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Just wondering if anyone else ever have days where they cannot get full? I am constantly, and genuinely hungry today and cannot seem to silence my stomach. I'm eating foods that should fill me up...but I'm still hungry. bacon, eggs around a pound of chuck steak, chicken, salad and a TON of water...but I am still physically hungry! any idea why or similar experiences? I am trying to cut my last few BF% to get to my goal with TSPA so have been eating less calories daily while adding in extra HIIT sessions throughout the week...could it just be that catching up to me?

Yep, and Mark says that's totally normal when you get toward the end of your program on TSPA.

It's possible that you're not meeting your nutritional needs. If your body needs vitamins and minerals it will keep crying for food no matter how many calories you throw at it.

How about some raw spinach? High in vitamins and minerals, low in carbs, and bulky! I would probably gnaw my own leg off if it weren't for spinach to fill me up!

Thanks for the suggestion! next time it happens ill try hitting the spinach hard, instead of consuming WAY more protein than I really need...like I did today.

I know excatly how you feel, sometimes you can eat and eat but nothing seems to fill that void, in my case I sometimes think I'm eating becuase of other reasons and not becuase I'm hungry, if I'm really hungry I get headaches and very lethargic and if that's the case then I think my bodys saying 'come on dude feed me , I really need it'. But if I've eaten an adequate amount of protein and fats then my body should have had enough so if I still find I'm searching for food I'll stop thinking about it and do something else to take my mind off it.

I've been a serial dieter most of my life. In fact, you could say I am right now; I just live my diet twelve-week challenge to twelve-week challenge, and the "ups" of the yo-yo are much smaller than they used to be.

It's important to learn something when you're dieting: hunger is not en emergency. You talk about "physical hunger", but there are many causes for that hunger, and in all cases you're going to relieve it within an hour or two anyway, right? In many cases, such hunger, though real, is psychological rather than physical. Your stomach is totally full, and the satiety triggers have gone off, but your brain keeps sending the "feed me" signal.

I've experienced this many, many times. Particularly when I was obese, it was common for me to sit down to a big meal, and then go prowling for something to snack on.Your body is simply having a tough time accommodating your current eating plan.

The single greatest thing that has helped me through those rough periods is to establish a regular eating schedule. If I know exactly what my meals are going to be, and when I'm going to have them, then caving in to my hunger is simply not an option. Right now, I plan 6-7 meals per day. Hunger strikes worst for me in the mid-afternoon around 3PM. So I try to keep some of my fattier foods (walnuts, cheese, 85% dark chocolate, fatty meat cuts, etc.) "in reserve" to cover me during that period. And I set myself up for success by planning to eat at 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, and 9 (post-workout shake only). I can watch the clock, or I can get up and get busy with something else.

Another technique that helps me is to have high-protein snacks nearby that I can pace myself with. Seapoint Farms dried edamame is great for this purpose. I pack 30g in a bag, then when I reach a "hungry time" of day, I dole out one soybean at a time to myself, and try to take my time savoring it. After popping it in my mouth, I peel off the outer layer with my tongue and teeth, then try to separate the halves of the bean with my teeth. Whether I succeed or fail doesn't matter. I'm giving my mouth something to do and satisfying my appetite at the same time. And since these are quite dry, I have to drink a lot of water. Fresh edamame works well for this purpose, too.

Lastly, examine your pacing and find a way to put yourself out of reach of food during your hungriest times of day. Your body will recalibrate after a day or two, and if you establish a really regular eating schedule, it will always know there's food just around the corner and tend to keep your hunger abated.

Good luck!

--Matt B.

I appreciate the tips, but this is not a Physiological hunger, I really do know when I'm hungry and when I'm just bored. My eating pattern has been set for a long time, I haven't had to make any real changes because I already did LC way before starting TSPA and I'm at around 13% BF now( just trying to lose the last bit so I don't have to exhale and sorta lean back to make my abs really pop ). The only thing that's really changed is the addition of extra HIIT (I used to only run sprints on Saturday), but now its 4 days a week. My friends dad who's a doctor said I might not being eating enough to match my lifting and cardio routine and activity level for my age...Which I'm really not I guess since I've cut back on fat to try to burn the last of my bodyfat...

