Hello!

I am a college student and am currently trying to follow a 1700 kcal/day diet. The only problem is that I usually sleep about 3-6 hours per night for 5 days a week (bioengineering + pre-med = a lot of work). I still exercise about 6x per week and have a job where I move around a lot. How do I distribute my meals throughout the day considering my poor sleep schedule? Sometimes I stop eating around 11pm but get hungry at 2am. Please help! Thanks!

Welcome. :)

Just eat at 2am. :) Just make it a healthy meal. It shouldn't be too much of a problem I don't think.

Why don't you give us more info about what you're eating and when, if you can. Then maybe we can offer more suggestions. The more you tell us, the more we can help.

Good luck in school!!

Welcome!

I wish you could get more sleep. :nod:

Here is a typical day -

11am: oatmeal, apple, yogurt
2 pm: turkey sandwich
4:30 pm: black beans in a wheat tortilla
6:30 pm: egg white sandwich, yogurt
9:30 pm: carrots, hummus, and cereal
at the gym from 10:30-11:30 pm
12:30 pm: morningstar farms sausage patties

(I'm trying for ~ 20% fat, 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein)

I'm still pretty hungry around 1 am, and I stay awake until maybe 5 am. I'm primarily worried about eating a lot of extra food because I'm awake and hungry...

I think your primary problem is that when you have to deal with craving, others don't, because we are asleep. Your lack of sleep (although I can sympathize is probably unavoidable) is what is probably hurting you the most.

I'm not sure but can't lack of sleep even hurt your bodies fat loss functions? Comparable to too few calories?

Anyway, I would suggest if you were me maybe low calorie/no calorie snacks like fat free jello and such to get you by. Possibly a small healthy meal. Vegetables?

6 hours of sleep would be the bare minimum anybody would need to not burn out.

If you're only getting 3-6, chances are you are going to feel like hell, especially on a cutting diet/workout and busting your ass with school.

Get more sleep, otherwise, I sense you overtraining very quickly.

Here is a typical day -

11am: oatmeal, apple, yogurt
2 pm: turkey sandwich
4:30 pm: black beans in a wheat tortilla
6:30 pm: egg white sandwich, yogurt
9:30 pm: carrots, hummus, and cereal
at the gym from 10:30-11:30 pm
12:30 pm: morningstar farms sausage patties

(I'm trying for ~ 20% fat, 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein)

I'm still pretty hungry around 1 am, and I stay awake until maybe 5 am. I'm primarily worried about eating a lot of extra food because I'm awake and hungry...

I see that you are aiming for 50% of your daily intake to be carbs but you have 0 after your workout. I think that at least half of your carbs should be after you workout in the form of a post nutrition drink (protein&carbs immediately after workout) and then a couple of hours later you could have a meal that should include proteins and carbs. Actually with the time you work out 2 am would be about perfect for this meal.

This would help your cravings and simultaneously benefit your workouts and progress.

Also with your active job and lack of sleep you may want to dial down the number of days you lift weights from 6 to 3 or 4. You kind of implied that this was just a weekday thing. Maybe 2 of your workouts could be on the weekend when you get more rest and the other 1 or 2 could be seperated during the weekdays.

6 hours of sleep would be the bare minimum anybody would need to not burn out.

If you're only getting 3-6, chances are you are going to feel like hell, especially on a cutting diet/workout and busting your ass with school.

Get more sleep, otherwise, I sense you overtraining very quickly.

you NEED sleep...I can attest to the fact that lack of sleep will not only burn you out, but you find that you will start craving bad foods sometimes. I am a completely different person physically (and mentally) when I can get minimum of 7 hours.
overtraining will likely result.....

1) You need more sleep. I got to college full-time, work full-time, exercise, and do kung fu. All of this has been seriously impacting my sleep schedule and my body has progressively gotten more and more run down because of it (immune system becoming less efficient, loss of mental clarity, poor energy level, crappy workouts, etc.). There's no fix for this except more sleep.

2) 1700 calories implies to me that you're cutting. Personally I think you'd be far better off with a higher percentage of protein in your diet if you're on a cutting cycle. I'd give 40/40/20 a shot and see what happens.

3) How much do you weigh? What's your body fat percentage? You may not be consuming the right amount of calories for your body. I'm 5'10", 167lbs. and 14% body fat and I'm cutting on 1800 calories. Unless you're smaller than me you need to be eating more.

4) Definitely need carbohydrates after your workout. Ideally you should consume some whey protein and a decent amount of carbohydrates immediately after you lift. Dextrose is popular as a great simple carbohydrate to supply an insulin-spike post-workout, but if you're at a higher body fat percentage that may be less than useful. Maltodextrin and oats are also good choices.

