I eat a LOT of food. Help with cutting?

lifeskittles

Okay, so I weight lift (both heavy and circuit style) for about 1-2 hours every day along with about 20-30 minutes of cardio 2-3 times per week. I eat about 2000-2500 calories per day depending on activity (diary is open) and I eat about every 2 hours. I really want to start cutting because I have pretty good muscle definition, but I'm not sure where to start. I've tried in the past, and I get REALLY nauseous if I dont eat frequently and also tired. My body also seems to compensate hunger-wise if I do cardio that day. I don't really want to cut back on the exercise because it really helps me de-stress (I'm in nursing school). Advice from people who are very experienced with this situation would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

lifeskittles

Oh, I also take amino energy for a pre-workout as well as a carby snack right before lifting. I also take fish oil, probiotics, and CLA each day.

heatherbassoon

Can you post a sample of what you'd eat over the course of a typical day?

lifeskittles

my diary is open, so feel free to look. I get very BORED with food so it changes a lot, but I generally try to get at least 1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass.

lifeskittles

Generally I eat a protein cereal with protein enhanced milk or an egg and sausage sandwich and coffee for breakfast; a protein and carb snack (usually a protein bar and veggies or fruit or a greek yogurt) and then for lunch a meat with vegetables and maybe my protein milk; then for a snack either fruit, a protein bar, tuna, or vegetables or some sort of combination; then dinner is usually a bit bigger because its post workout (I work out in the afternoon) so usually either a protein shake and then a full meal with meat and vegetables and some sort of carb like fruit, etc

Ulwaz

Do you drink plenty of water? keeping hydrated is important

kcl29

Don't give up your exercise, that would just be silly. But if you are working out for hours every day and not losing you are probably eating too many calories. Nothing wrong with eating every 2-3 hours either, but then you have to control how much you eat. If you were to start eating 6 times per day, and limit each mini meal to 250 to 300 calories per meal, you would be eating 1500 to 1800 calories per day, considerably less than you are today. The key is to stay full. Check out the Hungry Girl site where they specialize in lots of volume for limited calories. I also like the Skinnytaste site. And big smoothies with fruits and veggies and some protein powder are great too. Good luck to you!

lifeskittles

Thanks...I am sort of doing a body recomposition because I have been eating at maintenance for awhile. I am very SLOWLY losing body fat while increasing my strength, but I already eat 6 times per day (or more)...unfortunately I've tried increasing my protein with each meal and it doesn't help. I'm already fairly hungry at the amount I'm eating...So I guess my question is more- how do I control my hunger? OH and ULWAZ, I drink like 7 bottles of water per day XD..so yeah

lifeskittles

I will check out the hungrygirl website though! My only issue is that my husband and I eat TOTALLY different so I really cant get too extravagant with my meals. The best I can do is change up the sides, which is why I usually do a simple meat and veg for meals. He HATES like, ALL vegetables.

Liftng4Lis

If you want to cut, why don't you drop about 250 calories a day and try that for a couple of weeks.

lifeskittles

I'm aware that in order to cut you're supposed to reduce calories... I'm just asking what people do in my situation. Do I just feel sick and hungry all the time? That sounds terrible.

Azurite27

Well not just gradually reduce your calories and do a small cut. You won't want to lose fast anyway if you want to keep your muscles. I struggle with hunger even at maintenance too. I make sure to hit my protein, fat, and fiber. Veggies can help add volume without a lot of calories. Eating often and keeping busy when I feel hungry tend to help me.

Liftng4Lis

Why don't you try less process foods for those two weeks. Nothing wrong with them, but they take up more calories and aren't as filling. Try more meat, avocados, nut butters.
I seriously find if I eat earlier in the day, then thats all I want to do ALL day. For me, I wake up about 3-3:30 and don't eat until about 10 and this just makes me never really hungry.

DancingMoosie

First things I noticed: coffee creamer and cereal. If you were to switch to a sugar-free creamer (like coffemate-15calories a serving) and different cereal (like Special K protein) you would probably save a bunch of calories without significantly changing your meals. I also like Kay's Naturals products. They have protein snacks and cereals for around 120calories/serving/12g protein.

lifeskittles

I actually generally dont eat very many processed foods. I did a couple of days ago because I was out all day...but thats not normal for me. All of the protein bars I eat are natural and any of the frozen meals I eat have no preservatives. I DO eat protein cereal in the morning, but the ingredients list is actually pretty minimal and it keeps me fairly full (surprisingly) in the morning. I do eat sauce with my meats, but only a minimal amount. I weigh and measure all my stuff too.

lifeskittles

DancingMoosie i actually switched from special K protein to the cereal i'm eating now because it has more natural ingredients (nuts and seeds, etc) and keeps me full longer. I also use regular coffee creamer instead of sugar free because sugar free products make me crave sugar later in the day and actually cause me to grave junk food. (it has less fructose corn syrup than the sugar free kind). I do love the kays naturals snacks though!

