Enough calories at Breakfast????

cam2win

I am in the constant mode of trying to cut weight.  I am 6 foot & right now weigh about 210, I raced Wisconsin closer to 200 pounds.

I know for myself, I could skip training all winter and just lose 30 pounds and I would be faster in the spring.  So weight loss is my biggest priority this winter. Don't worry I am not skipping out on training.

One area I am examining closely is my breakfast, most days I am eating 1 Cup of oatmeal with 3 eggs, 2 scoops of flaxseed & 2scoops of wheat germ, along with my vitamins and this is roughly 680 calories.

On Tuesday & Thursday mornings I swim and generally don't eat much (gel or ensure shake) before I swim, then come to work and eat.  I figure I probably burn 600-800 calories from swimming about 3,000 yards over an hour.

My biggest problems tend to be in the evening I get hungry and so I am wondering if trying to front load more calories into my day would help with hunger in the evening?

I noticed someone say they were eating 2 cups of oatmeal for breakfast which really seems like a lot.

I track my daily calorie intake and maintain a deficit most of the time, but there are some days when I get very hungry in the late afternoon and evening.  This is where my biggest struggles come.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, Thanks!

Joseph Lombardi

Jason,  I would say you need to eat more during the day but be wary of nutrient profile/balance ie. % carbs v protein v fat..a very worthwhile read is "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald. 

penlynwilson

Jason: Have you had your RMR measured? If you are super hungry late afternoon and night, your body wants more food. I suspect you are significantly under-eating. Are you waking up during the night hungry?

jburbatt

I would suggest a more effective way to control that hunger is to eat smaller meals spread out across the day. Or take some of those morning calories and give yourself "snacks" at those times you are hungry later in the day.

And I find that all snacks are not equal in the sense of what's going to make me happy, so I try to keep a mental list of things that are around 300 calories that I can have as a snack and be happy with. I find this more effective than always keeping X in my drawer at work since I generally don't want X when I'm hungry.

Swanie

Jason- I am the one who eats 2 cups of oatmeal for breakfast.

I am 6'0 and 190# was 210# last summer and have dropped 20 of it. I would like to loose another 10 by the start of the OS in January. I am training right now for IMAZ, thats part of the reason that I can do more calories than you right now.

The key for me to loose that weight over the past two years (actually lost it in about 3-4 months) was NOTHING to eat or drink except water after dinner (6:00pm) even if it meant going to bed hungary. Sensible meals for B-L-D. Lots of veggies at lunch and dinner. And if I ever got hungary throughout the day I ALWAYS had an apple available to eat. I eat probably 20 apples per week. So find your safety food, preferrably a fruit or veggie.

You CANNOT loose significant weight while actively training, you need to loose the weight prior to training hard. So NOW is time. Check out   www.loseit.com  coach Rich is a big proponent of it and I use it when not training hard. It's free and easy to use. It will guide you through a  days worth of calories and takes into account your workout. Although it is a bit generous for the workout calories. I would go with half of the allotted workout calories.

If you need any more help, PM me and I will get back to you quickly.

Coach Patrick

Other thoughts...

* fuel every workout properly. Gel/quick carbs before; food during. In case of swim, do sports drink in bottle on deck; if an hour hit the Endurox for recovery.
* no more than 3 hours without eating something
* some protein before you go to bed (I do those greek Chobani yogurts with some frozen blueberries on top).

The Core Diet add on we have here is perfect for you if you have the cash...

cam2win

I had my RMR measured a couple of years ago so I would not want to rely on that, but at the time is was around 2,800.

I had been trying to track my eating in Training Peaks, but I was not doing a very good job with it.  I just downloaded "Lose It" to my phone.  With my Age, Height & Weight it gives me 2,339 calories a day before exercise to eat on a plan where I would lose 1 pound a week.

I noticed on another post you provided a link to calculate BMR and I used that and got 2,088.65 before I needed to apply the 1.x factor for my activity level.  I was going to guess 1.55 with me planning to start the off season training in November.

Do you have an opinion on "Lose it"? I think this would be a good start for me because where I use to have problems was at dinner time.  With Lose it I can look at my phone to see how many calories I have available to eat for the rest of that day.  It is also showing me where I need to probably eat more earlier in the day so I am not so hungry later in the day.

If you have any additional thoughts I would be very interested in hearing them.

Thanks!

