[Altrek]

I'm doing BFL, and I am just hungry on this plan. Maybe some other people doing BFL can give a suggestion.

Here's what i ate the other day:
B- oats, 1 peach, 1 EAS 110 calorie shake - all in the blender as a shake
sn - 1 breakstones cottage cheese cup (90 cal) + 1 cup pineapple + 12 almonds
L - 4 oz boiled chicken with dab of BBQ sauce + 1 salad + 1/2 sugar free fat free muffin
sn - 1 carrot muffin from eat for life cook book + 1 EAS 110 cal shake
Dnr - 1/2 # steamed shrimp with a little cocktail, 1/2 baked potato, 1 serving of mixed steamed veggies.
SN - 1 piece of fruit

I try to eat different things each day to keep variety, except breakfast which is pretty consistent and the and the cottage cheese at morning snack.

After breakfast, i'm fine. But after the morning midmeal, and all day thereafter, i'm hungry all the time. I get full when I eat, but 1 hour later my stomach is growling. I just started BFL, and was thinking its just my body adjusting. MAybe some of the others on here might have some ideas for me. Thx

[srmb60]

I'm pretty carb sensitive and so my advice is not expert but purely 'from me' you could try leaving your fruits and that muffin until evening and heavy up the protein servings earlier in the day????

Hopefully someone will come along with some advice about the fullness factor of fiber too. That's another option.

[Mel]

I'd actually suggest the opposite of SusanB's advice, plus add a lot more green vegies. I try to lower my carbs throughout the day, and eat a bucket of greens at almost every meal. Your last "meal" has no protein- add a few egg whites, or a few oz of chicken.

Mel

[wannaBsize7]

Thats what jumps out at me too, more protein, especially after you work out

[Lydia227]

Hi Altrek: I eat BFL style. I'll admit that I get pretty hungry between meals. That last hour before my next scheduled mini meal can sometimes be really tough. I have found that I have gotten used to this feeling and it has almost become a "welcomed" feeling in the sense that I know I'm staying clean between meals.

Some of the tricks that I use during that last hour before I eat again is to chew gum and drink a lot of ice water. I will also snack on cherry tomatoes and celery. Another thing I will do is drink a nice herbal tea in the afternoon or evening before bed.

If the hunger is causing me to feel weak or I think dinner may be a little late I will look for a good source of protein that is low in fat and carbs such as a lowfat cheese stick or some hard boiled egg whites that I keep on hand. Sometimes I'll have some extra turkey or chicken breasts on hand that have been precooked and I'll eat a maybe a quarter or half of it as a stomach tamer. I will also use protein powder mixed with 1% milk. It may seem that I'm "cheating" between meals with this but if I don't nip the truly ravenous feeling in the bud it will lead to an outright binge for me. The trick is to make sure you are getting these meals in on a three hour basis and keeping yourself busy that last hour.

Also keep in mind that perfection is not key. There will be days when you are hungrier than others and you should eat just a little more on those days. Just make sure they are good choices.

Good luck as you find a way to make this eating plan work for you. I have had success with this approach and have found that it really is a pattern of eating that I can maintain within my lifestyle. I hope that you find it becoming easier for you soon too.

[Ilene]

When I get hungry like that between my mini meals I eat every 2 hours if I have to... I find that at the start of the day I am hungrier... In the morning I'll eat my oats and eggwhites at 8am and at 10am I am eating my cottage cheese and fruit, at noon I eat my meal whatever that may be that day... By afternoon though I seem to be able to extend the times between my meals to 3 hours, because I finally get the full feeling after the 3 morning meals under my belt... It isn't always that way... Some days I just eat 7 meals every 2 hours other days I'm good for 3 hours.... I guess it also depends how hard or intense my workouts have been...

[wannaBsize7]

And never under estimate the power of TOM. I am always hungryer 2 weeks out of the month

[BfL_Cat]

I think you need a lot more protein. When I was doing BFL, I tried to eat 1 gm of protein per # of LBM per day.

So, each of my meals, all 6 of them, contained at least 20 grams of protein, and some 25 grams. There were times in the beginning when I was just sick of eating so much - I literally had to force myself. But, as the Challenge progressed, I needed all that fuel, and in fact, on LB days, I would start to get hungry because I'd worked those big muscles!

You may not need that much protein, but just make sure you are balancing the protein and carbs in each meal - your meals seem to be carb-heavy.
Cindy