Listening to your body when it comes to needs?

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ljw5021
ljw5021 Posts: 48 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm about 6'6" and 275 lbs. I've been eating around 3000 calories per day, getting around 180-220 g protein per day. I'm currently working up after a break from Starting Strength, so the squat and dead weights aren't really pushing it yet. My bench, press, and clean are works in progress.

I'm adding DB rows on bench days and lat pull downs on press days. I calculate my TDEE at rest to be about 2600-2700 calories. I'm looking to eat enough to fuel my workouts while gaining and minimizing fat gain. Yesterday I ate around 2000 calories post workout and came in around 4000 on the day (over 3 meals) which didn't feel like I was forcing anything.

I used to skip breakfast and just eat 2750-3000 kcal over lunch/dinner. I woke up today and ate 8 leftover sausages that I had grilled for dinner last night, which clocked in at around 1750 calories and 145 g of protein. That was about 2 hours ago, now I'm eating 5 cups of green beans. Not very dense caloric wise on the green beans, but why am I feeling hungry 2 hours after eating that much?

Overarching question is - how much do you rely on calculations, and how much do you rely on how you feel when deciding what / when / how much to eat? Relating to that, what is your goal?

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  • ed6967
    ed6967 Posts: 2
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    I suggest eating some "good fat". Try some macadamia nuts or avocado dip. The fat will help reduce your hunger without really piling on the calories. It's also one of your macros.
  • GeeWillickers
    GeeWillickers Posts: 85 Member
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    Are you sure you are eating enough? Is your goal weight loss or just maintenance? I'm almost 6'3 and maintaining around 3300 at around 210/215 (large frame) with only three days lifting plus walking. I do find that that foods like sausages seem to increase my appetite versus solid meats such as pork roasts. Frankly, the ranges that Alan Aragon and Lyle McDonald suggest have been fairly accurate to me and at your bodyweight with a low end of 14 calories per pound puts you at 3850 calories. You may not be eating enough. Here's a link to Alan's article http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html
  • ljw5021
    ljw5021 Posts: 48 Member
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    Are you sure you are eating enough? Is your goal weight loss or just maintenance? I'm almost 6'3 and maintaining around 3300 at around 210/215 (large frame) with only three days lifting plus walking. I do find that that foods like sausages seem to increase my appetite versus solid meats such as pork roasts. Frankly, the ranges that Alan Aragon and Lyle McDonald suggest have been fairly accurate to me and at your bodyweight with a low end of 14 calories per pound puts you at 3850 calories. You may not be eating enough. Here's a link to Alan's article http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html

    That's basically what I'm trying to figure out, haha. Thanks for the link. I'll take a look.

    I basically just want to be eating enough to facilitate gains at the gym while not eating so much that I just blow up with a huge gut.

    EDIT: Well, today I had 4 egg whites and 2 whole eggs scrambled with some full fat mozz cheese on top, and I'm eating 5 meals spaced throughout the rest of the day of 3 sausage links (they were on sale, okay?) and about 1 cup of spinach each (steamed). This will put me over 300g protein, over 250g fat (rest day) and about 3950 kcal on the day. I'm going to try to eat 5-6 times per day (not a problem at my job) getting a good bit of chicken and white rice with veggies in each tupperware.

    I just took my measurements (last time taken was december 2012) and my waist/hips stayed the same while adding to my neck, shoulders, and arms... so I guess it's been going alright so far (what I was doing before) but then again I did take a bunch of breaks of SS.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I am always more satisfied when I have a combination of protein/carbs/fat with every meal. If I eat something that is mostly just one macro then I am hungry again quickly.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    I am always more satisfied when I have a combination of protein/carbs/fat with every meal. If I eat something that is mostly just one macro then I am hungry again quickly.

    I have noticed this as well about myself.

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