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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Mar-16-19, 19:42
SheilaQ's Avatar
SheilaQ SheilaQ is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 123
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 212.5/156.5/160 Female 5’6”
BF:
Progress: 107%
Location: New England
Default Appetite suppression, can it last?

I am 11 days into Induction and really enjoying this WOE because I am NEVER hungry. Is this wonderful appetite suppression something that will go away with time on the plan?

I have read that one gets fat adapted after ~6wks of ketosis. How does that happy state play into the appetite suppression if at all?

Right now I feel like I could do this WOE in perpetuity, but I suspect I might be enjoying some kind of honeymoon period...
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Mar-16-19, 20:36
Kristine's Avatar
Kristine Kristine is offline
Forum Moderator
Posts: 25,581
 
Plan: Primal/P:E
Stats: 171/146/150 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 119%
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
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Hi. I think of it as the other way around: it's not appetite suppression, it's appetite normalization. Nutrient-poor sugar and starch foods overstimulate your appetite, and then you get caught in the all-too-familiar pattern of weight gain and countless secondary health issues. Remove the stimulating crapola, and poof, your appetite is the way it should have been all along.

Semantics aside, to answer your question: IMHO, no, that keto-normalized appetite won't go away, per se. You've removed things that artificially jack your appetite. But - there are more factors to appetite than just the macros of your diet and ketosis. You may find certain foods, even though ketogenic, cause cravings. You might find certain social situations drive you to eat more. Same with emotional issues, stress, and other factors like medications or hormone fluctuations. Hence the often-quoted phrases here like "YMMV" (your mileage may vary) and "n=1". Self-experimentation is necessary for long-term success.

Best of luck.
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Mar-19-19, 13:07
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
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In my experience, after I've been on Atkins 6-12 mos, my appetite almost goes away. I'll go through periods where -- for a day or two, or more, I'm not hungry at all. It becomes very easy to not eat.

Sometimes, in those same periods of lack-of-hunger, I'll hit a stall. In those cases, I'd have a few bites of something super high-fat (often home-made LC cheesecake), and the stall would break. (Not sure why this was happening for me, but it's how my particular body worked...
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  #4   ^
Old Tue, Mar-19-19, 13:16
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 19,177
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Fat adapted--- your BODY really starts moving the stored material!!! You become your own food pantry.
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  #5   ^
Old Tue, Mar-19-19, 16:04
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is offline
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Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Appetite hasn't usually been the issue for me, but old habits. Boredom is not a good reason to dive into the fridge, but it can happen. That's why making enjoyable meals matters to me.

Enjoy the journey!
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  #6   ^
Old Wed, Mar-20-19, 06:29
barb712's Avatar
barb712 barb712 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,435
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 240/188/185 Female 5'11"
BF:
Progress: 95%
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Today is my two-year anniversary on Atkins, and I must say one of the greatest things to come out of it is my ability to recognize when I'm hungry, thirsty, full, or bored. I'd say as long as you eat low carb, biochemically your appetite will be controlled, but you also still need to do the mental work and stay honest with yourself.
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  #7   ^
Old Sun, Mar-24-19, 14:19
mike_d's Avatar
mike_d mike_d is offline
Grease is the word!
Posts: 8,475
 
Plan: PSMF/IF
Stats: 236/181/180 Male 72 inches
BF:disappearing!
Progress: 98%
Location: Alamo city, Texas
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Experts say that's why Atkins works. You are eating less than you used to. An huuge oversimplification IMO
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  #8   ^
Old Tue, Mar-26-19, 22:48
CMCM's Avatar
CMCM CMCM is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,264
 
Plan: Keto / Atkins VLC
Stats: 173/148.6/135 Female 5'6"
BF:23.9
Progress: 64%
Location: N. Calif. Sierra Nevadas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SheilaQ
I am 11 days into Induction and really enjoying this WOE because I am NEVER hungry. Is this wonderful appetite suppression something that will go away with time on the plan?

I have read that one gets fat adapted after ~6wks of ketosis. How does that happy state play into the appetite suppression if at all?