DancingMoosie

Would oatmeal with protein powder or Greek Yogurt, instead of cereal, save any calories? I find it to be very satisfying. I know you said no sugar-free products, but do you do any protein drinks? EAS AdvantEdge has good 100cal/17g protein shakes. I put 1/2 in my coffee sometimes. Or, mix a tsp-tbs of protein powder with 1/4cup soymilk (I use soy, don't like cow milk) and add to coffee. Better nutritional profile than coffee with creamer...just a thought.

Francl27

Are you always hungry like that when you try cutting? I'm asking because I've been in the same boat a lot, but for me it depends on my time of the month... Like, right now I'm doing just fine at 1800 calories and even fitting a couple treats here in there, but there are days when even 2000 calories is just not cutting it, even if I make better choices.

But yeah, I'd cut the creamer and cereal. It might fill you up longer, but it's still a lot of calories for a lot of carbs, and mostly you could probably find more filling food for less calories (oatmeal with nuts, low carb wrap with egg and cheese for example). Especially if you're going to have breakfast biscuits or something later.. it's a lot of calories spent on not very filling carbs (and sorry but 8g of protein for 230 calories of cereal is a bit of a joke). Like yesterday, you had cereal, and breakfast biscuits, and sushi (with a lot of carb and not a lot of protein), then pizza... that's a lot of carbs and not a lot of protein early in the day. You eat a lot of protein but later in the day, and maybe trying to get them in earlier would help.

Same with frozen meals... for the calories you can make your own and it will be much more filling and satisfying.

Also... you don't seem to be weighing your food. Might not be a big deal if you've maintained like this for a while, but you might be overestimating your food, which is why you're so hungry...

Either way, what stuck me is that you don't seem to be eating a lot of veggies.

But in the end, it might just be temporary because of hormones. I swear I wrote the same thing as you did not too long ago, and a week later I was just fine eating 1800 again.

jahuntley27

Let me know if you have any specific questions, I've been into bodybuilding for 20 years and have tried many diets, including those mentioned above. Here are some initial thoughts:

Do you know your maintenance calorie level? What is your caloric intake relative to it? If you are very hungry, you may be cutting carbs a bit too much or consuming a macro-nutrient profile that may not be well suited for your body (e.g. since protein seems reasonable, perhaps you are ingesting a bit more carbs than necessary and not enough fat).
Fats are satiating, but you obviously should stay away from sources with saturated fat. An example is omega eggs for breakfast (whole eggs, not egg whites) with salsa, another snack is a tablespoon of almond/peanut butter.

Dietary help for hunger and cutting fat:
Water and leafy greens will help - kale, mustard greens, arugala. Someone mentioned processed foods, I'm assuming you are not eating them already. To be more specific, read about carb cycling, cyclic ketogenic diets (CKD - google lyle mcdonald) and more specifically UD 2.0. I've found diets that are lower in carbs but allow you to have some carbs, at least at certain times, to be the most effective for cutting. Dave Palumbo is also an incredible source of knowledge. You can google/youtube for more of his advice.

Supplements:
Not necessary, but Xtend the amino acid drink may help with muscle sparing and preventing the nausea you mentioned. Also, green tea may help curb your appetite and provide energy. I've found daily fish oil with 1000mg of unopposed EPA (=EPA-DHA = unopposed EPA), vitamin d3, co-q10 and chromium/cinnamon to be useful. Again, not to push supplements and not knowing anything about your help, but a low stim product like need2flame may help curb your appetite without excessive stimulants that have become way too common in fat loss supplements. One other area of supplement is a repartitioning supplement like need2slin. I do not work for need2buildmuscle, but have found they make good products and have used them for quite a few years. Just to reiterate, supplements are nnot necessary, but may speed or enhance results.

Of course, do what works for you, but make sure to regularly change your workout routine and diet.

Best of luck!
James

lifeskittles

Thanks guys. And in reference to the pizza and sushi I ate it was my naughty food day....so that's why. And I add TONS of vegetables to my pizza, as well as eat it post work-out. Also, I don't log all the vegetables I eat, because I mostly use mfp to just track macros. And whoever posted about weighing food, I said I do weigh and measure my food in a post above. I do have a sushi addiction, ill admit...lol..Also, I eat the belvita biscuits for extra carbs pre-workout because they give me more sustained energy to lift heavier in the gym. I will consider substituting it for maybe some oatmeal though because you're right, it is a little high on the calorie side. I can't and won't do low carb diets because they make me feel like total *kitten*. I'm really active and I don't like feeling tired all the time, especially if I'm in the hospital all day. I think I'm just going to stick with maintenance for days that I'm really hungry, and days I feel I can eat less I will. I'm increasing strength in the gym and very slowly dropping body fat..so I guess I should just stick with what I'm doing. I'm just getting impatient. I've been working out for many years and still not where I'd like to be. I'm not overweight by any means, I just want to be leaner. I really want to do a figure competition someday.
I went through a big egg - eating phase in the morning but got really burnt out on it. So I switched to the protein cereal. I know the cereal itself sucks on protein, but added with the protein enhanced milk it's about 18g of protein.

Thanks for your input everyone!

lifeskittles

Also my maintenance is about 2200-2300