I am starting my second week of induction and things are generally going pretty good. I'm down 12 pounds and looking forward to what the next week brings.

My question is this: since starting this WOE, I've found that I am not hungry like I have been in the past and my portions have certainly diminished. But what to do when I don't get hungry and don't even want to think about food?

Today, for example, had a late breakfast of a Cheese Steak Omelet...and that's it! Ate a few pork rinds during Six Feet Under, but the thought of actually eating a meal was impossible.

I am not hungry and do not have any cravings.

I want to make sure I get the appropriate foods daily, but when I don't feel like I could eat, what then? Force them down?

Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want my body to slide into starvation mode...

You do need to eat to keep your body out of starvation mode. But you don't need to have full meals. Until your appetite normalizes, try grazing throughout the day, a mouthfull of meat, a snibble of cheese, a cup of salad, and so on.

Good Luvk

There was a recent study in mice that suggested that fasting every other day, followed by a day of free eating, did not impair their health or weight - indeed, it seemed to extend their lifespans. Link to article thread.

Although it is quite a leap to go from mice to humans, it does suggest that there may be alternatives to the "keep eating" advice we've come to know and (mostly) love. (A human study is upcoming, I understand.)

One skipped meal might not be enough to send your body into starvation mode, particularly if you have no appetite. A long series of "light" low-fat meals and skipped meals, however, is quite another story.

If your energy level is good and you are still in ketosis, then I'd say go ahead and skip an occasional meal if you wish. This is experimental and may not work for everyone, but if you are comfortable with it, then give it a shot. Track your weight loss and let us know the results.

Hi Dave,

This isn't a problem I have very often -- rather the opposite! -- but when I do, I find it's helpful to make myself eat two or three bites when it's time to eat. I can always choke that down, and that will often jump-start my appetite. If I'm still not hungry after two or three bites, I'll try two or three more bites in an hour or two. After that, I just give up until the next meal time, when it's lather-rinse-repeat if necessary.

Exercise helps the appetite out as well -- even just a 15-minute brisk walk is good, and swimming is a major appetite generator if you have a pool available. And when you do eat, try to eat as calorically dense as possible so as to get more bang for your bites, and remember that fat content is the key. You can put butter or cheese on just about anything you should be eating on induction, and choosing fattier (e.g. higher cal) meats like chicken thighs is a good idea as well.

I have thought about this too and sometimes have the same situation. I have decided if I am not hungry I am not going to eat. If I am hungry I will eat. If I feel out of wack I will eat too but if my body, after having abused it for years with sugar and flour tells me it's full, I'm going to listen. I never did before and look where it got me. I say don't eat if your not hungry. Listen to your body.

I strongly disagree - this is a symptom of Ketosis and it is great (gets you past carb cravings) but negative as well. Your body needs to be fed and needs to have nutrients and vitamins that eating the required veggies offers.

Try to have 4-5 small meals or snacks daily to keep your metabolism running.

Because the other side of this is that your body will stall losing weight eventually - when the body thinks that it is starving it will hold onto your weight. Then whenever you start to eat again you will gain weight faster too. This is how most of us gain back more weight then we have lost in the past.

Try to eat at least every couple of hours...

I am on day 70, have lost in total 40.7 lbs and i am of course over the moon!!! I do experience a complete loss of appetite and even when i try to offer myself high carb food - which i used to love - i honestly don't feel the least desire to taste it.... I know it's not healthy to stay without food for hours and hours so i do try to have a little protein snack (some cheese, a slice of ham) every 3-4 hours.

But i find i really have to press myself to do it and i don't think it would be wise to to press too hard. There is a psychological aspect to this WOE, a central part of which is IMHO to free myself from thinking too much about food; how much i ate, when i ate, when i will eat etc. It's the first time i get a chance to experience this kind of freedom and frankly i am not willing to give it up by trying too hard to structure a very specific eating plan.

Balance is essential, i know, but difficult too, don't you think?

We know that the agonizing day-by-day grind of low-fat diets causes starvation mode, which is why such diets are so bad at causing weight loss. The question is, does one skipped meal, sandwiched between properly constituted Atkins'-style high fat meals, cause the same thing? To say "yes" is a leap of faith that, in light of the mice studies I mentioned earlier, we ought to re-examine - much like scientists have been forced to reevaluate the leap of faith that said low fat diets would be effective at reducing body fat.

For the mice, even skipping an alternating full day of feeding over and over again did NOT trigger their starvation mode - they did not gain weight despite free-feeding on their eating days. Apparently, their high metabolic rates and regular free-food access overcame the starvation factor trigger, whatever that might be. As an unexpected bonus, their lifespans were extended.

I believe this is a WMMV situation, and that, for men in particular, starvation mode is less easy to trigger than it is in women. The reason for this is paleolithic: starving hunters need MORE ready energy, not less, to get new food, whereas starving nurturers, especially if they are pregnant or nursing, need to conserve their dwindling bodily resources more greedily. This may help explain why men seem to have an easier job losing weight than women.