Hunger control

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

BTW, If I fasted for 12 hours, I'd fall on the floor and die. You people talking about not eating for a couple of days and still functioning must not be exercising or you have a slow metabolism. My metab is mach3. I gotta eat all day just to stay upright.

Doubtful. I do a full 24 hour fast once a year and that means nothing crosses my lips at all. Sure I am hungry but I have energy, the only bad part is since I am a coffee fiend I normally get a headache from lack of caffeine and even with that I have plenty of energy.

12 hours is really not bad at all, if you get a full nights sleep its rather easy to go 12 hours without eating. Figure you sleep 8 hours and then are awake and fasting for only 4 hours. I do it pretty regularly now. Wake up start my day with coffee and get to work, before I know its lunch time and I haven't eaten in 12 or 13 hours.

[ATL_Gator]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

Could be. I feel alot better in general when I'm hydrated. I don't like carbonated drinks (except beer which I love) or sweetened drinks like sweet tea so consuming a lot of water is easy for me.

Don't get me wrong. I also feel better when I have eaten. I just don't get the effect of "hunger supression" that is talked about.

[LeafUF]

ATL, drinking a lot or a little water seems to have no effect on how hungry I feel. Honestly, the only thing that does seem to keep me from being hungry is distraction. The busier I am the less likely I am to eat a lot and since I work from home with an endless amount of food available I better stay busy or I will just hang out in the kitchen.

[gator7_5]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

Doubtful. I do a full 24 hour fast once a year and that means nothing crosses my lips at all. Sure I am hungry but I have energy, the only bad part is since I am a coffee fiend I normally get a headache from lack of caffeine and even with that I have plenty of energy.

12 hours is really not bad at all, if you get a full nights sleep its rather easy to go 12 hours without eating. Figure you sleep 8 hours and then are awake and fasting for only 4 hours. I do it pretty regularly now. Wake up start my day with coffee and get to work, before I know its lunch time and I haven't eaten in 12 or 13 hours.

Is your once a year Ash Wednesday? I skip lunch that day and I pretty much write the workday off after noon.

No freaking way I could skip breakfast. I typically have a yogurt or banana before I work out in the early am and then a protein shake on the way home from the gym, and a PB&J with milk before I head to work. I cant make it till 11:00 before I feel faint. I don't believe everyone can fast and still function at 100%, or even 50%. Maybe I've had a tapeworm for 35 yrs..

[ATL_Gator]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

ATL, drinking a lot or a little water seems to have no effect on how hungry I feel. Honestly, the only thing that does seem to keep me from being hungry is distraction. The busier I am the less likely I am to eat a lot and since I work from home with an endless amount of food available I better stay busy or I will just hang out in the kitchen.

I have found being busy also helps.. but for me doing something physical is the BEST. Something mental helps, but I know/can feel that I am hungry while being busy. For me, I have also tried chewing gum. That helps in the short term, but I find that if I chew gum all day long, I go WAY overboard at dinner.

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

No freaking way I could skip breakfast. I typically have a yogurt or banana before I work out in the am and then a protein shake on the way home from the gym, and a PB&J with milk before I head to work. I cant make it till 11:00 before I feel faint. I don't believe everyone can fast and still function at 100%, or even 50%.

I am not saying to fast, I only do it once a year and its for religious purposes. I just think you would be surprised how easy it is to skip or delay breakfast. I know I was.

I usually eat a small meal between 11 and 12 go to the gym about an hour after that and have a protein shake on the way home. That way I have usually only eaten around 500 to 600 calories by 3 o clock. It seems you just go to the gym earlier but you may end up having your last evening meal earlier in the evening than I do.

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by ATL_Gator

I have found being busy also helps.. but for me doing something physical is the BEST. Something mental helps, but I know/can feel that I am hungry while being busy. For me, I have also tried chewing gum. That helps in the short term, but I find that if I chew gum all day long, I go WAY overboard at dinner.

I still have trouble with long periods of hunger and making good choices after. I have learned that I can delay the first meal I have every day for a few hours by having coffee and staying busy with work. After that I can stave off afternoon hunger or delay the need to eat by hitting the gym in the middle of the day then coming home and diving back into work. I used to do the gum thing too when I worked in an office but I would go through a pack a day and it didnt help me really reduce calories, just delay eating.

[gator7_5]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

It seems you just go to the gym earlier but you may end up having your last evening meal earlier in the evening than I do.

No doubt. I usually cook dinner around 6. My friends all make fun of me for eating so early. I go to bed around 930-10 and eat a cup of cottage cheese and maybe some fruit before I hit the hay.

[Dreamliner]

I've lost 11 pounds in 21 days. Think I'll end it here as I'm 6-0 143 with about a 29'' waist right now. Abs are rock-hard but I do have a bit of loose skin. I suspect I'll go back to meals at 2pm and 8pm with perhaps a bedtime snack.

Suspect these changes will have the effect of adding back 200-300 calories, enabling me to perhaps add a bit of muscle and 'fill out' a bit while remaining in the same weight range. I will acknowledge that while I never get one gram of protein per pound, this recent foray probably had me getting less than half that.

Fasting 20+ hours every day certainly did introduce new hunger pangs, though they were not life-dominating. But going back to the 2pm and 8pm meals will, I suspect, all but eliminate hunger pangs.

