I've just swtiched up my workouts and meal plan. I'm eating more and performing more strenuous workouts. I'm left feeling constantly hungry! I'm literally watching the clock until it's time to eat again, and right now that's not for an hour. I'm drinking plenty of water, maybe a 1.5 litres every 2-3 hours.

My works are fullbody 3x a week and my current diet is posted here:
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showpost.php?p=576967&postcount=45

It feels like a lot of food, more than enough to satisfy me normally. But recently I'll finish a meal and 30 mins later I'll be wanting more.

Any ideas how I can curb this?

that could be an insulin issue, but that should just happen on your high carb days.

otherwise id recommend you stuffing your face with low energy foods, just add salads to your diet,
BIG BOWLS of salad thatll take care of your hunger believe me :tucool:

that could be an insulin issue, but that should just happen on your high carb days.

otherwise id recommend you stuffing your face with low energy foods, just add salads to your diet,
BIG BOWLS of salad thatll take care of your hunger believe me :tucool:

Salad has never filled me up. It's just water.

try eating BIG portions then ;)

Salad has never filled me up. It's just water.
Did you try soup?

Are you recording the foods properly? Maybe you're eating less than you think?

19 grams of fibre in a day? That's really low for that amount of calories. You should aim for 25 grams of fibre for every 1500 calories. I really do think you need a lot more vegetables.

I apologize if I don't understand your meal strategy, but you might want to try grapefruit or pomelo instead of pineapple.

When do you get hungry? Could you make meal 5 smaller and save some of those calories for another time?

Did you try soup?

Are you recording the foods properly? Maybe you're eating less than you think?

19 grams of fibre in a day? That's really low for that amount of calories. You should aim for 25 grams of fibre for every 1500 calories. I really do think you need a lot more vegetables.

I apologize if I don't understand your meal strategy, but you might want to try grapefruit or pomelo instead of pineapple.

When do you get hungry? Could you make meal 5 smaller and save some of those calories for another time?

Yeah, I'm super accurate/anal about weighing and making sure I'm getting what I'm meant to be getting. Except the broccoli, seeing as it has barely any calories I just chuck a bunch in the pan. So I could be getting more fibre than it says there. (I'm cooking at the moment I've just checked how much broc I put in and it was 150g, that's about standard so I should update that sheet.)

The pineapple is mainly for convenience, I order in bulk and it comes in tins so it lasts.

I'm basically hungry all the time. I'm wondering if it's to do with the amount of water I get through. Strange though because I was having shakes for M2, M4 and M6 for a couple of months and now I've replaced 2 of those with whole foods and I feel hungry.

You calorie count overall is low, especially if you are doing really strenuous exercise (lifting and cardio).

that being the case, try sugar free jello, popsicles - for protein try an egg white/chicken breast/spinach omelette at M1. Start off the day with whole food, and rotate whole food and shakes..

Your PWO meal is a bit large - I'd skip the brown rice and move those carbs to another meal about an hour before your workout (apple and/or banana is great here).

You calorie count overall is low, especially if you are doing really strenuous exercise (lifting and cardio).

that being the case, try sugar free jello, popsicles - for protein try an egg white/chicken breast/spinach omelette at M1. Start off the day with whole food, and rotate whole food and shakes..

Your PWO meal is a bit large - I'd skip the brown rice and move those carbs to another meal about an hour before your workout (apple and/or banana is great here).

I'm following this:
http://www.t-nation.com/article/bodybuilding/the_carb_cycling_codex&cr=

So for now I'm just going to with what he suggests.

Perhaps the calories are low but I've just come off SGX where they were even lower (and I wasn't feeling hungry all the time) and I didn't want to make a big leap. I calculated it all with my BMR etc. I used a fairly low activity modifier as I don't move much other than the exercise I do. My desk is 3ft away from my bed and I work on a computer all day, I'm barely active.

Maybe I could add some more real food to M1. I'm a bit lazy at time in the morning though which is why I have just made up the protein with a shake.

I honestly don't think the meals are the problem though. I'm eating more than I was.

Oh, and I'm not doing cardio.

Are you sure it's hunger and not craving? For my entire cut, I've been either hungry or craving. Never full. I figure I just have to deal with it.

Are you sure it's hunger and not craving? For my entire cut, I've been either hungry or craving. Never full. I figure I just have to deal with it.

Definitely not craving. I've never really had cravings. It more of an empty feeling. Oh well...

Do what I do, use a quality thermogenic supplement. It will help to curb your appetite. I sell both Thermocin and Nitor, but there are other products which will do the trick.

I promise you that if you get either of my products you will benefit tremendously.

Chris

Maybe you are trying to cut too much weight. According to your stats, you are 171 pounds at 6'3". I can't imagine that somebody of your height would need to drop lower than 171 pounds.....Maybe your body is trying to tell you something. Instead of going hungry, maybe try eating something.

I agree with Joe. Your body is signaling that it wants to increase its metabolic rate, yet you are denying it. Eat and train with the intention of building muscle. More muscle means increased fat burning. At your stats you can easily put on another 10-15 lbs of lean mass while noticing a decrease in bodyfat.

