weird eating habits?

[Earthly Delight]

Lately I started working out at the gym doing some cardio and some of the more simpler strength training such as crunches and pullups and dips... I havent been losing any weight but I've been hungry hungry hungry in the mornings! I ate 1000+ calories for breakfast! With my size and body composition my trainer said I should get around 1700 total to MAINTIAIN so thats like 1500 to 1600 to loose--and yet I ate 2/3 of that before 10am! 0_0

is this normal? Will it stop? How can I make my body.. i don't know, want to eat.. regularily throughout the day instead of all at once? I'm also a bit stressed atm with exams so I don't really want to play with myself and force myself to eat the way I THINK I should eat (large, but not THAT large a breakfast, large lunch, small dinner, plus some snacks) to make myself get used to it...

Anyway, any sort of input, suggestions, feedback would be useful..

[missredbyu]

have you tried eating a small snack before bedtime? I'm currently losing weight and want to do it without feeling like I'm starving so I'm having to skip certain foods for lower calorie versions, I've gotten into fruit smoothies for breakfast because they are pretty filling plus super easy and can go with me when I'm running late, also if I still feel hungry after I'll eat a piec of toast or something, but even a LARGE smoothie can be made with about 300 calories, my current favorite to throw a banana, half can of crushed pineapple, maybe some frozen mango and a little ice into the blender. It doesn't get much easier than that and god knows I LOVE easy. BTW what time of day are you working out? the trainer used to tell me to always have a snack afterward to help with muscle recovery and prevent blood sugar drops which would cause hunger

[greenrunner]

Yes, that's normal! I'm sure your trainer meant 1700 calories NET. So you have to subtract the calories your burned during exercise. This could mean you really have a daily allowance of say, 2500 calories.

[Earthly Delight]

my basal metabolic rate is about 1440 (the machine that told me how much fat etc I had told me so--seems right as thats how much I consume when im completely sessile and dont gain or lose)--I am currently consuming approximately 1700 and not gaining weight, but not losing a single pound, with going to the gym for at least an hour a day. (I do cardio and simple strength stuff--until I get proper weightraining instruction I'm not touching those machines!) Anyway, my issue isnt that I'm eating mroe, just its all getting in me before 9am!

the thing is missredbyu--my body seems very very aware of how many calories its getting. I lost a lot of weight over the past year by calorie counting and i've finally come to realize--doesnt matter if i eat low calorie or high calorie foods--I'll only ever trick my body for at MOST an hour, and then it goes "yeah, nice try, now gimme ____ more calories or suffer." However I guess I can see that working if only because it buys me that extra hour before I need to eat again, meaning I wont consume the 1000 until 3pm or so versus 9am, lol...

I workout usually in the evenings, though today I worked out midday.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback so far--definately gonna try and think about it. (I'm really really tired right now and that tends to make me hate thinking.)

[evelinadatta]

You might benefit from strength training. It helped me a lot; I used to be in the same boat as you, but now my metabolism has sped up a lot so even if I'm eating more, I am actually losing weight. I never had this happen to me to such an extent from doing only cardio.

[daverockz]

I get that too, your body is just freaking out cause of the exercise. I definitely recommend eating a light after dinner snack about 2 hours after dinner. Then in the morning, drink a lot of water... Working out in the early day helps mediate the food intake throughout the day :) good luck!

[Dirty Martini]

Hopefully in the time that's passed, you've found something that's worked. If not...

1. Up the weight lifting
2. Bedtime snack containing protein - cottage cheese is an excellent choice because it's slow to digest
3. A bedtime protein shake is a good idea too. Just make sure you make it with protein powder that has casein in it. Fruit is OK but it digests quickly, so it won't keep you full overnight. Add some sort of slow-digesting protein if you do a fruit smoothie. And peanut butter. Because it will help, and because it's awesome.
4. Trade any refined foods you eat during the day for those that are slow to digest. Get rid of chips, crackers, rice, low-protein cereals (corn flakes, wheaties, cheerios, etc)... Make homemade protein bars (chocolate protein powder + flax + PB + water ... you can find lots of recipes for these online), eat cottage cheese & blueberries & flax meal for a snack, eat a piece of sprouted-grain (flourless) toast with peanut butter on top, string cheese, eat some chickpeas mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper... or pieces of seitan dipped in italian dressing. Lots of alternatives to fruit (yes, you can get too much, and you should try to eat any fruit with a protein) or processed snacks.

There are a lot of ideas for curing midnight hunger on bodybuilding sites. A lot of people who are bulking apparently get hungry in the middle of the night, and are pretty good at finding resolutions. :)

And I'm curious - what did you eat that was 1000 calories?? My breakfast this morning was about 420 calories and I couldn't even finish it in one sitting...

[butterflytat20]

Lately I started working out at the gym doing some cardio and some of the more simpler strength training such as crunches and pullups and dips... I havent been losing any weight but I've been hungry hungry hungry in the mornings! I ate 1000+ calories for breakfast! With my size and body composition my trainer said I should get around 1700 total to MAINTIAIN so thats like 1500 to 1600 to loose--and yet I ate 2/3 of that before 10am! 0_0

is this normal? Will it stop? How can I make my body.. i don't know, want to eat.. regularily throughout the day instead of all at once? I'm also a bit stressed atm with exams so I don't really want to play with myself and force myself to eat the way I THINK I should eat (large, but not THAT large a breakfast, large lunch, small dinner, plus some snacks) to make myself get used to it...

Anyway, any sort of input, suggestions, feedback would be useful..

i get like that too. when i workout, i get very hungry. I have to learn how to control what i eat. like i eat a snack before going to the gym, and then another snack afterwards. Not a meal

[miumiumao]

I find that I eat over half of my day's food in the morning as well; it evens itself out because I'm not so hungry in the evening. I think it's more beneficial to eat the majority of your calories in the morning, because that's when your body needs the energy to fuel you throughout the day. I'd rather feel very full after breakfast then feel bloated while trying to fall asleep.

[taurushead]

hey how'd you go with the suggestions above? i have a similar problem i think. but what frustrates me most is that im so tiny that i require very little calories and it doesn't seem enough to get all the vitamins and minerals i need with extra..y'know? like..i have to work out lots just to be 'allowed' enough to maintain good health, let alone tasty extras or even just filling foods. i know thats not really what you're describing but your low basal thingie reminded me of my problem at the moment :(

and my body , like yours, knows how many calories its getting and complains. ehehe . i thought it was all in my head but a few times i've been unaware of the content of foods and found out later etc etc. Bodies are smart..

[Dirty Martini]

What if you tried different exercise to change your basal metabolic rate? Changing your workout routine is necessary every ~6 weeks or so to keep your body from adapting to what you're doing. By adapting, I mean it figures out how to do your exercise on fewer & fewer calories.

You need to change your routine. If you've been doing the elliptical or treadmill or stairmaster for longer than 2 months without changing anything, you're wasting your time on the exercise and you've effectively lowered your metabolic rate.

[arcane]

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but you may try eating more calories. Everytime I hit a plateau in my weight loss, I switch up my routine, I change eatnig habits, but I get ravenous. So I up my intake, and within a few days I'm back to loosing. Sometimes the body wants what it wants. I will then generally, naturally start wanting to eat less.

[Bios]

I find hard exercise inhibits my appetite for some hours afterward... and I'm normally a gaping maw. But it's got to be something really vigorous like sprint intervals.