OK Gang,

Have a question/need for suggestions. I have been working tried and true for the past couple weeks. I actually have done very well by watching calories and upping the exercise amounts slowly - I am at about 20 min a day at this point. I recently upped my calories from the 1200 - 1500 range to teh 1400 -1700 range because everything I read said I was not eating enough.

Here is the concern - yesterday and today I have felt hungry a lot - every couple hours. I been good about eating a three meals a day. Typical breakfast is fruit and a granola bar or cereal, lunch has been soup and fruit or veggies and fish and then dinner is salad, rice and protein. I do snack some (100 calorie snack packs, fruit cups, air popped pop corn and things along those lines).

Any advice or suggestion would be great - thanks - erin

Hi erin -

I forget - what kind of oxidizer were you? If you are a balanced oxidizer are you getting enough protein? I find it hard to get enough protein in - but when I do I feel more satisfied for longer...

I agree, you need more protein. You should also be hungry about every 3 hours too, so plan for a mid-morning snack, which include protein and also a mid afternoon snack, which also includes protein. You are carbing up in the morning with your cereal and fruits and then carbing up more with soup and fruit and veggies for lunch. Add some protein like lowfat string cheese or cottage cheese or yogurt or egg whites with some of your meals or make them your snacks and see if this helps.

Hi Erin.

Very good advice from the ladies. You are not intaking enough protein. Also, try to eat 5 to 6 meals per day, rather than 3.

Here's some rules of thumb that may help you:

1) Eat every 2 to 3 hours
2) Eat complete, lean protein with each meal (Fish, lean red meat, poultry, Omega-3 eggs, Tofu)
3) Eat vegetables with each meal. Reserve all other carbs for post-workout meals and always eat protein first.
4) Eat healthy fats (avocado, nuts in moderation, flax oil (you cannot cook with it), fish oil supplementation)

So, for instance, breakfast may look something like this:

* 1 omega-3 egg + 1/2 cup egg whites scrambled (I just buy Eggology egg whites) w/ fresh spinach and mushroom; 2 strips Applegate farms turkey bacon (no nitrites in this stuff!!). If you feel you need some bread, have 1 slice of Peppridge Farm Carb Style Whole Wheat -- it's fairly high in protein and an excellent fiber source.

Details:
260 calories; 37 grams protein; 10 grams carbs; 9.5 grams fat (5 of that comes from the 1 whole egg)

Yep - when I learned to eat 5 to 6 small balanced meals a day it made all the difference.

I think eating the basic 3 square meals before using Jillian's book.....always left me very hungry and very frustrated wondering why my foods/diet wasn't working!!! Now I eat roughly every 2.5-3 hours and my day just whiz's by with so much more energy. My increased protein was just the answer. I would try having more. I purchased some whey protein powder and just love making a frothy 'milkshake' style smoothie.....gets the protein in and satisfies the treat factor. Good luck!!