With the increase in lean mass, if you wish to go on a cut, for whatever reason, you will be able to do so with more food. I don't know about you, but I would rather cut at 2700 calories a day than 1400 calories a day. If you lose anymore weight now, your metabolism will begin to crash.

I'd also suggest periodizing your training where you cycle in some powerlifting oriented routines. Build your strength up. Don't head into the "skiny-fat" territory.

19 grams of fibre in a day? That's really low for that amount of calories. You should aim for 25 grams of fibre for every 1500 calories. I really do think you need a lot more vegetables.

I've been looking over my meal plan after you mentioned this. And yes, apparently I'm very low on fibre even if the broccoli amount are change to reflect what I actually eat. On a day where I eat 2700 calories I would need almost 45g of fibre. Do you have any suggestions as to what would be the best sources for this?

I actually have a fibre supplement perhaps I should start taking this again until I get the diet nailed. Each capsule has about 0.7g of fibre from various vegetables and they recommend up to 6 a day. This is still only an extra 4.2g.

Maybe you are trying to cut too much weight. According to your stats, you are 171 pounds at 6'3". I can't imagine that somebody of your height would need to drop lower than 171 pounds.....Maybe your body is trying to tell you something. Instead of going hungry, maybe try eating something.

Yes, I agree. I've actually stopped trying to cut weight now as I thought it would be counter productive. The meal plan I posted is more of a maintenance diet. Maybe it's not enough. I calculated my BMR and multiplied that by a relatively low activity modifier because I work at home at a desk so apart from my current training I do very little else that's active.

I agree with Joe. Your body is signaling that it wants to increase its metabolic rate, yet you are denying it. Eat and train with the intention of building muscle. More muscle means increased fat burning. At your stats you can easily put on another 10-15 lbs of lean mass while noticing a decrease in bodyfat.

With the increase in lean mass, if you wish to go on a cut, for whatever reason, you will be able to do so with more food. I don't know about you, but I would rather cut at 2700 calories a day than 1400 calories a day. If you lose anymore weight now, your metabolism will begin to crash.

I'd also suggest periodizing your training where you cycle in some powerlifting oriented routines. Build your strength up. Don't head into the "skiny-fat" territory.

Yes, this is what my intention is now. I recently started (last week) a new strength training plan. The calories in my diet have been increased from what they were when I was cutting, but as I mentioned above maybe not enough. I thought it was a bad idea to increase them too quickly.

I want to start building more muscle again now but without going on a full on bulk before summer. I've got plenty of time and I'm in no hurry to pile it on.

This does lead me to another question I was going to start a thread about but it'll probably be suited here now. I weigh myself everyday, I know I probably shouldn't but I'm a data junkie. I don't let it affect what I'm doing in the short term. I also try and take a BF% and measurements weekly. How long should I wait before I start making alterations to my diet? Obviously, I need to wait a while to see what's happening. 2 weeks? a month?

Thanks for your help all :)

Do you have any suggestions as to what would be the best sources for this?




Hey Dan if you goto asda grab a box of there brand bran sticks
they are an excellant source of fibre and dont have too much cals and have decent amount of protein also..
they dont taste too good though..if u mix with a bit of water or milk you can knock it back.

fiber .. well .. SALADS :P

look what i jus thave, the bowl is actually bigger than it looks in the pic and with the bread it FILLS me up ;)
also healthy fats in form of oils.

:eat:

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/4431/woodiejf8.jpg

Grape Nuts, low carb tortillas, whole wheat bagels, oats... all great sources of fiber...

Grape Nuts, low carb tortillas, whole wheat bagels, oats... all great sources of fiber...

Those are good sources of fibre, but not really great sources. Those foods are also very high in carbs, which you don't necessarily need more of.

If you want high fibre without also high carb, vegetables are definitely the ticket. :tu: Another excellent source of fibre without a lot of carbs, but with the kind of fat that you want more of in your diet is ground flax seeds. :nod:

Excellent food sources of dietary fiber (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=59)include: turnip greens, mustard greens, cauliflower, collard greens, broccoli, Swiss chard and raspberries.

Very good sources of dietary fiber include romaine lettuce, celery, spinach, fennel, green beans, eggplant, cranberries, strawberries and flax seeds.

Good sources of dietary fiber include cucumber, apricots, navy beans, grapefruit, rye, sweet potato, beets, buckwheat, shiitake mushrooms and oats.

If you make a conscious effort to include more of the above foods in your diet (especially the ones in the "excellent" group), I think you'll find yourself full enough without having to take an appetite suppressant.

fiber .. well .. SALADS :P

look what i jus thave, the bowl is actually bigger than it looks in the pic and with the bread it FILLS me up ;)
also healthy fats in form of oils.

:eat:


If that's just regular lettuce, it has slightly more than half the fiber of spinach :) I rarely buy lettuce anymore since spinach has so much more in the nutrient department (http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/recipes/spinach/spinach&lettucenutrition.html) than lettuce. I just buy huge bags of organic spinach at Sam's for my salads.

