Dealing with Hunger while "Dieting"

I can tell I'm full force into this diet now because I'm pretty much hungry all the time and my meals only keep me full for about an hour to an hour and a half.  If I weren't trying to cut my body fat for a figure competition, I'd probably increase my calorie intake slightly, but I need a deficit, so I am just suffering through.  I'm not "starving" yet, so I'm doing ok, but if I get to that point and I'm losing weight, then I guess I'll readjust.  Currently I haven't really lost any weight, but it's only been about a week and half and I also am taking creatine for muscle building, which causes you to retain water.  And of course I still have some sodium in my diet (although it's been averaging around 1500 mg/day, so not too bad - I'm aiming to get below 1,000 and eventually a few weeks before the competition, cut it as close to 0 as possible, which means drinking distilled water over regular water and doing crazy stuff, but I'll learn more about that when I get there).

Tonight I made up a new recipe for crockpot chicken.  I find grilled chicken breasts utterly disgusting as a leftover meal, but I don't have time to grill one up every single day, so I've been using the crockpot a lot.  It helps the chicken soak in the flavor of the herbs & seasonings better.  Tonight's recipe -

Lemony Italian Chicken
2.5 lbs. chicken breast (or however much you want - this was just the package I had)
1 c. low sodium chicken broth for every pound of chicken (or sub water if you are really wanting to keep sodium low)
1-2 whole lemons juiced
dried herbs - I didn't measure - I just shook them to coat the chicken breasts - mix of whatever herbs you want - I used an Italian blend - thyme, garlic powder, oregeno & basil.  You could also make it a lemon curry by using curry seasoning like turmeric, garam marsala, curry, etc.
Cook in slow cooker on low anywhere from 3-7 hours (this is not something I would cook all day because the chicken will be dried out - I put frozen breasts in so it will probably take 6-7 hours, but if they are not frozen, I would check after 2-3 hours)

* I will post pictures in tomorrow's blog.

Today I just did cardio - 20 min on bike at easy pace in the morning & 30 min Interval training on treadmill in evening (5 min warm/5 min cool with 1 min on/30 seconds off sprints for 20 minutes).  I drink 10 g. BCAAs in my water in the morning while on my bike since I don't eat beforehand - I read that's the best way to retain muscle while doing fasted cardio.  Not sure if it's true, but it can't hurt!

Today's Diet was clean, but I was pretty hungry this afternoon between meals.  I drank a lot of herbal tea & water to keep my belly feeling full.
Breakfast - after bike ride - 1/2 c. oats with 1/2 c. raspberries & 1 packet stevia to sweeten.  1 egg + 1/3 c. egg whites scrambled with pepper
Snack - 2 turkey meatballs (just 4 oz. ground turkey with herbs & shredded carrots baked in oven) & carrots/celery
Lunch - 4 oz. chicken breast, 4 oz. sweet potato w/cinnamon, 1 c. broccoli
Really hungry after lunch :(
Snack - Pure Protein Bar (it has no sugar - uses sugar alcohols like xylitol so low carb)
Pre-Gym Cardio #2 - whey protein w/1/2 c. pineapple (fresh so no sugar added in juice) & 2 wasa light rye crisps
Dinner - haven't eaten yet but it will be 1/2 of a 7 oz. can of salmon with chopped up ginger mixed in & 1 tsp sesame seed oil for seasoning, squeeze of lime served with steamed bok choy, mushrooms & carrots (if you aren't cutting carbs you could add 1/2 c. cooked brown rice, but I am not eating carbs at dinner so no rice for me).  If I'm hungry after dinner I'll have some more herbal tea :(  I usually save my whey shake for before bed but i didn't my evening cardio later than usual and was starving, so I drank my shake so I would have energy to get through the cardio or I know I would've bonked.

15 Weeks to Competition

Well, I'm not 15 weeks away from my first figure competition.  I'm pretty nervous that I won't be lean enough, but I have to just be patient & I'm sure I'll start to see changes since I've been tracking every morsel of food I put in my mouth and I have been working really hard in the gym.

I've been tracking my food intake on an app called Nutritionist in case anyone wants to download it.  It's $3, but it works pretty good at calculating your calorie, protein, carb & fat needs based on your goals.  You can set it to Muscle Gain, Maintenance, Weight Loss, Rapid Weight Loss (only to be used for a few weeks since you will lose muscle).  Right now I have it set to Weight Loss.  You can also change it by the day so today I had it set to "Moderate" because I worked Shoulders & some cardio.  On heavy leg days I work harder so I set it to "Heavy" and on days off I change it to "Off Day" so that I get less calories, etc.  I've been having some sugar cravings at night so I've been making my "10 Calorie Hot Chocolate".  Here's the Recipe:

10 Calorie Hot Chocolate:
1 tbsp. cocoa powder (10 calories)
1-2 packets stevia (or other calorie free sweetener you like)
hot water (if you have a few more calories to spare, almond milk will make it creamier)

