Training & Nutrition - appetite suppression

I am curious if anyone has any good ideas or tips to suppress that appetite.

I am working out a good deal now and I know I need to fuel my body with the right types of food. ou However I get hungry at odd times and crave junk food. Does anyone else have this problem and how do you deal with it?

Here is what I try to do.

Breakfast: Smoothie: Entire Banana, cup of strawberries, 1/4 of blueberries or blackberries, half a cup of 0% fat greek yogurt and ice.


Lunch: One Venison Jerky( about 100-150 calories,I hunt and ordered too much this year) cliff bar


Dinner: Usually something healthy and in a portion not too hugh, unless its sushi then I always eat too much.

Snack. 100calorie bag of trader joes kettle corn

I am trying to drop a good deal of weight. I am 5'10 and 223. I would like to be around 170. I have lost about 20lbs since December 09.

Just be careful that you don't restrict too much. If you restrict your intake too much, you will trigger the body's natural protection mechanism that it will hold on to whatever fat stores it has, and instead feed off of your muscles. So, you may end up losing 2 pounds of muscle and a pound of fat, rather then 3 pounds of fat in your working out.

Listen to your body. Eating quality sources of food not highly processed stuff/candy. Your breakfast sounds alright, don't be afraid to eat a good healthy breakfast. Your lunch seems pretty spartan, the dinner you want to make sure is trim, but still that you're getting what you need.

Well, i'm 150 and 5ft9.5" and what you've just listed for breakfast lunch and a snack there, I would eat in 1 meal easily! Doesn't sound like you are eating enough to me. As a cyclist, the best way i've found to lean down without depriving yourself is to give your body what it needs - good quality carbohydrates (ideally from wholegrains, fruit and veg). Don't deny yourself anything that you crave. i.e If you fancy a chocolate bar one day, have one. Simply keep these things in moderation. Long term denial of foods you like will only lead to diet failure.

If you get the urge, Brush your teeth with a high menthol toothpaste.

How much water are you drinking? I lost a great amount of weight and started to drinking a lot more water. With that, I maintained the weight loss.

Breakfast doesn't look too bad.

Lunch is just two foods that would make appropriate snacks put together, and Clif Bars, though marketed as a health food, are probably better as compact sources of fuel when riding or hiking than as part of a meal (they do have quite a bit of sugar in them). You're also training yourself to seek foods that press your evolutionary buttons; they're not bad on fat and do have protein, but there's a salt food and a sugary food, and you're likely to turn to those triggers again when you get hungry. Instead of using the Clif Bar as part of that meal, what about some fruit or a salad? There's plenty of protein in the jerky, and you can get sweet flavors with nutritional value.

No veggies? There just isn't enough volume of food here, and vegetables and salads are a great way to add fiber and bulk to your diet without many calories.

Dinner is too vague to offer advice.

I just visited my family in Southern Illinois for the weekend, and saw a lone vegetable other than potatoes only once. The foods they went to for snacks were processed and sugary, fatty, and salty. My diet is far from perfect, but I have trained myself away from my college days of Mountain Dew and deli sandwiches. I have at least managed to rewire myself into reaching for an apple (or other fruit, apples are just convenient) and skim milk or yogurt for snacks. If I'm hungry late at night, a small salad usually sounds good.

For me, it really depends on what I have in the house. I literally never buy anything at the store that I know is not, in some way, good for me (and that I wouldn't plan to eat as part of a meal). No ice cream or candy, ever, and I can go indefinitely without eating these things, just because I don't buy them and don't think of them when I'm preparing meals or sitting around the house. When my gf buys these things, I end up eating way too much of them. I'm really a sucker for chocolate. It isn't that I don't have a sweet tooth, it's just that when I get hungry, they aren't available.

This won't work if you're like my gf and will drive to the store just to buy garbage. I'm too lazy to do that.

Edit: I feel lucky to be low-income and that I think like an economist. In these terms, every dollar I spend on food should be effective in performing some function in my diet. Because I do not particularly crave ice cream, for example, it has no utility to me because it also provides no dietary benefit (and is, in fact, detrimental to my health). I have no reason to purchase it over a bag of grapefruit. This isn't to say I never eat out, which also generally hurts our diets, because the enjoyment of going out with friends is worth some dollar amount to me. It's just that I look at food in terms of utility.