Those are good sources of fibre, but not really great sources. Those foods are also very high in carbs, which you don't necessarily need more of.

I have found some LaTortilla "low carb" tortillas that have 11 g carbs, 8 g fiber at only 50 calories each. So I'd put that pretty close to great. But most aren't that good in the ratio department.

Those are good sources of fibre, but not really great sources. Those foods are also very high in carbs, which you don't necessarily need more of.

If you want high fibre without also high carb, vegetables are definitely the ticket. :tu: Another excellent source of fibre without a lot of carbs, but with the kind of fat that you want more of in your diet is ground flax seeds. :nod:

Excellent food sources of dietary fiber (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=59)include: turnip greens, mustard greens, cauliflower, collard greens, broccoli, Swiss chard and raspberries.

Very good sources of dietary fiber include romaine lettuce, celery, spinach, fennel, green beans, eggplant, cranberries, strawberries and flax seeds.

Good sources of dietary fiber include cucumber, apricots, navy beans, grapefruit, rye, sweet potato, beets, buckwheat, shiitake mushrooms and oats.

If you make a conscious effort to include more of the above foods in your diet (especially the ones in the "excellent" group), I think you'll find yourself full enough without having to take an appetite suppressant.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll definitely work some of these into my diet. Taking a appetite suppressant is not something I want do. It feels like I'm eating a lot, maybe I do need more though.

I did have some flax seeds before and but never actually used them as I didn't know what to do with them. Once I've ground them up what type of dishes should I include them in? I could throw them in one of my shakes I guess.

I did have some flax seeds before and but never actually used them as I didn't know what to do with them. Once I've ground them up what type of dishes should I include them in? I could throw them in one of my shakes I guess.I'm not too sure. I usually throw them on my carbs (sprinkle them on toast, oatmeal, and salads) so in your lower carb diet, I'm not too sure.

You probably don't want much fibre or fat in your post-workout shake....:confused:

You could use them as a coating for your fish or chicken, perhaps with some nuts mixed in. :drool:

Throw them in your shake, mix them in canned tuna if you use that (maybe with a bit of oil), I posted a recipe awhile back that you could make an actual muffin out of them :) I also use them in meatloaf as a binder if I'm going for low carb meatloaf. Just get creative.

I'm not too sure. I usually throw them on my carbs (sprinkle them on toast, oatmeal, and salads) so in your lower carb diet, I'm not too sure.

You probably don't want much fibre or fat in your post-workout shake....:confused:

You could use them as a coating for your fish or chicken, perhaps with some nuts mixed in. :drool:

Throw them in your shake, mix them in canned tuna if you use that (maybe with a bit of oil), I posted a recipe awhile back that you could make an actual muffin out of them :) I also use them in meatloaf as a binder if I'm going for low carb meatloaf. Just get creative.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll nip out and get some later and give some of these ideas a shot. :)

For flax seed in just eat a couple teaspoons worth in the morning, they're actually not bad.

But i have to agree with Joe and Mastover. I'm 6'4 ~215lbs and if i cut about 10-12lbs of fat i'd be around ~%11BF. IMO you need to add mass at this point. I polish off you daily calories at around 3pm with 2 meals left and our activity levels and stats are very similiar. :)

For flax seed in just eat a couple teaspoons worth in the morning, they're actually not bad.

But i have to agree with Joe and Mastover. I'm 6'4 ~215lbs and if i cut about 10-12lbs of fat i'd be around ~%11BF. IMO you need to add mass at this point. I polish off you daily calories at around 3pm with 2 meals left and our activity levels and stats are very similiar. :)

Yes, I agree I need to add mass. I've not said anything in this thread to suggest otherwise. I'm not trying to, want to or even considering to cut at this point.

If you would be 11 BF% at about 205 lbs our stats are not that similar at all seeing as I'm around 9-10% at 170lbs. So it's hardly surprising you are eating a lot more than I am.

I understand I need to eat to gain, but right now I'm not interested in gaining slabs of muscle in short space of time. I tried that before Christmas and just ended up fat (yes, I could have done things better, hindsight.. blah blah). With summer just round the corner I'm happy to just take things slowly. I'm monitoring my weight and my BF% if my weight is not going up slightly after a couple of weeks I'll add more calories. Rinse and repeat.

I've just finished cutting all the fat I accumulated last time I attempted to gain mass and even been on less calories than this for some time. I keep reading that it's not a good idea to make huge jumps in calories, so I'm not.

The point of the thread is not that I'm starving myself, it's just the fact that I feel hungry a lot of the time now. While I was cutting I was taking a ECA stack. Perhaps that was suppressing my hunger during the cut and that's why I'm starting to notice this now.

Thats cool man, i was just throwing my 2 pennies in there.

A couple years ago when i was 195 i was eating almost half of what i'm eating now and wasn't really hungry. After i realized that i was doing things wrong a added food and more streneous workouts to the mix and never looked back.

Different strokes for different folks. :)