Always Hungry? A New Way to Look at Sustainable Weight Loss

Always Hungry Review

February 1, 2016   39 Comments

Dr. David Ludwig has been trying to help people lose weight for 20 years at a clinic at Harvard.

He is one of the many health professionals on the front lines of the obesity crisis and he has come out with a new book - Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells & Lose Weight Permanently. This book is worth a read if you have been attempting to lose weight and been unable get it off and keep it off.

If you have read a lot of diet books – especially Atkins or The Zone – you are going to see a familiar theme. Ludwig advocates for more protein and fat in the diet and less processed carbohydrates. He even calls one of the phases of his diet “modified Atkins”. I think it is modified in a good way because he includes fruit and vegetables.

His premise is based on the idea that counting calories does not help you lose weight. What does help you lose weight is the type of calories you eat. Huh? Why should that matter? His thesis is that a diet with highly processed carbohydrates contributes to weight gain even if you are eating less calories over all.

He did a study published in 2012 where the participants who were on a low-carbohydrate diet burned 325 calories more than the study participants on the high-carbohydrate diet – this is with the SAME NUMBER OF CALORIES.

Basically, if you could eat food that would help you burn calories, would you do it?

Half the book is an explanation of the problem of weight loss and his solution to that problem. The second half is a plan with three phases and recipes. I found the recipes to be simple and not all that different than the ones here on Snack Girl. They feature whole foods, recognizable ingredients, and are easy. There are no artificial sweeteners (hurray!) .

While I have not attempted any of the phases, I have tried to replace my processed carbohydrate breakfast (whole grain toast) with Dr. David Ludwig’s banana, peanut butter shake. I really like the shake and now have been drinking it for a couple of weeks.

He says that eating in this way (less processed carbs) leads to a feeling of well-being and will lead you to have more energy. I believe it is worth a try!!

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Peanut Butter Banana Power Shake

Recipe excerpted from ALWAYS HUNGRY? by David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD. Copyright © 2016 by David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD. Used by permission of Grand Central Publishing. All rights reserved.

1 fresh or frozen banana
2 to 3 tablespoons no-sugar-added- peanut butter or other nut butter
1 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk
2 ½ tablespoons 100% whey powder (1/2 serving, no sugar, flavors, or artificial ingredients added)
Dash of ground or freshly grated nutmeg

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

442 calories, 20 g fat, 37.0 g carbohydrates, 28 g protein, 5.0 g fiber

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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Always Hungry?: Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently

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First 20 Comments: [ see all 39 ]

Why do you say recognizable ingredients---when in my opinion, soy or almond milk is that to me---why can't we use regular milk---to me that is more natural than the formulated soy or almond?

on February 1, 2016

I am no authority but I'm guessing the reason they say not to use regular milk is because of all the steroids and harsh drugs given to the cattle which poisons the milk supply.

on February 1, 2016

I was also going to ask if it was OK to just use regular skim or 1% milk. Also, what is the whey powder for? Is this another protein?

on February 1, 2016

You know a free Panera bread coupon pops up after you comment! LOL!

on February 1, 2016

I agree with Cathy - you ever read the label of soy and nut milks? Why add whey to almond milk when you can just use real milk? Most milk from cows not treated with hormones is now labeled as such (even with the idiotic disclaimer mandated by Monsanto that it doesn't make a difference)

on February 1, 2016

This is very similar to a protein shake I have every day. My only changes is that I use original almond milk instead of unsweetened and add enough ice cubes to make it thicker and seem more like ice cream I eat with a spoon. But the biggest change is that I use powdered peanut butter (like PB2) to cut back on the fats in regular nut butters. I also don't add the nutmeg, but I'm trying that today!

on February 1, 2016

I think the almond or soy milk is a calorie choice. Almond milk 60 calories per cup, Soy milk 80 calories per cup skim milk 91, 1% milk 102, calories per cup

on February 1, 2016

The purpose of the whey is to add protein, not to replace anything that might be missing from regular milk. Also I'm pretty confident Dr. Ludwig would encourage people to use real nut butter because the fats are beneficial in weight loss (and healthy diet in general).

on February 1, 2016

This gets so confusing at times.. I thought pB2 was a healthier choice but then they say the fats in nuts are a healthy fat..Maybe the best choice is to just eat everything but in moderation??????

on February 1, 2016

Our family has tried a few different whey protein powders and can't find one we like (teens complain they are gritty). Which one are you using?

on February 1, 2016

Why not use milk kefir? I make a banana smoothie every day with a cup of homemade milk kefir. It would be so easy to just add the rest of the ingredients and then you'd REALLY have a healthy drink.

