Cravings-- Help

[FincaChick]

Hey everyone. So, I've been training for a fitness show at the end of April and I have been doing sooo well with food and training and making serious progress. Problem is that Mother Nature is making life very difficult for me to stick to my diet this week. I am freaking starving. So aside from sheer will keeping me on track I was wondering if anyone had any advice... I'm at 2500 cals right now and that is a lot for me usually (I'm stuffed) but... I just want to go and eat a big bowl of oatmeal, peanut butter and bananas and bacon. Well, I know I can't have the bacon but the oatmeal sounds great. Help!!:scared:

 

[Rosie Chee]

Hey everyone. So, I've been training for a fitness show at the end of April and I have been doing sooo well with food and training and making serious progress. Problem is that Mother Nature is making life very difficult for me to stick to my diet this week. I am freaking starving. So aside from sheer will keeping me on track I was wondering if anyone had any advice... I'm at 2500 cals right now and that is a lot for me usually (I'm stuffed) but... I just want to go and eat a big bowl of oatmeal, peanut butter and bananas and bacon. Well, I know I can't have the bacon but the oatmeal sounds great. Help!!:scared:

Honestly, one day of eating what you want is NOT going to be a bad thing. In fact it may HELP you with your progress (so long as it stays as the one day). I know that when I was preparing for my first (and only so far) Figure competition I made the MOST progress (re fat loss) in the LAST 4 weeks, when every 3rd and 4th day was a "eat what I want" day (I know; weird how that turned out).

 

[FincaChick]

Hmmm. I'll ask my trainer if it's ok if I can throw in an extra bowl of oatmeal or another turkey sandwich. Damn hormones.

 

[Rosie Chee]

Hmmm. I'll ask my trainer if it's ok if I can throw in an extra bowl of oatmeal or another turkey sandwich. Damn hormones.

I'm pretty sure that it's NOT going to harm your progress, especially since you still have 6 weeks until your competition. Anyways, in the end it is really up to you.

 

[BignBad]

I recommend the book Food and Mood. How you eat can strongly effect whether you crave sugars, fats, etc.

 

[BignBad]

Btw, lack of sleep also leads to strong cravings. It actually alters the hormones.

 

[UKStrength]

I agree with everyone else, one day will probably not be an issue at all and your psychological health during cutting is really important (i.e. if you allow yourself something of what you want, small and frequently, you're much less likely to binge).

However if the above tactic fails, in terms of nutrition: things like coffee, drinking water or herbal teas, eating lots of fibrous salad vegetables like celery and bulking out your shakes with gums like xanthan gum can help fill you up and help tremendously with appetite.

Pharmaceutically, they're good appetite suppression supplements on the market, the good old ECA stack is fantastic at killing appetite, just be very careful if you have blood pressure issues.

 

[killfat]

Stay Hungry! Getting over that craving is the best thing to do. Sometimes I will crave for the dumbest things like that extra boal of oatmeal and raisans at 8pm. But I push through it and then the next day, I'll have that extra bowl before 3pm, satisfy the crave and have no guilt. I think it's what it comes down to when satisfying cravings, the guilt after. I'd rather psych myself up for that extra bowl the next day and then fall asleep to that and then I get up, guilt free, indulge and no harm done. But that's just me. I drank a lot of Tab in the 70's, so my opinion may not be valid.

 

[UKStrength]

A good tip as well to judge whether the feeling you have is 'true' physiological hunger or just a 'craving' is where it emanates from.

If it's from the pit of your stomach, and won't go away with a drink, it's likely to be physiological hunger and you should probably feed or it'll grow worse (even just a small snack)

If it's from above the stomach, it's likely to be just a craving, in which case distraction techniques, a drink or exercise will get rid of it.

Hope this helps

 

[FOOFAC]

Honestly, one day of eating what you want is NOT going to be a bad thing. In fact it may HELP you with your progress (so long as it stays as the one day). I know that when I was preparing for my first (and only so far) Figure competition I made the MOST progress (re fat loss) in the LAST 4 weeks, when every 3rd and 4th day was a "eat what I want" day (I know; weird how that turned out).

Agreed! Cheat/carb loading days are key to preventing your body from lowering it's BMR. If you are getting cravings not true hunger it is without a doubt the type and perhaps the timimg of your carbs. Your blood sugar is spiking then dropping resulting in cravings. By balancing your blood sugar you will have to force feed the 2500 cals because you will not be hungry. Look into the glycemic index and only eat carbs with a 50% preferably less rating. Carbs with a high rating are fine post workout and first meal of the day but everything else should have a low glycemic rating.