Back to the low-income thing: I just watched Food, Inc. One segment focused on a midwestern family who complained that produce and other groceries were too expensive, so they ate at McDonald's all of the time (a lifestyle that is leading them all to diabetes, which the father has and continues to eat this way) . While this does highlight the relationship between income and diet, this scene also showed how economically dumb most consumers are.

In the supermarket, there was a scene meant to be heart-wrenching, in which the children wanted pears but figured that the price per serving is too high. The family ended up buying 2-liter bottles of soda, which serve absolutely no dietary function. They may as well have spent that money on lottery tickets. You'd be better off buying bottled water, and that comes in a very cheap and widespread form from your indoor plumbing. If you can't afford functional food, you can't afford the stuff that does nothing for you.

I also seem to remember there being well-known programs for low-income people, especially those with children, that helped them buy groceries...but WIC and food stamps may have also just been part of my glorious socialist dream, comrades.

Basically, I'm just saying that like education, in this country there is no longer any financial reason a person cannot seek good nutrition. The real problem is the value structure (a social issue), which will, unfortunately, persist well past any financial assistance. If you gave poor people access to education and food, would they use that to their advantage? I think you know the answer, as that's already the way it is. There are too many cultural issues here.

Thanks, I am trying. I the smoothie I make in the morning I am now adding wheat germ to.

Lunch is hard. I am on the road most of the day and now have a cooler riding shotgun but I just dont know what to put in it.

Dinner: Last night for example. Salad, asparagus, half a baked potato and 10 oz of strip steak

I drink a good amount of water during the day. I keep the 33oz bottles of smart water around and usually have one during the day and one during my spinning class.'

I know i need to eat more but Its hard to lose weight and I know I dont want to lose any strength, that I cant afford

I know i need to eat more but Its hard to lose weight and I know I dont want to lose any strength, that I cant afford

This is one of the benefits of weight training.

I'm 5'10", 160 lbs...

i'd have a tough time on your diet.

breakfast - not sure what's in your shake, but i need carbs in the morning. i eat oatmeal (not instant), with fruit, a bit of milk, cinnamon, and either brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey..., depending on how i feel.

my lunch is way more substantial than yours - home made soup or beans with some bread, or maybe a sandwich/wrap. the soup/beans you can take on the road in a thermos. I make enough for a few days. it's satisfying.

for sandwiches, i typically use chicken or turkey i have roasted or grilled myself - i try not to eat any deli-meats. roast chicken breast makes a great dinner, so just make one or two extra, and use them for lunch. for a good wrap, I often slice some of the chicken or turkey up, add spinach, and a good slathering of pesto - also add tomatoes,if you like, but they don't travel well.

dinner - 10oz of steak seems like a lot. i pretty much never eat that much meat at one sitting.

I agree with jgf310 - I just wouldn't have any energy to function on what you have listed, let alone ride the bike! I train 6-10 hours per week and my diet looks something like this;

Wake - Black Coffee
Breakfast - Oatmeal w/fruit/PB or some Toasted Rye bread/PB/fruit
Snack - Maybe another Black coffee, some fruit and some sort of snack (oatcakes or whatever is on the go)
Lunch - Typically 2-3 filled sandwitches (2 slices of bread each) with some sort of lean meat and soup
Snack - depending on whether i'm hungry or not, Banana + PB, Apple, Oatcakes, Buscuit (something along those lines)
Dinner - meat, veg and some form of carbohydrate (rice, potatoes, pasta etc) - a good plate load (usually 2nds)
Snack - Nuts, perhaps a bowl of cereal if i've been training hard w/soy milk (I don't touch dairy products)

I like a beer after work on a friday. I should mention that my job is also fairly physical - electrician, on my feet all day, so likely burn a lot more than your average 9-5 worker. I'm 5lbs away from my ideal race weight (145lbs), which will probably come off after a few races.

I know i need to eat more but Its hard to lose weight and I know I dont want to lose any strength, that I cant afford

You'll only lose strength if you lose the stimulus of the CNS (Central Nervous system). The human body can eat less, lose weight & gain strength. I agree, the biggest guys do tend to be the strongest, but its the skinnier guys in lower weight classes who are pound-pound the "strongest" guys on earth.

toast up a perdue chicken tenderloin in the toaster oven. it is a perfect snack. you can dress it up with some salsa forked over it. these are breaded and precooked (baked) and come in $5. PKGs not far from the bacon

DON'T GET THE FORMED CUTLET PATTIES - those are just big nasty nuggets and smell funny. get the TENDERLOINS ! :-)

I usually eat about half that amount of steak unless I am at Ruths Chris or one of those type joints.

