have coffee and cream in the morning, and then eat my first meal anytime between 9 am and 1 pm. However, in the first week or so I did try to force myself to eat a bit more often. I assume it's easier for the body to process dietary fat than yank it out of fat cells, so maybe keeping dietary fat high during the initial transition period helps. I don't know, just speculating. Long term, I see that there are a number of people here who only eat one or two meals a day. It's referred to as intermittent fasting (IF) and it seems to be working fine for them.

Way To Go on sticking to your convictions!!!
HUGE SUCCESS for you!!!
Listen to your body and visit the journals of others to find more inspiration.
Congrats to you on doing what is best for YOUR body.
Kim

Hi, I'm new too. Only on day 13.......for me, the cravings really disappeared after about 5-6 days. Oh they are somewhere in there, since clearly I am a carb addict, but when I think of them now, it's not the same as it was for the first 3-4 days.

Using the forums for reinforcement of the LC path that I have chosen helps immensely in the evenings for me. When I feel like a snack, I first come to the forum to see what's new, or run through recipes. Before I know it, time and urges have passed without anything 'bad' passing my lips!!

Good luck.

Good advice above. If you do fall off the wagon, just get up, dust yourself off and get back on -- don't get run over :)

It took me many months to get over the carbage. The depth of addiction has a lot to do with it and some struggle with temptation.

I think it's key to find other foods you enjoy and develop a taste for that are not just empty calories. Bacon 'n eggs or steak instead of bread 'n pasta or potatoes.