Right now I feel like I could do this WOE in perpetuity, but I suspect I might be enjoying some kind of honeymoon period...



My LOONNNNGGGG experience doing this has shown me that appetite suppression continues AS LONG AS YOU STAY ON TRACK AND DON'T EAT THE WRONG FOODS!!!! No sugar or junk should pass your lips!

The truly magic and wonderful thing about Atkins is what Dr. Atkins used to call "The Atkins Advantage", and this is exactly what you are
experiencing....suppression or more accurately, normalization of appetite, and none of those pesky cravings. The beautiful thing about this is that it makes it so much easier to lose weight precisely because of the muted appetite and less than zero cravings. I find myself indifferent to the junky sweet foods that always tempt me continually when I'm eating higher carbs. With low carb eating, I just become indifferent to those foods when I see or smell them. It becomes something like "Oh...there's a chocolate covered donut...meh, I don't care, so what." And I don't buy it and eat it!!! And I don't even debate with my fat, sugar-loving inner self about eating "just one" because I don't care about eating it and I fully realize that it's a step backwards that will put me out of ketosis and thus stop weight loss. Every successful day that I have.....I don't want a donut or some other bit of junk to set me back several days. I want to keep moving forward, not going back and forth like a rat on a tread-wheel.

So the short answer is: Just don't change your eating and the honeymoon can last as long as you want it to!

Last edited by CMCM : Tue, Mar-26-19 at 22:54.
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  #9   ^
Old Tue, Mar-26-19, 22:53
CMCM's Avatar
CMCM CMCM is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,264
 
Plan: Keto / Atkins VLC
Stats: 173/148.6/135 Female 5'6"
BF:23.9
Progress: 64%
Location: N. Calif. Sierra Nevadas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkloots
Appetite hasn't usually been the issue for me, but old habits. Boredom is not a good reason to dive into the fridge, but it can happen. That's why making enjoyable meals matters to me.

Enjoy the journey!



I was just thinking about this today....I absolutely NEVER eat all the various junky sweet things that tempt me because of hunger. Nooooo, it's never about hunger. It's habit sometimes (eating in certain situations, such as popcorn at the movies), but it can be boredom, soothing emotions, or just wanting to indulge myself with this or that. But it's never ever about hunger, and that's the maddening thing for me.
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  #10   ^
Old Tue, Apr-02-19, 11:26
Abd Abd is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 216
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 195/178/150 Male 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 38%
Location: Northampton, Massachusett
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CMCM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bkloots

Appetite hasn't usually been the issue for me, but old habits. Boredom is not a good reason to dive into the fridge, but it can happen. That's why making enjoyable meals matters to me.

Enjoy the journey!

was just thinking about this today....I absolutely NEVER eat all the various junky sweet things that tempt me because of hunger. Nooooo, it's never about hunger. It's habit sometimes (eating in certain situations, such as popcorn at the movies), but it can be boredom, soothing emotions, or just wanting to indulge myself with this or that. But it's never ever about hunger, and that's the maddening thing for me.

I want to underscore this, it is a huge issue, for many. Maybe everyone! We are addicted to food in various ways, this is quite distinct from hunger. There is what I'd call an "oral addiction," I want to put something in my mouth. Yes, it can be associated with 'boredom," but it can be simpler than that. If I am not engaged with something that keeps me engaged, I then look to something to fill the space, to take up the time. There are many ways to satisfy this besides actually stuffing my face!

(And filling space is not actually necessary, and the desire to do that is a clue that we have some underlying anxiety, and it is well worth becoming curious about that!)

What is really important is to distinguish all this from hunger. It is not hunger, it is, as said, habit. Under the habit will be many old and new causes, worth looking at. What I consider urgent is to develop choice, and depth. With practice (and training is even possible), we can create new habits with more benefit and less harm. Habits that we choose from a more mature, more experienced position than we were in when the original habits developed. (We may have been small children, even.)

I strongly urge avoiding the blame game, the ready labeling of our behavior as bad and wrong, which generally increases habitual response. Rather, look to and focus on what inspires, the rest will follow.