I think I am gonna try to start brining wraps with me I like that idea.

I like snacking on about 10 almonds for a snack. You can even get flavored ones if you like. I like them with just a hint of salt. 10 almonds comes out around 75 calories. They are high in monosaturated fat, which helps you feel full. Also drinking lots of water I've found helps me to not snack too much at work.

or you can spread out your meals. meaning: eat 1/3 your lunch early; 1/3 your lunch at lunchtime and 1/3 your lunch in the afternoon. so your snacks are actually nutritionally sound meal foods.

I am curious if anyone has any good ideas or tips to suppress that appetite.

Coffee

Learn that appetite has little to do with hunger.

I am curious if anyone has any good ideas or tips to suppress that appetite.

Cigarettes and methamphetamine.

Not recommending them, just saying...

Get Nancy Clark's The Cyclist's Food Guide. She is a cyclist and a nutritionist. The book will tell you everything you need to know about how to lose weight and still keep your energy up for cycling as well as giving lots of suggestions for meals, snacks and meals on the go. Good luck.

lhubbard9605 (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?133604-lhubbard9605)

I half expected you to say something about Thetans. It's about as credible as some of the stuff we hear around these parts.

Coffee

Coffee worked great today.

You'll only lose strength if you lose the stimulus of the CNS (Central Nervous system). The human body can eat less, lose weight & gain strength. I agree, the biggest guys do tend to be the strongest, but its the skinnier guys in lower weight classes who are pound-pound the "strongest" guys on earth.

Considering strength, and not power or endurance or anything else, muscle cross-sectional area is the best predictor. In absolute terms, bigger guys are stronger. In relative terms ("pound for pound"), it varies.

The central nervous system's effect on muscle is very pronounced, I will grant that. The effectiveness of your mind stimulating your muscles plays a great part of how much effort you can get out of muscles. But the fact of the matter is, if you don't eat enough to support a level of activity, your body can/does/WILL atrophy its muscles in the greater good. Just as in boom times a man making money may have 2 or 3 cars and do as he pleases, when that money runs out, he a couple cars. Just the same, when the food stops coming in adequate amounts and the proper times, the body begins deciding if it needs to unload some muscle, saving the fat in case it doesn't eat for far longer.

This is the reason for a 5-6 meal system vs our traditional 3-square rule. Your body can only absorb so much protein in a period, i forget but believe its on the order or 35-50g of protein depending on size/typical diet but I may very well be wrong I admit. So, rather then eating 60g protein 3x a day for 180g total, where you'd be simply passing out 30-40g of that and also having some pronounced gas, you instead eat 5-6 smaller meals taking in your 25-35g of protein. All the sudden, you've spread out across the entire day an adequate stream of protein (AND you'll be doing the same as this with your carbohydrates and fats, though obviously tapering off carbohydrates towards the evening). This leads your body into an anabolic state, a muscle building state. When in this state, your body is also much more willing to shed fat. It has a constant stream of energy coming in, so it doesn't maintain a stranglehold on your love handles and flabby underarms, it will slowly (at a rate of 1.5-2.5 pounds per week healthily) burn fat without replenishing it.

Now, one thing to note is that you can think of fat cells as being inflatable. They're inflatable with fat. These cells, adipose cells, can be inflated with fat for storage, or deflated with hard work. But, they'll be kept around for a while. They will eventually be consumed for raw materials later on by the body, but we're evolving creatures. Our bodies started out far different then today, never knowing when food may all the sudden go scarce during the ice ages and such, and it HASN'T forgotten. So, if you lose your 25 pounds, are looking nice, and then go off the wagon, bam, the body is right there. Red alert, and it starts stuffing all those bad foods into the adipose cells again because you're not eating your 5-6 meals, and you're eating candy, or you fill yourself up on virtually useless popcorn with salt and butter.

Don't just diet, make a life change in the way you eat. For the better. You'll feel so happy. The nice thing is, after losing some weight, and adding some muscle, you can even afford to cheat a bit with little to no consequences when you're an anabolic, lean energy burning machine.

Sorry for the book. >.<

Considering strength, and not power or endurance or anything else, muscle cross-sectional area is the best predictor. In absolute terms, bigger guys are stronger. In relative terms ("pound for pound"), it varies.