Karen Johnson

on February 1, 2016

It sounds like it's worth a try, but I usually am less hungry if I have something to chew.

on February 1, 2016

What brand of whey powder do you use? There are many different brands and I'm stumped to figure out one over another. I usually prefer a vanilla flavored,would this make a differenc

on February 1, 2016

I like to add blueberries (either fresh or frozen) to make it taste like a PB&J! I also add spinach, I can't even taste it.

on February 1, 2016

question for Snack Girl: how long does that smoothie make you feel full? On Weight Watchers, a smoothie with fresh fruit/greens is about twice as many points as if you were to eat them unprocessed. The logic is that you slurp down a smoothie in much less time that it would take you to chew them unprocessed, and there's a link to chewing and satiation. I made a similar smoothie for breakfast on saturday (PB2, 1/2 cup 1% milk, banana, spinach, ice) and it didn't last me that long (i knew I was going to be eating a homemade brunch at 11 anyway). I don't know though. this whole hunger thing is confusing. just always bring a spare banana for mid-morning snack!

on February 1, 2016

I sent David Ludwig your comments above and here is his answer:

We use a liberal amount of dairy products (full fat) in the meal plan, but also aimed to include a range of plant-based sources of protein and fat. For that reason, the Peanut Butter Banana Power Shake suggested almond or soy milk. However, it is fine to substitute cow’s milk (or even better, the fermented product kefir). Any resulting change in nutrients won’t be critical.

Of course, there are strong opinions on both sides of the issue regarding cow’s milk versus soy products, and more broadly animal versus plant protein. I consider the scientific issues in depth in Part 1 of my book. When it comes to these unresolved issues, our philosophy is to provide a range of options, and let the reader choose based on personal preference.

Wishing you the best of health,
David Ludwig, MD, PhD
Twitter: @davidludwigmd
FB: /davidludwigmd
URL: drdavidludwig.com

on February 1, 2016

I purchased the book and have been following the plan. It only required minor adjustments to my existing diet. The recipes are great. I am doing Phase I. I lost 4 lbs in a week. I will stick with it and see how it goes, but most importantly, it is sustainable and satisfying.

on February 1, 2016

@Michelle - I never had a smoothie for breakfast because I was afraid that I wouldn't feel full precisely for the reason that you are DRINKING something versus chewing. But, this has 28 grams of protein and takes me a while to drink - so I felt full - which surprised me. I would love if you gave it a try and let me know if you felt the same thing.

Thanks so much for your question!

on February 1, 2016

People: if you are looking for a non-gritty, soluble whey protein powder, make sure it is a Whey ISOLATE. This type is much less gritty and will dissolve MUCH better than any other type of whey protein powder.

on February 1, 2016

I think whatever diet you're involved with, it makes sense to me to keep it as close to nature as possible: whole foods, from plants or animals, unadulterated by humankind. Since whey ''powder'' sounds processed to me, its not in my pantry. I'll eat my curds and whey in my cottage cheese like Little Miss Mufffet! :) I mean ground peanuts are still peanuts, but something that was watery, then dried and 'powdered' doesn't sound right to me. [I would research it if I was going to have it in my weekly diet.] Also bread has been a good staple in the human diet for tens of thousands of years and I believe if made with whole grain flour, salt and water [as a good sour-dough is], its A-OK in moderation, as far as a healthy diet goes. I include a healthy bread daily which is highly satisfying and keeps me from craving. Since no one is perfect, and they say ''perfect is the enemy of good', I strive for whole foods most of the time, and do not stress over the occasional processed item. I'm 67 and have been a serious reader of all things healthy since age 18 so everything old is new again. I think Pollan puts it the simplest, ''eat food, mostly plants, not too much''. What I do find enlightening reading, however, are the new discoveries of a given whole food's nutrient profile which, I might add, just further supports all the many theories on 'eat more fruits and vegetables"!!

on February 1, 2016

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