As to the original topic here, appetite suppression:

Yes, it is better to describe it as normalization. If appetite is the ability to enjoy food, even to superlatively enjoy it, then appetite is not suppressed at all. If we are not sated, we have not recently eaten, and we are in ketosis (and we have plenty of body fat, normally) we will not exactly be "hungry," but we can still look forward to eating a delicious meal. If it is not delicious we will not be interested!

So much of the trick of low carb is identifying and choosing food that we will thoroughly enjoy and that will not harm us.

I recently was treated to a meal at a fantastic restaurant, and I did not restrict myself to low-carb, I just pushed my choices in that direction a little. What were the parts of that meal that were the most memorable? (Because I was literally raving about how good it was at the time.)

At the top was the salmon, nut-encrusted, gently cooked and moist and utterly delicious. About as good as the salmon I make at home from frozen!

Then there was the spinach, which had some kind of sauce, probably fatty, might have had some carbs in it.

For soup before the meal, there was clam chowder. It tasted like it was made with heavy cream. This was Boston and I was not going to pass up the clam chowder! Might have had some carbs, or not.

Then, nice but not exactly spectacular, some mushroom ravioli. The quantity was small, four squares. I did not feel like leaving it, so I ate it.

And then there was the dessert. Cheesecake. There went a weeks' worth of carbs, down the hatch.

What I notice is what I enjoyed the most, and the least. The cheesecake was good, but it was at the bottom for that meal.

The best part of the meal was what I routinely eat. I will eat a meal like that, at a restaurant, maybe once every six months. I was carefully watching my weight over that period, and from the one meal ... maybe I gained a pound, and back to VLC, it's gone within a bit more than a week.

(So that routine meal is a piece of flash-frozen salmon, individually plastic-wrapped, from Aldi. Cheap. I toss it in a bowl of water (in the package), then, when thawed, cut the package open and put it in a toaster-oven broiler at 450 F, sprinkling it with parmesan cheese, for about five minutes, turn it over and do the same with the other side. It is not overcooked, it's easy and quick, and utterly delicious. Another even easier meal is a piece of sushi-quality tuna from Aldi, thawed and then eaten raw with soy sauce. Zero carbs, and heavenly, melts in the mouth, -- this is essentially sashimi that one will pay a lot for at a Japanese restaurant.)

Tastes will differ, so learn what truly works for you! Sugar and processed carb addiction was not natural for us, it was induced by massive exposure.

Think about ice cream. Consider low-carb ice cream vs low-fat ice cream. Low-fat ice cream misses the point!

I take frozen blueberries and pour heavy cream over them. With or without some stevia sprinkled on it, delicious and like ice cream (the cream congeals around the icy blueberries.)

(Blueberries are not VLC, but are highly recommended for moderate carb foods, because of many excellent qualities.)

Eat slowly and savor the food! At that restaurant, I was sitting there, taking one bite, and then making noises like I was in ecstasy! And I do this at home. It's a way to live.

(So I am differing from a plan of "never" eating high glycemic index foods. Yes, they can retrigger the addiction, but that's not likely to happen if one has become thoroughly aware of the issues. In Alcoholics Anonymous, they say, "you can't get drunk if you don't take the first drink," which is obviously true, but it is also true about the second drink. (And AA promotes the first drink idea for very good reasons.) Where I need to be very careful is about the foods I buy and keep at home. What is in my kitchen I am constantly exposed to, and can easily slip into including them. From eating that cheesecake, I noticed no sugar craving. I have much more craving for "crunch." I.e., I want to eat chips. I have had bean chips and other high-fiber chips. At this point, I need to stay away from them, even though I eat them with sour cream. I should probably get some flax crackers. I've made them, they are not difficult to make. Low carb, high fiber....)

Last edited by Abd : Tue, Apr-02-19 at 11:34.
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  #11   ^
Old Tue, Apr-02-19, 11:41
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,177
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Well said!!
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  #12   ^
Old Tue, Apr-02-19, 16:06
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madeyna madeyna is offline
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Posts: 936
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 168/128/130 Female 5.3
BF:
Progress: 105%
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It keeps working for me as long as I eat enough fat
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