Here's what I ate today for a sample day.
7:30 a.m. 3/4 c. cooked brown rice, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1/2 oz. slivered almonds, 1/2 c. almond milk, 1/2 c. scrambled egg whites on the side (Carb, Pro, 1/2 serving Fat, Fruit)
10:00 a.m. 1/2 7oz. can tuna mixed with 1 tbsp. dijon mustard, 3 oz. celery, 3 oz. carrots, 1/2 oz. almonds (pro, veggies, 1/2 serving fat)
12:30 Asian Chicken Salad - 4 oz. chicken (cooked in crockpot w/lite soy sauce, ginger, garlic, tsp sesame seed oil), 3 oz. romaine, 1 oz. red bell pepper, 2 oz. snap peas, 1 oz. mushrooms, 1/2 oz. sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp. Annie's Lite Gingerly dressing (tastes great & only 35 calories & 3 g. sugar) (Pro, Veg, 1/2 fat)
3:00 pre-workout shake - 1 scoop protein powder blended w/ 1/2 c. pineapple (pro & fast digesting carb - you want to have fast digesting carbs before you work out & protein, but you don't want to eat some chicken because you will be digesting it while working out - whey protein isolate will digest quickly so you can use it during your workout)
5:00 post-workout shake - 1 scoop protein powder (for this, I used a blend of casein & whey isolate so I have fast digesting & slow digesting protein together to help my muscles from breaking down).
7:30 p.m. 4 oz. ground turkey breast seasoned with italian seasoning & carrot shavings - rounded into meatballs & baked.  Serve over 1 c. cooked spaghetti squash (great low carb alternative to pasta), 1/2 c. marinara (read labels, they often add sugar - I use Trader Giottis' from Trader Joe's only 3 g. sugar & natural from the tomato sauce), add in any veggies you like - I added onion, pepper, mushroom & spinach
Post Dinner - sugar craving so had the 10 calorie hot chocolate.

*This seems like a lot of food, but it's really not.  It comes out to 1458 calories, 141 g. protein, 117 g. carbs & 47 g. fat. I could probably cut the fat down a little since I went over my daily alottment of 20%, but it's only about 25% so not too bad.

For cardio I did a 25 min. Insanity plyometrics video & then I hit the gym & lifted Shoulders/Traps.  Was supposed to do calves but had to get to an appointment so I will do those tomorrow when I do legs.  I'm following the Jim Stoppani 12 Week Shortcut to Size free program on bodybuilding.com if you want to see what I'm doing for my weight lifting.

Enjoy!

I've been training for a figure competition now for about 3 months.  I haven't paid super close attention to my diet other than making sure I ate a lot of protein and frequently.  During the process I gained about 4 pounds of lean muscle mass and my body fat stayed at about 22%.  I was hoping to gain a little more muscle than that, but it will suffice for my first show.  I'm up to 96 lbs. lean mass so I'm hoping to gain a few more pounds while being more strict with my diet now that I'm 16 weeks out from the show.  I need to come in around 12% body fat for the show so I have some leaning out to do now.

I am doing the NPC Grand Prix Rockford show in May.  Figure - I can compete in the Masters 30-39 class or Figure Class B 5'2"-5'4".  I'm not sure which would be better for me yet since masters could give me a leg up, or it could mean girls who have been lifting weights consistently longer than me so they will have more mature muscle mass.  I'll have to figure that out with my trainer's help.  

In the meantime, today marks 16 weeks out from the competition, so I've started tightening my diet but keeping protein intake high so I don't lose muscle mass.  I have cut back a little on carbs so I'm taking them in only at breakfast and then after my workouts.  On heavy leg days I will add another carb in at lunch so I have energy to get through the workout.  I also started counting calories & macronutrients (for those who don't know what that means, macs are your protein, carbs & fats).  I'm sticking to fairly moderate-low carb, moderate-low fat, high protein on most days, but on leg days I will cycle to a higher carb, low fat, high protein diet).  I'm using the "Nutritionist" app I downloaded on my phone.  The settings help you determine your macronutrient settings depending on your goal.  If your goal is simply to build muscle and not burn fat, you'll be eating higher calories, etc.  If your goal is to lean out, the settings will be lower.  The app tracks your input and your lean mass/weight fluctuations to help determine if you should be eating more or less.  (Note:  You will need a fat calipers to know your body fat percentage, or a scale that does it, but scales aren't quite as accurate).  

