2. Eat When Hungry
Don’t be hungry. The most common mistake when starting a low carb
diet: Reducing carb intake while still being afraid of fat. The problem
is that carbs and fat are the body’s two main energy sources. It needs
at least one.
Low carb AND low fat = starvation
Low carb AND low fat = starvation
Avoiding
both carbs and fat results in hunger, cravings and fatigue. Sooner or
later people can’t stand it and give up. The solution is to eat more natural fat until you feel satisfied. For example:
- Butter
- Full-fat cream
- Olive oil
- Meat (including the fat)
- Fatty fish
- Bacon
- Eggs
- Coconut oil, etc.
Always eat enough,
so that you feel satisfied, especially in the beginning of the
weight-loss process. Doing this on a low carb diet means that the fat
you eat will be burned as fuel by your body, as your levels of the fat
storing hormone insulin will be lowered. You’ll become a fat burning
machine. You’ll lose excess weight without hunger.
Do you still fear saturated fat? Don’t. The fear of saturated fat is based on obsolete theories that have been proven incorrect by modern science.
Butter is a fine food. However, feel free to eat mostly unsaturated fat
(e.g. olive oil, avocado, fatty fish) if you prefer. This could be
called a Mediterranean low carb diet and works great too.
Eating when hungry also implies something else: If you’re not hungry you probably don’t need to eat yet.
When on a LCHF diet you can trust your feelings of hunger and satiety
again. Feel free to eat as many times per day that works best for you.
Some people eat three times a day and occasionally snack in
between (note that frequent snacking could mean that you’d benefit from
adding fat to your meals, to increase satiety). Some people only eat
once or twice a day and never snack. Whatever works for you. Just eat
when you’re hungry.
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