Eating Enough? Lifter. Open Diary.

peaceout_aly

I work out 6 x week for the most part - recently upped cardio to 30-minutes on upper body day and 15-minutes on lower body days (with an "optional" feat on heavy lower days..usually 1 x week). My lift sessions are typically 30-minutes on upper body (with a 25-minute ab circuit in addition to that) and 40 to 60-minutes on leg days. I eat 1,400 calories per day (110 g protein/under 40 g sugar) and recently started not eating back exercise calories. I eat small meals throughout the day (see my diary). I've been waking up hungry throughout the night and then starving in the morning, and I'm wondering if you all think I'm consuming enough. Recently my abs started gleaming through and I've had overall fat loss which is starting to show cut muscles, but since I am waking up hungry, am I chancing losing all the muscle that I worked so hard to gain? Trying to not gain too much now that we are so close to summer, but I don't want to lose either. If I'm still increasing weight on a weekly basis (only with legs, staying the same for upper body) should I be eating more on those days to compensate?

Stats: 5 ft. - 113 lbs. - 22 y.o

StealthHealth

Waking up hungry in the middle of the night and continued fat loss indicates that you are still in deficit. If you want to maintain you will need to gently add in calories until you reach steady weight/measurements.

I would suggest adding in 100 - 150 cals and monitoring for a couple of weeks.

Edited to add: Whether you add in those calories uniformly across all days or have high/low days based upon your training is a personal preference and will have little to no effect on your weight, but some people find that their gym performance is better when they eat more on training days.

willammoney

You are doing fine keep up the good work

ShodanPrime

Are you peaking for a competition on that intake?

peaceout_aly

StealthHealth wrote: »

Waking up hungry in the middle of the night and continued fat loss indicates that you are still in deficit. If you want to maintain you will need to gently add in calories until you reach steady weight/measurements.

I would suggest adding in 100 - 150 cals and monitoring for a couple of weeks.

Edited to add: Whether you add in those calories uniformly across all days or have high/low days based upon your training is a personal preference and will have little to no effect on your weight, but some people find that their gym performance is better when they eat more on training days.

That was actually my concern. I'm very conscience about when I am hungry out of boredom and when I am actually hungry and this hunger is most definitely real. I wake up throughout the night with a growling stomach and again in the morning with hunger so intense that it wakes my partner up with belly noises! Haha! I think I may start doing as you suggested on heavier days in order to feed the deficit that is created.

peaceout_aly

ShodanPrime wrote: »

Are you peaking for a competition on that intake?

Nope! I don't compete. Just very into lifting and nutritious eating.

ClubSilencio

A 25 min ab circuit (that's almost as long as the rest of your workout) seems like overkill.

Try this ab workout until your abs burn out (which probably won't take longer than 8-10 min. and you can get out of the gym earlier, or do it as a warmup soon as you arrive): https://youtube.com/watch?v=3ptN2uRG9MA

And I think you should follow your intuition and eat when you're hungry. Crunching numbers and focusing on little details of the body should take a backseat when your stomach is growling, IMO.

peaceout_aly

ClubSilencio wrote: »

A 25 min ab circuit (that's almost as long as the rest of your workout) seems like overkill.

Try this ab workout until your abs burn out (which probably won't take longer than 8-10 min. and you can get out of the gym earlier, or do it as a warmup soon as you arrive): https://youtube.com/watch?v=3ptN2uRG9MA

And I think you should follow your intuition and eat when you're hungry. Crunching numbers and focusing on little details of the body should take a backseat when your stomach is growling, IMO.

My typical ab routine is as follows:
Roman chair 3 x 30 (twist - so knees up to each side instead of straight forward to work the obliques)
25 lb. plate knee up crunch 3 x 15
Reverse plank 3 x 25 second holds
Lying down knee ups 3 x 15
Scissor kick 3 x 15
Ball knee ups 3 x 15
(done as a circuit)

I am definitely going to take a look at the video you posted! Anything to decrease time and increase functionality. And yes, I have been thinking the same. I often think far too into the numbers and it distracts from the importance of nutrition and rest when building muscle. Like today - I couldn't remember if I put one or two scoops of protein powder into my travel container. Logged as two but I figure if I'm hungry later, I can eat more since it was questionable. No more growling stomach even if summer is right around the corner (and abs are not!)

kimjwwolven

Try a tablespoon of coconut butter at bedtime when you're waking up hungry your body has shut down you don't want that to happen

Christine_72

OP why do you have your carbs set to 0?

LazSommer

peaceout_aly wrote: »

I work out 6 x week for the most part - recently upped cardio to 30-minutes on upper body day and 15-minutes on lower body days (with an "optional" feat on heavy lower days..usually 1 x week). My lift sessions are typically 30-minutes on upper body (with a 25-minute ab circuit in addition to that) and 40 to 60-minutes on leg days. I eat 1,400 calories per day (110 g protein/under 40 g sugar) and recently started not eating back exercise calories. I eat small meals throughout the day (see my diary). I've been waking up hungry throughout the night and then starving in the morning, and I'm wondering if you all think I'm consuming enough. Recently my abs started gleaming through and I've had overall fat loss which is starting to show cut muscles, but since I am waking up hungry, am I chancing losing all the muscle that I worked so hard to gain? Trying to not gain too much now that we are so close to summer, but I don't want to lose either. If I'm still increasing weight on a weekly basis (only with legs, staying the same for upper body) should I be eating more on those days to compensate?

Stats: 5 ft. - 113 lbs. - 22 y.o

You're not going to suddenly lose your muscles, but your workouts are going to start getting weak if you're lifting heavy with that diary. You are cutting, which is fine, but you're not making much new muscle and just getting rid of fat. If cutting the fat is your goal, you're on the right path. If you're trying to maintain or increase muscle/strength you should reexamine your food intake.

psuLemon

What is your total fiber count? How much weigh are you losing per week? You might have to add more volume foods (low gi fruits, low sugar veggies, maybe a potato) or add more calories like stealth suggested. Typically, 1400 is low for many women who workout as much as you. Typically, I see them closer to 1700-1900.

peaceout_aly

Christine_72 wrote: »

OP why do you have your carbs set to 0?

Because in order to get my fats and proteins to the numbers suggested by my nutritionist, I had to up the percentages which then didn't allow any more "percentage" left for carbs. Don't worry - I am clearly not carb free! I allow myself 130 grams x day typically - just have a mental note of that. Forgot that people may question that about my diary! Wish MFP had a full custom setting so I could adjust everything to my liking. If you notice, my protein only says 105 grams, but my goal is 110-115 grams. Basically, I just know my numbers off the top of my head that I need to hit and use MFP purely for tracking, not for a "nutritionist" guideline.