pre-contest diet cravings- how to stop them????

[ashley97]

Does anyone have any tips or good ideas on how to stop bad cravings from happening when preparing and dieting for a show? Help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

[Baumer]

I guess it depends on what you're craving. I use Splenda to sweeten up things like oatmeal, I drink a lot of flavored diet iced tea and Fruit 2o. I also make protein shakes with a strawberry and chocolate syrup made with slpenda, no calories or sugar and very little carbs

[freaker]

Don't eat pizza. I'd say the best thing for the cravings if they're more mental than physical is to try to stay out of situations where you're more likely to cheat on your diet. If you've got a good diet that is giving you what you need, just stay strong and do your best to fight those gravings.

[ManofSteel]

Bump on the above, it's all about willpower and determination

[Dann]

a week before the contest was, Arnold used to stop dieting and go back to a normal diet, i always notice i look better after i stop the diet than when im on it too, something to try if the craving get really bad



Dann

[wannabestud]

I wouldn't need to stop them if things keep going the way they are. We'll see how things are about 6 months from now.

[str8flexed]

Originally posted by freaker
Don't eat pizza. I'd say the best thing for the cravings if they're more mental than physical is to try to stay out of situations where you're more likely to cheat on your diet. If you've got a good diet that is giving you what you need, just stay strong and do your best to fight those gravings.

haha word Ian.

some tips I picked up from mine...

lots of salad with calorie free dressing (a company called walden farms makes it and it should be in the salad section... not the dressings section as it must be kept cold)

sugar free jello
sugar free pudding (keep both of these to a minimum)

Make your carb sources count... if you eat startchy carbs.. make em' bulky... don't have a carb drink pre workout... one of my favorite things to do is have low fat popcorn with calorie free butter spray one huge bag has 50g of carbs and fills up 6 cereal bowls compared to one bowl of cereal with 50g carbs

an ECA stack can reduce cravings.

synephrine can reduce cravings

drink lots of water

use splenda

diet sodas can curb cravings (but use sparingly)

If you are not I would also recommend incooperating refeeds... your hunger is quite likely due mostly to plumiting leptin levels (mother of all fat burning hormones and drops when calorie defict is introduced) dropping leptin levels "turn on" the hunger mechanism b/c your body thinks its starving. I would recommend upping your cals to maintenance levels once per week... and do it on the day when you work your weakest bodypart (looks wise).

Peace,
-Layne

[ashley97]

Thanks for all the replys! They were helpful! But what is synephrine? I know it reduces cravings but what exactly is it? And what are refeeds??

[str8flexed]

synephrine is a derivative of ephedrine I believe. You can go to just about any health food store and purchase plain synephrine.

refeeds refer to increasing carb intake for a short period of time (24 hours) in order to increase leptin levels. For example lets say you had been dieting like this... (i'm just taking a stab here)

150g protein
150g carbs
40g fat

for one day per week you would increase carbs to around 300g and lower fat to around 30g and protein to around 120g.

Leptin is the mother of all fat burning hormones and dieting makes leptin levels severly drop (this is why you hear people complaining about how easy the first 10 lbs were to lose but they can't lose another ounce now). By increasing glucose influx into the cell you will initiate the body to start producing more leptin and jump start your metabolism.

Peace,
-Layne

[Baumer]

Originally posted by str8flexed
haha word Ian.

some tips I picked up from mine...

lots of salad with calorie free dressing (a company called walden farms makes it and it should be in the salad section... not the dressings section as it must be kept cold)

sugar free jello
sugar free pudding (keep both of these to a minimum)

Make your carb sources count... if you eat startchy carbs.. make em' bulky... don't have a carb drink pre workout... one of my favorite things to do is have low fat popcorn with calorie free butter spray one huge bag has 50g of carbs and fills up 6 cereal bowls compared to one bowl of cereal with 50g carbs

an ECA stack can reduce cravings.

synephrine can reduce cravings

drink lots of water

use splenda

diet sodas can curb cravings (but use sparingly)

If you are not I would also recommend incooperating refeeds... your hunger is quite likely due mostly to plumiting leptin levels (mother of all fat burning hormones and drops when calorie defict is introduced) dropping leptin levels "turn on" the hunger mechanism b/c your body thinks its starving. I would recommend upping your cals to maintenance levels once per week... and do it on the day when you work your weakest bodypart (looks wise).

Peace,
-Layne

I've been using a lot of these actually. For dinner I have a huge bowl of salad, topped with various things, asparagras, mushrooms, etc...and some chicken, and I use that Walden Farms dressing, good stuff!
I also will have sugar free jello, I'll use it in protein shakes. And I use splenda to flavor all sorts of things.
I drink Fruit 2o and Arizona diet iced tea which is made with Splenda as well.

[musmar]

bump

[cdnfitness]

Hello! I'm new to the boards, just browsing, thought I'd get in on this one-I have to agree with the "bump it" advice and that it comes down to how much you want it. Just think about the people you are going to be standing on stage next to! Or as one of the girls I train says, whenever she gets a craving, she just takes a look at her butt in the mirror and that turns her off wanting to eat anything bad!!!!
However, I'd have to also add that if the WORST thing you are doing is having something with a little sweetner (diet pop, diet jello) and if that is going to keep you from the big binge, maybe it's not so bad!!!!

[BigWard]

Chromium Picollinate controls your blood sugar levels, which could help keep cravings off. Other stuff is Crystal Light, protein bars (atkins and muscletech sell great ones) and Light Whipped Cream.

[str8flexed]

Originally posted by BigWard
Chromium Picollinate controls your blood sugar levels, which could help keep cravings off. Other stuff is Crystal Light, protein bars (atkins and muscletech sell great ones) and Light Whipped Cream.

chromium only works in people with comprimised glucose metabolism. There is also some evidence that when consumed in large enough amounts, it can be a mutagen.
Peace