I'll be cereal for a minute...

[DanTheManB]

Anyone EVER (esp since dieting for a show) have issues about waking up hungry like they haven't eaten in DAYS (srsly) in the middle of the night? It seems blood glucose is lowest between midnight and 3 am....and I wake up religiously between 2:30-4 am literally starving and feeling like a hungry possessed demon who wants food. The food cravings vary...sometimes it's protein, others sugary carbs. And I'm usually good at staving them off or if I do eat I keep it to protein and something high fiber or some nuts...

Anyway, I figure I have some form of hypoglycemia. Just seeing if it's somewhat normal?

[ScottishMark]

Adjust your diet so you have a meal at this time, that'd be one insane pre contest diet schedule lulz.

[ErickStevens]

Dan I feel you. I wake up between 4AM and 6AM every day, but I end up just killing time doing random things or by making something that requires a decent amount of cooking prep. It's a pain in the ass, but I always wake up rested.

[ChristianBBer]

Ever since I drank 2 servings of Casein Protein before bed I never feel hungry between the times I goto bed and awake.

[Zarazen]

I am almost at 4000 calories a day and only about 10 lbs over contest weight (2 months), have about 800 calories 45 minutes before bed (cottage cheese, p&b, mac nut oil, whey protein mix) yet everytime i get up to go to the bathroom at 2AM i find myself in starvation mode. Real light headed, stomach completely on empty and nauseated. I usually just down 24oz of water with some xtend and go back to bed.

[Webber91]

I'm the same bro, it's worse on my refeed days (the excitement just overwhelms me :p).

Usually I just forget it and go back to sleep. If it's keeping me up though I'll usually just down a tin of tuna and some water then I'll be out like a light until about 7-8am.

[bballbrett5]

lettuce be realism, this used to happen to me too while dieting. i would usually take some xtend or something but a lot of times still lie awake. sucks man

[fltallpaul]

Why are you referring to cereal? Is there some correlation between having late night hunger and cereal I am missing.

Anyway...you can setup your diet so you eat in the middle of the night. If your awake you might as well down a quick dose of protein or BCAA's. I usually sleep through the night so I don't have any issue with waking. If I did find I was waking consistantly I would put something close at hand to consume and then get back to sleep. I find my energy levels dip quick harshly when I don't get enough sleep.

Also, is it possible your over stimmed? I know when I start taking a new pre workout there are times when its hard to sleep.

[surfergirl36]

Why are you referring to cereal? Is there some correlation between having late night hunger and cereal I am missing.



lol...I thought it was going to be...if I was a box of cereal, what would I be?

I get this too Dan..especially when dieting. It's almost more psychological for me. If my sleep sucks, then I crave the carbs/ sweets to give me that "comfort" to go back to sleep. I changed my timing so I'm eating right before bed but haven't switched to a middle of the night thing yet.

[DanTheManB]

Adjust your diet so you have a meal at this time, that'd be one insane pre contest diet schedule lulz.

Actually I'm pretty much going to do that. I'll keep it high protein, low carb (under 25g)
Like Last night had 3-4oz chicken, high fiber tortilla wrap (10 carb 7 fiber) and small packet of tuna (an extra 18g protein) then went back to sleep


Dan I feel you. I wake up between 4AM and 6AM every day, but I end up just killing time doing random things or by making something that requires a decent amount of cooking prep. It's a pain in the ass, but I always wake up rested.

Good idea. I can usually get right back to sleep as I AM tired ....but the hunger supersedes it...by a large margin. In no way would I be in any shape to be productive...



Ever since I drank 2 servings of Casein Protein before bed I never feel hungry between the times I goto bed and awake.

I've tried that...as well as many type of sleeping pills and even PRESCRIBED medication...
And I wake up during that time on the regular no matter what. Inb4 some smartass mentions sex...same deal...


I am almost at 4000 calories a day and only about 10 lbs over contest weight (2 months), have about 800 calories 45 minutes before bed (cottage cheese, p&b, mac nut oil, whey protein mix) yet everytime i get up to go to the bathroom at 2AM i find myself in starvation mode. Real light headed, stomach completely on empty and nauseated. I usually just down 24oz of water with some xtend and go back to bed.