[slmdLS1]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Abs are rock-hard but I do have a bit of loose skin.

anything you can do about this? I tipped the scale at 179 this morning, down about 120lbs since July 17th 2010 so i feel like theres a little extra skin there(only natural). There is a little stomach skin, but nothing noticeable to anyone other than my hardest critic(myself).

I haven't been to the gym in 5 weeks so I am maintaining on diet alone for now. I plan to get back, but I have a physical scheduled to get some bloodwork done and make sure i don't have some kind of flu here recently....but i digress.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by slmdLS1

anything you can do about this? I tipped the scale at 179 this morning, down about 120lbs since July 17th 2010 so i feel like theres a little extra skin there(only natural). There is a little stomach skin, but nothing noticeable to anyone other than my hardest critic(myself).

I haven't been to the gym in 5 weeks so I am maintaining on diet alone for now. I plan to get back, but I have a physical scheduled to get some bloodwork done and make sure i don't have some kind of flu here recently....but i digress.

It typically tightens over time but is also a function of age, level and duration of previous obesity and genetics. But if you say yours is scarcely noticeable yours is best-case scenario.

As to your maintaining through diet alone, I tell my trainees:

eat less + move more = fat loss

eat less + move a little = fat loss

eat less + don't move = fat loss

overeating + lots of movement = no fat loss and possible weight gain

[Potzer01]

I generally skip breakfast and lunch and eat large meal in the evening. I find a little beef jerky during the days keeps me from dropping blood sugar and having negative side effects.

Works for me~

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by Potzer01

I generally skip breakfast and lunch and eat large meal in the evening. I find a little beef jerky during the days keeps me from dropping blood sugar and having negative side effects.

Works for me~

That sounds great ... but what 'negative side effects' ? Are you diabetic ?

[gator7_5]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

I've lost 11 pounds in 21 days. Think I'll end it here as I'm 6-0 143 with about a 29'' waist right now. Abs are rock-hard but I do have a bit of loose skin. I suspect I'll go back to meals at 2pm and 8pm with perhaps a bedtime snack.

Suspect these changes will have the effect of adding back 200-300 calories, enabling me to perhaps add a bit of muscle and 'fill out' a bit while remaining in the same weight range. I will acknowledge that while I never get one gram of protein per pound, this recent foray probably had me getting less than half that.

Fasting 20+ hours every day certainly did introduce new hunger pangs, though they were not life-dominating. But going back to the 2pm and 8pm meals will, I suspect, all but eliminate hunger pangs.

Dream, I have to ask why a guy who weighs 154 @ 6' would want to lose weight? I'm 6' 167 and am doing everything I can to get to what I feel is an ideal weight of 170. I have extremely low body fat. I can't imagine being in the 140's. What's the reasoning?

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

Dream, I have to ask why a guy who weighs 154 @ 6' would want to lose weight? I'm 6' 167 and am doing everything I can to get to what I feel is an ideal weight of 170. I have extremely low body fat. I can't imagine being in the 140's. What's the reasoning?

Several reasons:

(1) To establish, primarily for my trainees, how little food is actually required for optimum performance. and this is because my typical trainee SERIOUSLY needs to get a handle on their eating.

(2) Because guys in particular are hung-up on being 'too light.'

(3) And because guys in particular almost always exaggerate how lean they really are. As an example, when a guy says, "I'm under 10% bodyfat", he's probably just under 15% BF. Now, mind you, I don't browbeat anyone into what you might consider extreme weight-loss. Rather, I'm just trying to be real.

Also, bear in mind that we're not all built alike. Bodyweight can be HIGHLY deceiving. No doubt you're a bigger person than I am to begin with. I put the 'ecto' in ectomorph. I was 6 pounds and 22'' at birth, 30 pounds when I was three and was 6-0 135 in college.

[gator7_5]

#1 makes sense. Don't buy the rest. I bet our body type is very similar. I just focus on adding more muscle.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

#1 makes sense. Don't buy the rest. I bet our body type is very similar. I just focus on adding more muscle.

Your argument appears to convey the thing you deny: the bro-pressure to be heavier.

[gator7_5]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Your argument appears to convey the thing you deny: the bro-pressure to be heavier.

No, not heavier. Weight is a by-product of gaining muscle. Its not even 50% for appearance, I like being stronger. I'm a builder and an avid outdoorsman, and it makes all aspects of lifting easier.

You're obviously knowledgeable, and I don't feel bad for asking about your weight loss, because its a choice you make to weigh that much, it's just a very foreign concept to me. You're probably one of the fittest people on here, but what do you have against building lean muscle and definition?

[gator7_5]

You know, I'm conversing without knowing your background. Hope you didn't find my posts as argumentative, I really am intrigued by the topics on this board. I need to read more of your posts.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

No, not heavier. Weight is a by-product of gaining muscle. Its not even 50% for appearance, I like being stronger. I'm a builder and an avid outdoorsman, and it makes all aspects of lifting easier.

You're obviously knowledgeable, and I don't feel bad for asking about your weight loss, because its a choice you make to weigh that much, it's just a very foreign concept to me. You're probably one of the fittest people on here, but what do you have against building lean muscle and definition?

I like being stronger too. In fact, I'm currently training in a way that emphasizes pure strength, moreso than someone who's emphasizing hypertrophy. As I pointed out, as I've lost weight I've gotten stronger and stronger.

And leanness and definition is a function of fat-loss, not muscle gain.