5)What kind of workouts are you doing?

I think everyone is trying to tell you to sleep more. How can you possibly be so busy you can't sleep more than 3 hours per night?!? The President sleeps more than that. Nothing is so important that you should be sacrificing your health to this extent. Honestly, manage your time better.

I think everyone is trying to tell you to sleep more. How can you possibly be so busy you can't sleep more than 3 hours per night?!? The President sleeps more than that. Nothing is so important that you should be sacrificing your health to this extent. Honestly, manage your time better.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

To answer your question about lack of sleep, I sleep so little because I am an extremely competitive person and a bioengineering/pre-med student. As a result, I study probably 5x harder than the normal student because I'm striving for a 4.0 GPA with tough classes so I can look great on paper. I also have a part-time job (20 hrs/week) in a biotech research company, and I set aside some time to see my friends occasionally. And last but not least, MCATs! I realize it's unhealthy, but I know if I can put up with this, I can easily deal with medical school. It frustrates the hell out of my mom, but she knows I refuse to settle for anything less. :)

1) You need more sleep. I got to college full-time, work full-time, exercise, and do kung fu. All of this has been seriously impacting my sleep schedule and my body has progressively gotten more and more run down because of it (immune system becoming less efficient, loss of mental clarity, poor energy level, crappy workouts, etc.). There's no fix for this except more sleep.

2) 1700 calories implies to me that you're cutting. Personally I think you'd be far better off with a higher percentage of protein in your diet if you're on a cutting cycle. I'd give 40/40/20 a shot and see what happens.

3) How much do you weigh? What's your body fat percentage? You may not be consuming the right amount of calories for your body. I'm 5'10", 167lbs. and 14% body fat and I'm cutting on 1800 calories. Unless you're smaller than me you need to be eating more.

4) Definitely need carbohydrates after your workout. Ideally you should consume some whey protein and a decent amount of carbohydrates immediately after you lift. Dextrose is popular as a great simple carbohydrate to supply an insulin-spike post-workout, but if you're at a higher body fat percentage that may be less than useful. Maltodextrin and oats are also good choices.

5)What kind of workouts are you doing?

Thanks!!! As a matter of fact, I am cutting. I will definitely switch to a 40/40/20 diet and consume carbohydrates after working out. I don't mind trying the dextrose + whey drink, but I have no idea where to get dextrose. There are no nutrition stores near campus, so the only supplement I have is whey protein from Trader Joe's. I was thinking of having oatmeal with a scoop of whey protein after working out, but does it matter if the proteins are denatured by the temperature of the oatmeal? I also read somewhere on this forum that it is not a good idea to eat solid food < 1 hour after doing cardio.

Also, I am 5'7" and approximately 164 lbs. I don't know my body fat percentage because I do not own calipers, a tape measure, or one of those fancy pants scales. I just use the digital scale in our school's weight room. I do know that I know I have quite a bit of muscle mass because:
1) I am a mesomorph
2) I can feel them easily (especially noticeable in my legs)
3) I gained a lot of muscle from running XC and track in high school (I put on muscle mass extremely easily and don't lose it easily)

If I had to guess my body fat percentage, I'd say... 20-25%?

By the way, I do kung fu too! Soo much fun... I can't seem to get enough of it.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

To answer your question about lack of sleep, I sleep so little because I am an extremely competitive person and a bioengineering/pre-med student. As a result, I study probably 5x harder than the normal student to attain a 4.0 GPA each term in pretty difficult courses. I also have a part-time job (20 hrs/week) in a biotech research company, and I set aside some time to see my friends occasionally. I realize it's unhealthy, but I know if I can put up with this, I can easily deal with medical school. It frustrates the hell out of my mom, but she knows I refuse to settle for anything less. :)

Again, you will burn out. Your body can only take so much mentally and physically and rest is SO important. I learned the hard way and experienced a serious setback in my training because of it...
You will see better results if you get more sleep- I promise. Not only are you able to recover, but you are much more productive in future workouts.

You're always going to be competitive. What's going to happen in actual med school, and during your career, possibly starting a family, etc... It doesn't suddenly become easy. I guarantee you the people you will be competing against for admissions to the best med schools and for the best jobs will know how to manage their time effectively enough to get a full nights sleep and show up fresh for lectures, labs, tests, and work. If you can manage your life and budget in time for your body's necessary recovery function (sleep) now, it will serve you forever. You are setting a bad precedent for yourself, as if the only way you can be a top performer is by sacrificing sleep. Work smarter and harder, not longer. You can get a 4.0 without this senseless sleep deprivation tactic.