Right now according to the Nutritionist App, for me to lose fat while maintaining lean mass, most days I will eat around 1500 calories, 140 g. protein, 150 g. carb and 34 g. fat.  On hard workout days (Leg Days usually, I'll increase that to 1700 calories, 140 g. protein, 200 g. carb, 34 g. fat).  Ladies!!!!  I want to mention something here - so many of you want to lose weight, so you cut your calories to 1200 or less, do a bunch of cardio, and lose weight, then eventually are starving, gain it all back, and wonder why you can't maintain your weight.  Here are some points I want to share with you (I used to be the cardio queen and had the same problems - lose weight, feel good but soft still, gain it all back & feel fat & frustrated): 

1) You need to eat!!!!  Use an app like Nutritionist to help you figure out what you need to be eating.  If you aren't into counting calories, carbs, etc. here is a simple plan that should help you lose weight while maintaining muscle - B) carbs, fat, protein S) protein (if post workout, add carbs & fat), L) carbs, fat, protein, veggies S) protein + veggies (if post workout, add carbs & fat), D) protein & veggies.  Note - you should be eating 2-3 servings carbs/day, not 12+.  If you are very active or don't need to lose weight, then add another carb at dinner.  Don't be afraid of fat but don't over do it either - I am trying to stick to 2-3 servings/day (a serving is 2 tbsp. almond butter, 1 oz. nuts, 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1/4 c. avocado).  Just eat protein at every meal.  Add in veggies wherever you can, especially leafy greens.  Add 1-2 fruits (no, you don't need more - it's too much sugar.  I like to add 1 to my post workout shake and 1 anywhere else).  

Here's a sample meal plan from today:

8 am 1/2 c. oats blended w/1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 egg, 1/3 c. egg whites (blend in blender and cook like a pancake).  Top w/1/2 c. frozen berries, cinnamon & lemon juice

11:30 am (post workout) - 1 serving vanilla whey protein powder, 1/2 c. plain canned pumpkin (make sure the only ingredient is pumpkin), 1 tbsp. ground flaxseed, 1 tbsp. almond butter, pumpkin pie spice.  Yum!  Tasted like pumpkin pie!

1:00 p.m. 4.5 oz. turkey breast cooked in crock pot with fajita seasoning, 1.5 c. steamed broccoli w/lemon pepper

3:30 p.m. packet of lemon pepper tuna (should be 15-20 g. protein), + carrots & celery (1-2 c.)

6:30 p.m. 5 oz. salmon grilled w/ 1 c. steamed broccoli & 1 c. bok choy w/low sodium soy sauce

9 p.m. I'll probably have 4 egg whites w/cinnamon on them or a 100 calorie scoop of protein powder blended with water.  (yes, it takes some planning - I typically cook up all my proteins on the weekends and put into containers for the week, and the night before pack my snacks & lunch to take to work).  

2) You need to lift HEAVY weights.  If you can do more than 3 sets of 15 reps, you aren't lifting heavy enough.  Here is a sample workout from today:  (I do a 4-5 day body part split, which I'll go into detail in another blog post)

Shoulders/Traps/Calves

a) DB Shoulder Press 4 sets of 12-15 reps with a rest-pause on the final set (meaning, on my 4th set, after I finish my 15th reps, instead of stopping, I put the weights down for 15 seconds and then I do another set to failure).  Push yourself!  It should hurt! - Set 1 20 lbs. x 15 reps, set 2 20 x 15, set 3 20 x 12, set 4 20 x 12 Rest Pause 20 x 5

b) DB Lateral Raise 3 sets.  set 1 7.5 lb x 15, set 2 10 lbs. x 15, set 3 10 x 15 Rest Pause 10 x 7

c) 1 Arm DB Front raise 3 sets. set 1 7.5 x 15, 7.5 x 15, 7.2 x 12 RP 7.5 x 8

d) High Cable rear delt fly 3 sets.  set 1 7.5 x 15, set 2 7.5 x 15, 7.5 x 15 RP 7.5 x 10

e) DB Shrug 4 sets.  set 1 15 x 20, set 2 22.5 x 20, set 3 25 x 20, set 4 25 x 15 RP 25 x 15

f) Seated Calf Raise (calves you go to failure at higher reps.  I put 45s on each side of the calf machine.  Set 1 rep out 25, set 2 25, set 3 25, set 4 25 rest pause 15

g) Leg Press Calf Raise (I put 25s on each side of the leg press machine).  set 1 25 reps, set 2 25, set 3 25, set 4 25 rest pause 15.

3) You still need to do cardio, but HIIT training is better than steady state cardio.  I'm following a plan of 20-30 min. interval training on my 4 lifting days and 45 min steady state 2 other days, with 1 day rest.  Today I did 45 second sprints followed by 45 second slow jog/walk between.  I warmed up for 3 min, cooled down for 3 min and sprinted in between for a total of 20 minutes.  I wanted to do 30 min but I had to get home for work.  

THAT'S IT!  This was a longer post, but I know when I read nutrition/weight blogs, I like more detail so I can see exactly what works for people.  Remember, no one is the same and I'll be adjusting as I see results.  I also take supplements (I'll talk about supplements in another post).  I've followed a lot of websites and blogs but the best ones for this type of training are bodybuilding.com, oxygen magazine, muscle & fitness hers, amazing paleo blog, among others.  Let me know what you want more of and I'll blog about it!  I'm still researching myself and plan on posting recipes, etc. in the future as well because I have lots of good protein bar recipes.