The way I see it though, I'm in no rush. I don't mind if I don't quite get there by the end of this round of TSPA(im doing the original plan, maybe ill try the newly updated one next time) but if I don't that's fine. I'll go on maintenance or M.A.N.S bulking again for a while and try again in a few months.

BigBeck89 wrote:I appreciate the tips, but this is not a Physiological hunger, I really do know when I'm hungry and when I'm just bored.

Just to clarify, you mean that it's not a psychological hunger but actual physiological hunger, right? It's in your stomach, not just in your head, that is.

Good for you if you know the difference! I started my most recent body recomposition efforts in October 2007 and I still have moments where I falter with that!

BigBeck89 wrote:The only thing that's really changed is the addition of extra HIIT (I used to only run sprints on Saturday), but now its 4 days a week. My friends dad who's a doctor said I might not being eating enough to match my lifting and cardio routine and activity level for my age...Which I'm really not I guess since I've cut back on fat to try to burn the last of my bodyfat...

The way I see it though, I'm in no rush. I don't mind if I don't quite get there by the end of this round of TSPA(im doing the original plan, maybe ill try the newly updated one next time) but if I don't that's fine. I'll go on maintenance or M.A.N.S bulking again for a while and try again in a few months.

I feel ya on that not being in a rush thing. I'm the same right now (but being a woman, I have almost 10% more body fat than you ). HIIT always makes me crazy hungry too. Sounds like you're good at listening to your body, and it also sounds like your body's telling you that since you upped your activity you're gonna have to up your intake too. When you're ready to try cutting calories again, if you're scrupulous about meeting your vitamin/mineral needs, I think that'll help you stick to a lower intake. Good luck!

redgiki wrote:I pack 30g in a bag, then when I reach a "hungry time" of day, I dole out one soybean at a time to myself, and try to take my time savoring it. After popping it in my mouth, I peel off the outer layer with my tongue and teeth, then try to separate the halves of the bean with my teeth. Whether I succeed or fail doesn't matter. I'm giving my mouth something to do and satisfying my appetite at the same time.

Damn, Matt! My new nickname for you is Kaylee. You've got a way of eating a soybean that really makes me... want one.

marochka_raduga wrote:Damn, Matt! My new nickname for you is Kaylee. You've got a way of eating a soybean that really makes me... want one.

...and she's a Firefly fan, too.

You'd get along really well at our Rifftrax & MST3K parties here in Utah, I suspect.

--Matt B.

redgiki wrote:...and she's a Firefly fan, too.

That's "flan", not "fan"...

To bring this semi-back-on-topic, can you imagine how hard it would be to live on protein in every color of the rainbow and only very occasional fresh produce and real food? Oh, gods, I'd be taking the Pax all the time or maybe I'd just truck out to the Edge and sign up to be a banquet. I would always be so hungry! Space-friendly food is not volume-dense. I guess I should give up on that dream of being an astronaut.

How 'bout hunter-gatherer societies? Much call for astrophysicists or computer geeks there?

Redgiki is right, have a schedule for what and how much you eat depending on your needs and goals. The hunger that never ends firstly is psychological and secondarily is physiologinal(hormonal). Do not stay at home for too long or at least do not stay without doing something(except watching tv!!!).Go outside with friends or/and do things that entertain(and educate you in the same time:) ) you.Once you have your mind away from food you will not feel hunrgy. Eat your meals with a scheduled timing, do not wait to get hungry to eat. If you have sometimes during the day that you get more hungry for physiological reasons then program to eat more during those.For example after my workout I get extremely hungry.My post workout shake is 300kcal and my post workout meal can reach 800kcal sometimes. 1100kcal in less than 2 hours. To balance this some of my previous or next meals will be much more light.

I think having uneven meals(but still many(5-7 a day) is better and more realistic than having 6 even meals, since all hours in the day are not the same.It could be a good way to 'kill' that hunger.It works for me at least...What do you think?