Yea bro Xtend would help but I can't afford it (inb4 the solution) on the regular. But yea that's a good trick. Even when I'm bulking on excess cals I wake up starving too...



I'm the same bro, it's worse on my refeed days (the excitement just overwhelms me :p).

Usually I just forget it and go back to sleep. If it's keeping me up though I'll usually just down a tin of tuna and some water then I'll be out like a light until about 7-8am.


lettuce be realism, this used to happen to me too while dieting. i would usually take some xtend or something but a lot of times still lie awake. sucks man

:-/


Why are you referring to cereal? Is there some correlation between having late night hunger and cereal I am missing.

Anyway...you can setup your diet so you eat in the middle of the night. If your awake you might as well down a quick dose of protein or BCAA's. I usually sleep through the night so I don't have any issue with waking. If I did find I was waking consistantly I would put something close at hand to consume and then get back to sleep. I find my energy levels dip quick harshly when I don't get enough sleep.

Also, is it possible your over stimmed? I know when I start taking a new pre workout there are times when its hard to sleep.

The stim part probably plays a role. Still happens (habit perhaps?) when I don't take as many stims. The cereal thing is just a play on words to mean 'serious' but I get cravings for such carbs like cereal during this time period so I thought it clever. =/



lol...I thought it was going to be...if I was a box of cereal, what would I be?

I get this too Dan..especially when dieting. It's almost more psychological for me. If my sleep sucks, then I crave the carbs/ sweets to give me that "comfort" to go back to sleep. I changed my timing so I'm eating right before bed but haven't switched to a middle of the night thing yet.

Yea, It's def WORSE right now as I'm keeping my cals and carbs pretty tight til October-ish...but as an example when I cheat I cheat big and I'll eat upwards of 1000 carbs during one of my cheats but STILL wake up starving at that time. Quite frustrating.....

I guess the only answer is to just make it a meal time.

[jked4life]

When i was getting real lean, I used to wake up in the middle of the night all the time because I was hungry. It did get bad around those hours often. Unfortunately, I had to be up a little after 4 for cardio anyways...ugh. As far as the overall hunger goes, I had the same thing. When I was below my setpoint I could easily house 1000g of carbs and go back for another 1000g in a few hours if I allowed myself. Even still, it wouldn't have done a thing for the hunger. At that point, there really is no way to get rid of that hunger no matter what you do. It sucks but sometimes knowing this made me just suck it up and deal with the pain.

Don't know if you're there right now but maybe someone else reading this is.

[DanTheManB]

When i was getting real lean, I used to wake up in the middle of the night all the time because I was hungry. It did get bad around those hours often. Unfortunately, I had to be up a little after 4 for cardio anyways...ugh. As far as the overall hunger goes, I had the same thing. When I was below my setpoint I could easily house 1000g of carbs and go back for another 1000g in a few hours if I allowed myself. Even still, it wouldn't have done a thing for the hunger. At that point, there really is no way to get rid of that hunger no matter what you do. It sucks but sometimes knowing this made me just suck it up and deal with the pain.

Don't know if you're there right now but maybe someone else reading this is.

i block it out during the day. in the middle of the night i subconsciously feel it i guess. ...and the low blood sugar wakes me up and im hungry like i havent eaten in a week. it's bizarre. i'm hovering around 8-ish% bodyfat so i shouldnt be feeling this imo....and at one time i HELD a lower bf than this for a year before i first competed and never had an issue. after the first few shows i did it showed up

[Barn01]

Carbs ... more so sugar is addictive. The more you have the harder you crave them. It doesn't seem to matter if your full, most of us that have dieted hard in the past or currently will have an overwelming craving for carbs once we give in to that desire. I just know the euphoric feeling it gives me and I play with that as a reward instead of a craving, but ya sometimes it can be so bad that it causes hunger pangs. Typically I can fix it with a little protein powder or a some nuts and or peanut butter. I try to never make it go away with more carbs. Just seems to flare up again and make it worse.

I keep carbs in the diet at all times but always a modest level just for glycogen replacement and help with leptin sensitivity.