The hurdle of not being hungry

avadahm

I've been working on a slow bulk for a couple of months now and eating enough food has been fine up until this week. Just the sight of food is kind of turning me off.

Anyone have the same problem? Suggestions to get over that hurdle? I'm on the verge of just drinking sugar laced coffees for the calories (but that brings on a nutrition problem).

psuLemon

I never have that problem, but it may be helpful to incorporate some liquid calories..



But any chance you are pregnant?

JoRocka

high calorie low filling options- i.e. all the foods people tell you to avoid when you're cutting/losing weight.

abbynormalartist

My hubby has that problem when he bulks. What works for him - eat your first meal shortly after getting up. Don't wait a few hours for your usual "breakfast" time. Eat slightly smaller meals but more often. That way you're not sick feeling after just a few big meal every day. And calorie dense foods, like nuts, to fill in missing calories.

sardelsa

Do you think you are coming down with something? Do you usually consume your bulking calories no problem? There are days where I wasn't as hungry as other days and I was sick of eating, but it was usually one day or two.

g077

Eating high calories feels like a lot of effort to me. Much harder to stay consistent than with the workouts. I get in phases where I just say forget it. At the same time, my weight starts droping pretty quick. Most of the time I can stick to the same foods but eggs was one of the foods that made me hard to even look at after a bulk period. I think drinking your calories is the easiest way to add to your diet without being too much of a burden. Also swapping some of the foods for something new may set your mind away from feeling overwhelmed with eating.

richardgavel

There's a difference between I'm not hungry and I can't comfortably eat anymore. The first isn't an issue because I rarely wait until I'm actually hungry to eat. The second requires strategies, which for me entail multiple snack periods (A nighttime cereal and milk snack before bed was always a good way for me to add calories) and increasing total calories in small increments. Your body and mind do get used to the increase.

Hamsibian

With my Crohn's, there are many times when even the sight of food made me nauseaus. After so many years of yo yo weights and flare ups, it's been really hard up until recently to eat more food. I have been eating a lot of calorie dense foods (it's all my guts can handle, and I still have to cut out many of those as well), so I am still brainstorming on how to consume more calories without over doing it on the carbs since too much gives me a lot of discomfort. So far I have come up with preserving meat drippings for other dishes, adding an additional protein snack (not helpful for you), slowly adding more oil, and roasting vegetables to eat along with the meals I already make.

I know I won't be able to do it all at once, so I am going to tackle one thing at a time. At least you can try the adding more low filling options like oil and fat to your meals.

BoxerBrawler

Yes! I am really struggling with eating more calories to build more muscle. I am doing a clean bulk and I'm just so used to being in a huge deficit it's just hard for me to reverse my thinking. I'm eating enough now so my body doesn't think it's starving but not enough to gain real weight, just keep the muscle I have and supplement to build more.... it's difficult. I set up reminders for myself to eat lol! and yeah, more fats for more calories but then you'll more full too.

TR0berts

What is your current diet like? There's a decent chance "sugar laced coffees" will be just fine, provided you're getting adequate nutrition otherwise. Meaning: I/we see many people here try to bulk on nothing but "clean"/whole foods, but can't do it. So, if you're getting good nutrition already, sugar/liquid Cals are often perfectly acceptable as sources of extra Calories.

avadahm

psuLemon wrote: »

I never have that problem, but it may be helpful to incorporate some liquid calories..

But any chance you are pregnant?

lol definitely not pregnant

I have been doing some liquid calories because of this but they're far from enough.

sardelsa wrote: »

Do you think you are coming down with something? Do you usually consume your bulking calories no problem? There are days where I wasn't as hungry as other days and I was sick of eating, but it was usually one day or two.

I haven't gotten sick, so I assume I'm healthy. I can usually get over my calories no problem which is why I'm so frustrated that I feel slowed down in the eating dept.

TR0berts wrote: »

What is your current diet like? There's a decent chance "sugar laced coffees" will be just fine, provided you're getting adequate nutrition otherwise. Meaning: I/we see many people here try to bulk on nothing but "clean"/whole foods, but can't do it. So, if you're getting good nutrition already, sugar/liquid Cals are often perfectly acceptable as sources of extra Calories.

What worries me is that I'm not hungry for the nutrition of actual foods. I've been adding heavy cream to my coffee in the morning and I have alcohol at night. There's no way I shouldn't be hungry but the foods that count that I normally devour are challenging for me to eat.

I'll keep plugging at it, guys! Thank you all for the input. I'll see if more liquids are any easier for me and if the hurdle of being turned off to actual food lifts with it.

bioklutz

At the end of my bulk I felt full all the time. It really was only the last 2 weeks though and I was still able to eat. It did make the first week of cutting seem easy!

How many more pounds and what kind of time frame do you have left?

Gallowmere1984

I know the feeling. I decided to be a stubborn *kitten* on this bulk, and do it using 90+% whole foods. I want to keep it VERY slow, as I'm more interested in fueling training than building actual tissue. For me, relative strength>all else, so adding mass to the detriment of my strength to weight ratio is off the table. However, my keeping it slow has accidentally turned into a deficit at 2850 on recovery days, and 3450 in training days.

I'm about to start implementing a buttload of nut butters and whole goat milk if my weight doesn't stabilize within a few days. Needs more kcals, but I refuse to eat any additional meat, fruit, veg and potatoes on top of what I already am.

deputy_randolph

I had to take a month long break from a bulk, b/c I felt "fat" and was tired of eating so much. I found that chocolate everyday helped fix the problem.

JB035

crazyravr wrote: »

avadahm wrote: »

I've been working on a slow bulk for a couple of months now and eating enough food has been fine up until this week. Just the sight of food is kind of turning me off.

Anyone have the same problem? Suggestions to get over that hurdle? I'm on the verge of just drinking sugar laced coffees for the calories (but that brings on a nutrition problem).

I find that when lifting does not make me hungry it is because I am not lifting heavy. Try going for less reps but much much heavier weight. I think when you break the body down it will be asking for food to rebuild itself, I know that works for me.
Also peanutbutter, avocados and beef, all add up quickly for the calorie surplus.

Exactly. And specifically get under the squat rack or hit some deadlifts... Heavy!