And what if you are not hungry? AT ALL!

[Fit4Fun]

Hi everyone,

This is quite a dilemma to me. I am losing fat (need to lose around 10-15 pounds), while working on my muscles-- to shape a nice physique for when I lean out.
So much for my goals; what do you do if you're not hungry at all (like it feels sick to cook, let alone eat) and it's pretty clear you're running behind your calories for the day?
Do you still eat regardless? Or is it wise to listen to your body and let it have its way?

[turbos10]

Eat! But, it has to be clean. You need to regiment your meals and eat when you are suppose to eat. Train your body it is getting fed often so you will use the energy and drop the fat that has been stored for all those times between meals.

I actually just had this delima. I always try to eat at 10am so I can actually eat at lunch time. However, I ate my first meal at 8 and I was not close to hungry. I cooked 1/2 cup of oats and drank 2 scoops of whey anyway. It was time to eat so I ate. I am concerned about bulking myself. Since going almost totally clean on food I can see there are times when I will have a hard time eatings when I get to a bulking phase.

[MsDominatus]

I had this dilemma. It was because my body wasn't used to eating. Like before I started my new life, i'd eat just a few times a day and so when it came time to change and I had to eat 6 times a day... I couldn't do it. Now, i'm not hungry all the time but every 2-3 hours my body tells me I am even if I don't have the appetite. My metabolism is just craving to be fed.. it's really weird. Like i'll eat and then two hours later my tummy will growel. I don't really want to eat appetite wise but once I do i'm happier. I think part of not feeling hungry is not having the metabolism yet. If its going faster its going to beg for food sooner whether psychologically you like the idea or not. Psycholically when I started this it was hard to comprehend eating so much which is partially why I had no appetite. I'd always equated fat loss with eating very little and my mind was playing tricks on me.

SO bottom line? eat. Even if the inbetween meals ar ejust something small like some homemade yogurt, or a shake, or a handful of nuts. You MUST eat!!!! ::chomp chomp chomp:: I"ve never been so confident in saying before that I LOVE TO EAT.

okay, i'm weird today.

[turbos10]

You MUST eat!!!! ::chomp chomp chomp::

okay, i'm weird today.

LOL....I'll have what she's having....

[Greatbody4life]

Eat! I am concerned about bulking myself. Since going almost totally clean on food I can see there are times when I will have a hard time eatings when I get to a bulking phase.

Very good point. I like this point. So I when i will not like to eat in cutting and my heart will say you already in cutting don't eat then i will say " One day i have to start my bulking too".

[Fit4Fun]

However, I ate my first meal at 8 and I was not close to hungry. I cooked 1/2 cup of oats and drank 2 scoops of whey anyway. It was time to eat so I ate.

I see your point. Thank you. But doesn't it make you feel sick when you eat if you're not even ready to think of food again? If I do just what you did, it's often keeping me full all the way until the next meal (the first two sort of overlap). I feel like the food is constantly in my stomach!
Don't you?

[Fit4Fun]

SO bottom line? eat. Even if the inbetween meals ar ejust something small like some homemade yogurt, or a shake, or a handful of nuts.

Hi MsDominatus! Nice to have you back :-)
Let me put it this way--what if for instance you were scheduled to eat red meat 2.5 hours before spinning, but then somewhere around 3 hours-to-go you decided you wanted that handful of nuts with cofee and you know if you top that with a steak in half an hour, you'd probably feel uncomfortably full during the HIIT work out. Would you still eat that dinner anyway?

[Fit4Fun]

SO bottom line? eat. Even if the inbetween meals ar ejust something small like some homemade yogurt, or a shake, or a handful of nuts.

Hi MsDominatus! Nice to have you back :-)
Let me put it this way--what if for instance you were scheduled to eat red meat 2.5 hours before spinning, but then somewhere around 3 hours-to-go you decided you wanted that handful of nuts with cofee and you know if you top that with a steak in half an hour, you'd probably feel uncomfortably full during the HIIT work out. Would you still eat that dinner anyway?

[MsDominatus]

We must also consider portions. The rule isn't 'eat 800 calorie meals 6 times a day' (unless you're seriously bulking). The rule is 'eat 6 small meals a day' which is relative to how many calories you're taking in total. If you're between 1500-1800 cals such as myself you should be if you're on a 40/40/20 diet such as myself (assuming for a moment) then you should have 6 meals of between 25-30g of protein, 25-30 g ofcarbs and about 5-7 g of good fat each (in a perfect world).

[MsDominatus]

Hi MsDominatus! Nice to have you back :-)
Let me put it this way--what if for instance you were scheduled to eat red meat 2.5 hours before spinning, but then somewhere around 3 hours-to-go you decided you wanted that handful of nuts with cofee and you know if you top that with a steak in half an hour, you'd probably feel uncomfortably full during the HIIT work out. Would you still eat that dinner anyway?

