I finished induction and had a very nice decrease in appetite and my cravings went away. I had no trouble controlling my food after that. I decided to stay on induction levels, but I did add in nuts but no sugar free products.

Now I'm noticing my hunger is increasing for some reason. I find myself quite hungry before meals when I never used to be. I can control it whereas before Atkins I couldn't. I watched my carbs very closely the last few days and they're at 20 still.

It's not that "give me food RIGHT NOW or I'll kill someone" kind of whacked out blood sugar hunger where you just have to eat. But I notice my tummy is definitely rumbling by meal time. No food cravings though

Anyone experience this?

Anyway, I can live with it. I was just curious why this might be happening.

Squid

I noticed when I added nuts, they were addicting. I couldn't get enough of them. I would start out with 1/4 cup and then kept going back for more. I have read that this is a problem for a lot of people. They are too easy to overeat on them.

Try to cut the nuts and chose another OWL "rung" food and see what happens? Nuts and almonds do stall some people, for whatever reason. Personally I went nuts (pun intended) and had too many almonds when reintroducing them and stalled. Had to cut them out completely again and start all over with something else.

Jen! You have lost 60 lbs since September !!!! How on earth did you manage that? I'd love to do that! I'm trying!

You go girl!

I try to eat 5 times a day, that seems to keep my tummy from growling. But I try to eat at the same time everyday. But there are times where my stomach growls inbetween, especially when I work out in the morning instead of the evening. I feel that if your stomach is growling than you need to eat. Maybe just something small.

I also don't eat too many nuts. I save them for a treat on the weekends. My new find is sunflower seeds. They keep me busy and are time consuming to eat. I know that they are high in sodium, but I can eat them forand hour and only consume 1 or 2 carbs worth.

Wee
Wee

I discovered the opposite about myself lately. Like you, I added nuts and other things and very slowly (over a few months) the cravings came back. I recently read CAD (which is based on the frequency of which you eat) and realized I went from eating 3 meals a day to snacking-- making 5-6 times per day that I was eating. For me, I think the increased frequency in eating made my cravings come back. I recently cut out all snacking, went back to my 3 meals only and the cravings are gone and the weight is coming off again. I still eat nuts but as part of my meal, not a separate snack. Just a thought, but perhaps it not so much the nuts but that you have added an additional snack/meal time to your day?

Sunspine - I'm following you around it seems, today!

I'm the same - I'm better off sticking to 3 meals a day plus a snack. When I do the small meals thing I find I graze all day and it's harder to control my carb count. It takes me back too much to my old mentality of eating all the time, whether I was hungry or not.

Yet other people swear by grazing. Do what works for you.

Dr. A. says when you are hungry to eat - that way your baody won't think it is starvation mode and hold onto your fat to protect you. I notice that when I am hungry more often that I am about to have a whoosh or notice consistent weight loss for the day several days in a row. I eat when I am hungry but nothing too carby - usually string cheese or an egg. Also make sure you are drinking enough water to help with the loss, one of the ways your boday tells you it's thirsty is for your stomach to growl (most people think it's hunger) but drink a big glass of water and wait and see if that satisfies you...

I think it really depends on the person. I definitely eat if I'm hungry. But most time I was snacking just because I craved something, I was not truly hungry. After reading CAD I realized that the frequent eating was making my body produce more insulin which was feeding my cravings and also causing my body to hold on to my weight. It got to the point where I was constantly obsessed about when/what I would eat next. The most confusing part was, I was eating the same amounts as I had always been according to my Fitday numbers-- only the frequency of my meals had changed.

Going back to the 3 meals and cutting out all snacking did a world of good for me. Not only did I start losing weight again but I felt much better-- my energy level increased, etc. And according to Fitday I'm still eating around the same "numbers" each day.

We've always heard that 5-6 small meals a day is best but that may not necessarily be the case for a true carb addict as defined by CAD. Some people fare better on eating only 2-3 meals per day. I guess it all depends on the person and how their particular body produces insulin.