I think Sergey Fedosienko (Russia) is the strongest guy on the planet pound for pound & he weighs 123lbs.


you instead eat 5-6 smaller meals taking in your 25-35g of protein.

Its more time in the gym, on the training ground & bike for me. Surely anybody who has time to prepare 5-6 smaller meals per day has far too much time on there hands.

If where talking cereal then I could see reason.

The central nervous system's effect on muscle is very pronounced, I will grant that. The effectiveness of your mind stimulating your muscles plays a great part of how much effort you can get out of muscles. But the fact of the matter is, if you don't eat enough to support a level of activity, your body can/does/WILL atrophy its muscles in the greater good. Just as in boom times a man making money may have 2 or 3 cars and do as he pleases, when that money runs out, he a couple cars. Just the same, when the food stops coming in adequate amounts and the proper times, the body begins deciding if it needs to unload some muscle, saving the fat in case it doesn't eat for far longer.

This is the reason for a 5-6 meal system vs our traditional 3-square rule. Your body can only absorb so much protein in a period, i forget but believe its on the order or 35-50g of protein depending on size/typical diet but I may very well be wrong I admit. So, rather then eating 60g protein 3x a day for 180g total, where you'd be simply passing out 30-40g of that and also having some pronounced gas, you instead eat 5-6 smaller meals taking in your 25-35g of protein. All the sudden, you've spread out across the entire day an adequate stream of protein (AND you'll be doing the same as this with your carbohydrates and fats, though obviously tapering off carbohydrates towards the evening). This leads your body into an anabolic state, a muscle building state. When in this state, your body is also much more willing to shed fat. It has a constant stream of energy coming in, so it doesn't maintain a stranglehold on your love handles and flabby underarms, it will slowly (at a rate of 1.5-2.5 pounds per week healthily) burn fat without replenishing it.

Now, one thing to note is that you can think of fat cells as being inflatable. They're inflatable with fat. These cells, adipose cells, can be inflated with fat for storage, or deflated with hard work. But, they'll be kept around for a while. They will eventually be consumed for raw materials later on by the body, but we're evolving creatures. Our bodies started out far different then today, never knowing when food may all the sudden go scarce during the ice ages and such, and it HASN'T forgotten. So, if you lose your 25 pounds, are looking nice, and then go off the wagon, bam, the body is right there. Red alert, and it starts stuffing all those bad foods into the adipose cells again because you're not eating your 5-6 meals, and you're eating candy, or you fill yourself up on virtually useless popcorn with salt and butter.

Don't just diet, make a life change in the way you eat. For the better. You'll feel so happy. The nice thing is, after losing some weight, and adding some muscle, you can even afford to cheat a bit with little to no consequences when you're an anabolic, lean energy burning machine.

Sorry for the book. >.<


Thanks for taking the time to explain. I appreciate all the replies

I think Sergey Fedosienko (Russia) is the strongest guy on the planet pound for pound & he weighs 123lbs.

Pound for pound just means someone is the strongest or best relative to his weight. Usually used in boxing in order to talk about someone's fighting skills. Doesn't ask who would win the fight of they met in real life, just a hypothetical "who is the best fighter?" kind of thing.

Pound for pound strength isn't relevant to much other than surprising people you fight with at bars.

As far as appetite suppression...coffee or tea works for me plus you get a good amount of antioxidants from them, oatmeal also but it seems to have the reverse affect on me, making me hungrier.

I personally wouldn't try to suppress your appetite or hunger since it is most likely your body trying to tell you something. It could be telling you it needs more protein, fat, complex carbs, etc, or even that it wants junk food or that you're bored. Junk food to me is like a drug, if I eat it my body starts craving it, and it takes a good few days for my body to not crave it, so I never buy any and I eat out once a week on Friday. Knowing that I can eat out on Friday lets me stay focused through the week and it is also like a reward for healthy eating during the week.

My only recommendation food-wise is eat complex carbs / dark grains, fruit, dark greens (spinach / broccoli), and throw some fish in the mix (ideally sardines! if you don't like the taste a little tobasco does the fix). But whatever you do make sure the diet and exercise is sustainable, so don't overdo either of them, just focus on being healthy and the weight will naturally come off and you will naturally get more fit.

Take a calcium pill - they are supposed to help reduce the appetite.