JT 

cam2win

Thanks, I have been eating snacks throughout the day, but I think overall I have not been getting enough calories in and by the end of the day it is catching up with me when I get to dinner.

My snacks have generally looked like this.

1 Apple, 90 calories of Cottage cheese, 1 protein shake

or

3/4 a cup of blueberries, 1 granola bar (Nature Valley), 1 protein shake

or

1 Apple, 90 Calorie Cottage Cheese, Veggie Tray (90 calories)

cam2win

Thanks for the idea Coach, I downloaded the Lose it App and I am going to start following that.

I like Greek Yogurt & I will probably look into adding that at night if I have the available calories.

The biggest issue for me has been eating at night and knowing off the top of my head how many calories I had eaten all day and how many I could eat at night.  With Lose it I should be able to just look at my phone and know. 

Coach Patrick

Remember, it's not so much how many calories you have as it is what type of calories and when. A sandwich or pasta after a workout is okay, coffee before a workout is okay...but otherwise you are eating lean meats, fruits, veggies and good dairy (like greek yogurt). If you eat consistently throughout the day (including workouts) and have your pre-sleep protein, you should be okay!

Coach Patrick

Remember, it's not so much how many calories you have as it is what type of calories and when. A sandwich or pasta after a workout is okay, coffee before a workout is okay...but otherwise you are eating lean meats, fruits, veggies and good dairy (like greek yogurt). If you eat consistently throughout the day (including workouts) and have your pre-sleep protein, you should be okay!

ps I should add that I just sat in on the 90' webinar last night from our nutrition partner, The Core Diet, and there was great stuff in there.

jburbatt

I've used the Lose It with some success. It is really easy to put stuff in there to see how many calories you might have left (ha, or what you need to burn off!). Eventually, the calories in-calories out stopped being effective and I had to change my diet to more like the one mentioned by P. And I actually eat very little bread and pasta now and found that to be really helpful losing weight. But cataloguing your food can be great to learn what the common calorie counts are for things you eat, and also seeing when you are eating what and how moving that around your day and workouts might be beneficial. Good luck!

penlynwilson

Here is how I figure out calorie needs when working with clients:
1) RMR x activity factor based on their daily, non-workout activity (if you sit at a desk without moving much, you get 1.25; if you move a little more 1.3 and so on)
2) If you want to lose weight, subtract 250 - 500 calories depending on where you are in your training cycle. If this is BELOW your RMR, eat at your RMR. This is your off-workout day calories.
3) For days you workokut, add your workout calories to #3.

Remember the food you eat and drink during your workouts also counts.

For some people, starches (not carbs, starches) are a problem. If you hit a plateau or find you can't lose, put starches only up to 1 hour before and 2 hours after your workout (and during if you want). Quite a few people, including myself, find that starches are a problem.

txvet

Penny, can you explain a little more about the starches vs. carbs difference? I'm assuming by starches that you are including breads, pastas, etc, but what about whole grain options like quinoa, barley, etc? Where do beans (pinto, kidney, etc) and sweet potatoes fit into this spectrum, if at all? I know EN advocates eschewing all of these except for around workouts and promotes lots of fruits, veggies, and lean meat, but I could eat a bushel full of fruit and still be stomach-growling hungry an hour later.

jburbatt

Starchs are carbs. I thought this article did a good job of breaking it down since it can get a little confusing: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/starch.htm



You can check out the whole series on carbs, which is also good, here: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/carbintro.htm

penlynwilson

Posted By Kristen Olson on 21 Oct 2011 09:53 AM

Penny, can you explain a little more about the starches vs. carbs difference? I'm assuming by starches that you are including breads, pastas, etc, but what about whole grain options like quinoa, barley, etc? Where do beans (pinto, kidney, etc) and sweet potatoes fit into this spectrum, if at all? I know EN advocates eschewing all of these except for around workouts and promotes lots of fruits, veggies, and lean meat, but I could eat a bushel full of fruit and still be stomach-growling hungry an hour later.

Hey Kristen! Glad to see you back in the Haus!

 

Starches = anything grain-based (yes, even whole grain), potatoes, sweet potatoes. I don't really put beans in with this group because most people don't tend to eat a lot of beans.

One of the keys to staying fuller longer is to have protein, carbs, and fat at each meal. Fruit+yogurt or cheese or some nuts should help keep you fuller longer.