First i'd plan my meals around my workouts. That makes it easy. It's every 2-3 hours you shoul dbe eating. If I had a red meat meal planned 2.5 hours before the work out and a half hour before eating the red meat I scarfed some nuts? It would depend on where my fat grams were for the day because both red meat and nuts are high in fat - nuts have good fat and red meat has both good and bad fat. If my fat macros allowed for it I would. On a 40/40/20 I can only have 40 g of fat max - if there was room - SURE! but not if it would leave me uncomfortable you know?

[Fit4Fun]

Sorry for that mess

I wonder if the meal can also be substituted (like a protein shake) if it fits in better--I mean it's not chewing on a steak, when you are fighting to keep it in. It's a sweet and light liquid shake that you can pour in with little or no effort.

[MsDominatus]

Sorry for that mess

I wonder if the meal can also be substituted (like a protein shake) if it fits in better--I mean it's not chewing on a steak, when you are fighting to keep it in. It's a sweet and light liquid shake that you can pour in with little or no effort.

This is why the Gods invented protein shakes my dear.

I mean, 2-3 meals a day of shakes isn't as good as some good old animal muscle but coupled with a veggie - or fruit - makes a grreeeat meal if ya ask me. I do it often.

[Fit4Fun]

First i'd plan my meals around my workouts. That makes it easy. It's every 2-3 hours you shoul dbe eating. If I had a red meat meal planned 2.5 hours before the work out and a half hour before eating the red meat I scarfed some nuts? It would depend on where my fat grams were for the day because both red meat and nuts are high in fat - nuts have good fat and red meat has both good and bad fat. If my fat macros allowed for it I would. On a 40/40/20 I can only have 40 g of fat max - if there was room - SURE! but not if it would leave me uncomfortable you know?

That way I would run behind with my proteins for the day...No good for the muscles...
I do to plan the meals around work outs. Even more so if the work out is high intensity cardio (I'm very sensitive to any discomfort in digestive system, when I need to concentrate on my performance).
I sometimes snack on something before the meal, which is a killer for appetite.
This is the ultimate question to me--to eat more or just leave as it is and hope the muscles fair well. And try to be sensible about time scheduled meals next time.

[yahyo]

Protein shakes are a great way of gettin in some protein and not feeling overly stuffed.

I eat regardless of how im full im feeling, but thats just me. I just make a record all my meals down to the T, so i kno exactly what im eatin and how much of it. I then spread it out over the course of day, planning is key

Not eatin is a good way to lose weight, but not the right way to lose fat. Not eating enuff, puts your body into a starvation type condition and it resorts to eatin muscles and holds on to the fat(survival mode), resulting in being a skinny fat. I would acknowledge now that this will be a slow progress over time, if you want to do it the right way, something that is finally starting to hit me, after years and years, that it cant be done overnight, so to speak

[MsDominatus]

Yep planning is key.

Thats why if you aim for your target at least in protein for each meal - you should have no issues getting it in. Thats why it's imporant that I get 25-g of P for each meal. Does it always happen?? No. But I try and plan it to happen that way

[turbos10]

I see your point. Thank you. But doesn't it make you feel sick when you eat if you're not even ready to think of food again? If I do just what you did, it's often keeping me full all the way until the next meal (the first two sort of overlap). I feel like the food is constantly in my stomach!
Don't you?

PRECISELY! You said it.....food always in your stomach so there is a constant flow of nutrients. When I get hungry these days I panic and start looking for food because I know that cortisol is soon on the rise and metoblism is on the fall.

Well, I dont really panic, but you get the drift. If I am hungry it is usually time to eat.

[Fit4Fun]

PRECISELY! You said it.....food always in your stomach so there is a constant flow of nutrients. When I get hungry these days I panic and start looking for food because I know that cortisol is soon on the rise and metoblism is on the fall.

I see your point. Isn't that however, slowing your metabolism. I know that eating too much at one seating (if the time wasn't enough to get hungry, that's virtually the same) as well as skipping meals are both slowing our metabolism. So I'm not sure that there will be a constant flow of nutrients. More like many of them wouldn't be absorbed.

[turbos10]

No, eating a large meal and then not eating again for 6 hours slows your metabolism. Eating every 2-3 hours increases metabolism.

[Khryz]

All I know is that once I started to clean bulk, eating at least 500 calories 6-7 times a day - that I can't go anymore than 2 hours without my body practically shutting down from starvation. The more often you eat (as well as how much you eat) really determines how quickly your metabolism becomes (GT helps too).

P.S. It's impossible to live a normal 'eating' life while bulking! Lol. While your friends are content with eating burger king 2 times a day you've already eaten more in 2 meals than they do in 2 days.

P.P.S. And that's not even including peeing (the worst!)

[Outsider4life]

my thoughts are that you should re fuel reguarly and waiting until you are actually hungry is bad. If your not hungry in the least you dont have to have a meal, you could just have a shake or milk and some nuts or one piece of fruit. Something small.

[Fit4Fun]

Hey guys! Thank you so much for your responses.
I had exams and then forgot about this thread.

I have one more question though: if my last meal was at 6 pm and usually 9-10 I have another one (the last one). I go with the cottage cheese, but I'm already tired eating it. What do you guys have?