Chew gum.

Choose a higher protein snack like a few almonds rather than something higher in simple carbs.

This is the reason for a 5-6 meal system vs our traditional 3-square rule.

Just a clarification on the word "meal" ... when they recommend 5-6 meals a day, they don't mean full meals like you might have if you limited yourself to 3 meals a day. They mean more along the lines of large snacks consisting of healthy food.

If, in a 3-meal day, you eat 300 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and 1000 calories for dinner = 1800 calories ..... then in a 5-6 meal day you'd eat the same number of calories (or possibly slightly less) distributed over 5-6 "meals". So the 6 "meals" might be 300 calories each to arrive at 1800 calories.

A handful of carrots and hummus or powered ranch dressing mixed with non-fat yogurt?
1oz of 99% lean Turkey wrapped in a lettuce leaf?
Jello?
large glass of water?
grapefruit?

I agree sick, and in today's hustle and bustle it's difficult to get in a good meal rotation. But, lets look at an example of my day. This is NOT optimal by any means, but it is better then many folks.

~5:30 - single scoop + milk for protein shake before work at 6:00.
~9:00 - break time, a 3oz packet of tuna and either a brat, turkey breakfast bowl, or maybe some ham lunch meat. Sometimes a turkey/cheddar lunchable.
12:00 - lunch hour, usually eat leftovers from dinner the night before. Otherwise, I'll buy some beef brats, or chicken, etc.
~3:30 - Break time again, eat some more of whatever I had purchased and had extra for first break or for lunch.
~6:30 - Dinner time, whatever the girlfriend and I decide to go for. Taco's, steaks, burgers, grilled chicken, etc.

And tada, I did 5 smaller meals throughout the day. I could certainly use more work on my breakfast, but at 5:00-5:30 I am not about to go cooking a bunch of stuff, and I don't like feeling "full" of a protein shake.

My body knows its getting regular intervals of food. I can tell my stomach "asks" for food at about the 2 1/2 hour mark from my last meal, it starts getting that little rumble. If I have to go longer then 3 1/2 hours without food, I can feel my energy levels start to come down, which isn't good. I'm on my feet for 10-12 hours a day grinding it out. Every other day running pallets off of delivery trucks. Not walking, running. It's an extension of my work out at this point, to see how hard and fast I can go. :)

The big thing I'd like to point out for you all is the small Starkist tuna pouches. Assuming you can eat tuna, they're an amazing thing! I love tuna, so I don't have a problem. There's 3oz, 6oz in the water, there's one in safflower oil. There's also flavored ones. I work in a grocery store (meat dept manager), so I've got ready access to them, but even if I didn't, I would just run in and buy 5 or 6 of them. For instance, when I go on my ride tomorrow assuming decent weather, I'll pack along one of those along with some energy bars and my water/gatorade, and when I get to my destination before I turn around, i'll have a little "lunch." Check them out. They now have a tuna salad packet as well that makes it a little easier to munch on, especially if you DON'T love tuna like I do. I eat the straight stuff 75% of the time, but some times you want a little more you know?

Starkist Tuna Pouch (http://www.starkist.com/template.asp?section=products/pouch.asp) <-- There's the link for it.

Yes, nothing beats hard work to get fit/lose weight/get stronger, but there's also things we can do along the way to min/max our way along.


Just a clarification on the word "meal" ... when they recommend 5-6 meals a day, they don't mean full meals like you might have if you limited yourself to 3 meals a day. They mean more along the lines of large snacks consisting of healthy food.

If, in a 3-meal day, you eat 300 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and 1000 calories for dinner = 1800 calories ..... then in a 5-6 meal day you'd eat the same number of calories (or possibly slightly less) distributed over 5-6 "meals". So the 6 "meals" might be 300 calories each to arrive at 1800 calories.

Thank you for clarifying that for me. I thought I touched back on it, but maybe I didn't. Yes, you're not eating 6 times a day full 3 part meals. You'd have to be a body builder to be eating that much! :)

Have you tried Mate tea? It's supposed to be a suppressant. But how much do you need to suppress? What calorie deficit are you running per day / week?

Just to note, although 5-6 "meals" a day may work for some, it will make naff all difference to your weight loss goals compared to 3 meals if the calories are the same. Having tried both, I prefer the 3 proper meals with small snacks if I get hungry in between. My body just seems to work better that way.