Cravings

Having some real trouble ignoring cravings wondering what you guys do to stop them?
I’m 26, recently came down from 82kg to 76kg, now I’m back at 80kg, probably 12-15% bodyfat. Also about 6 months ago I quit smoking and severely cut down alcohol, I workout quite a lot and eat relatively well but I find myself unable to sleep if I don’t gorge on some processed shit most days.

9 workouts a week
6 x 1-2 hour weight training, 3 x 2 hour boxing training

Meals are always the same, sometimes dinner changes, no supplements

Breakfast: Porridge - 150g oats, 350ml full fat milk, an apple, 1/2 cup blueberries
Postworkout - 100g tuna, 100g kiwifruit
Lunch - 300g egg white, 20g yolk, 60g spinach, 30g dry chilli, 30g garlic, 100g tuna, spices (pepper, paprika, tumeric), 400g baked beans
Dinner - 180g chicken, 400g white potatoes, 100g carrot, 100g broccoli, 60g onion, gravy

I eat this every day and can still smash down a stuffed crust pizza or McDonalds & 2L ice cream most of the time.
I reckon I’m getting enough nutrients and calories from normal meals but cravings are getting out of control. I don’t wanna move up a weight class and pretty sure I’m getting fatter and slower.
Any advice or help at all would be greatly appreciated

Also should say that I’m barely making strength gains at all in my morning workouts so I’m pretty sure the 4 kilos I’ve put back on are all fat from binge eating. I also eat the usual appetite suppressants/thermogenics, apple cider vinegar, coffee, chillis and green tea but no real help.

Has IF worked for anyone with similar issues?

I doubt the IF will solve the underlying problem here

Why do you train that much? There was a trade here earlier and people said when they train a lot, they do have difficulties sleeping, i second this too. If you’re going balls to walls of all 9 sessions per week, than that might be extreme and burn you out perhaps, both physically and mentally. What’s your goals?

Appetite suppressants/ thermogenics + coffee + green tea can be A HELL of a lot of caffeine. Do you calculate how many mgrams they all add up to? I would definitely taper that, or get rid of them completely. Throw away any pre workout’s as well, if you use them

Your diet looks fine. My advice would be to just chill for a few days, relax with friends, go out in nature ( im very serious) and meditate if you can

Good Luck.

Seems you are not eating enough to support that level of activity.

Add more good food. Looks lacking in fat for example.

Have strategies to deal with the cravings… Add chutney, seasonings, ketchups (stuff without crud in them), other stuff to tasty up the regular food.

No crap in the house, drink a litre of water (or protein shake) before eating crap. Try stopping after the first thing or taking a half hour break after starting… Etc.

[quote]tsantos wrote:
Seems you are not eating enough to support that level of activity.

Add more good food. Looks lacking in fat for example.

Have strategies to deal with the cravings… Add chutney, seasonings, ketchups (stuff without crud in them), other stuff to tasty up the regular food.

No crap in the house, drink a litre of water (or protein shake) before eating crap. Try stopping after the first thing or taking a half hour break after starting… Etc.[/quote]

I’ve tried adding nuts and stuff in but I’ll just eat 500g of almonds or whatever in one go and then give in to cravings the rest of the week.
I might start trying the water to fill up first though, sometimes I’ll make myself eat another bowl of porridge before giving in but I can usually still binge after if I’ve been anticipating it

You may also want to go for a walk/some other activity if you get cravings. Basically, have a “go to” plan of 2 or 3 or 4 things you’ll do before you give in.

Sometimes it will fail but each time you can separate the craving to give in, is a step closer to sorting your shit out. You’re basically trying to separate the desire and your current response.

As the first response said, there is probably some more stuff going on here. Often binging is about your mind not being stimulated properly.

There’s also some psych stuff you can do like thinking about what is going on but I’m not sure if that’s your thing and I’m no expert.

Take yourself to In-N-Out and buy a four-by-four, animal style and protein style, that’s what I do! Seriously, make food available that will help your cause. Keep nuts or jerky in your car/bag. The water idea is a good one. Or mentally think about *fat forming when you think about shitty food, may develop a slight eating disorder, but hey, whatever works, right? Or *start eating more nutrient dense food like liver and cacao.

*edited, stupid auto-correct phone.

[quote]outlaws wrote:
I doubt the IF will solve the underlying problem here

Why do you train that much? There was a trade here earlier and people said when they train a lot, they do have difficulties sleeping, i second this too. If you’re going balls to walls of all 9 sessions per week, than that might be extreme and burn you out perhaps, both physically and mentally. What’s your goals?

Appetite suppressants/ thermogenics + coffee + green tea can be A HELL of a lot of caffeine. Do you calculate how many mgrams they all add up to? I would definitely taper that, or get rid of them completely. Throw away any pre workout’s as well, if you use them

Your diet looks fine. My advice would be to just chill for a few days, relax with friends, go out in nature ( im very serious) and meditate if you can

Good Luck. [/quote]

Just train all round I guess strength and physique outside of boxing. I train a split ches/tri’s, legs, back/bi’s, legs, shoulders, legs (legs are seriously lacking so I try and get them a lot but its normally 3 compound lifts (full body) and like 2 isolation on leg days). If I start getting joint pain after heavy sparring or compound lifts I’ll go lighter until I recover but I’m generally okay.
I don’t use any supplements not even protein powder but it is like 6-8 cups of coffee a day, gonna try making that 3-4 from now on.
I used to meditate with an app called headspace but once it started charging I packed it in…

[quote]Cherrybomb wrote:
Take yourself to In-N-Out and buy a four-by-four, animal style and protein style, that’s what I do! Seriously, make food available that will help your cause. Keep nuts or jerky in your car/bag. The water idea is a good one. Or mentally think about *fat forming when you think about shitty food, may develop a slight eating disorder, but hey, whatever works, right? Or *start eating more nutrient dense food like liver and cacao.

*edited, stupid auto-correct phone.[/quote]

I don’t know what In-N-Out is? I’m Irish currently in NZ if that’s an American thing? It’s like I know I’ve eaten enough that I can’t seriously be hungry but my mind just craves food, the more shittier and processed, the more satisfying.
I eat liver occasionally but its so dry I find it hard to get through without half a bottle of ketchup, know any good recipies?

Personally i wouldn’t be able to perform that much exercise, would either fall sick or burn out/ stop progressing. If you’re interested in all round strength & physique try a 3 days a week full body programs, something like starting strength/ texas method or maybe WS4SB. They’ll make you stronger and good looking if body fat levels are on track IMO.

Also the more i eat junk, the more i crave it, just thoughts. Maybe you should just grow a pair and cut it all.

I’ve also just came across this again, worth a read; The Truth About Metabolic Damage

[quote]rian.omurchu wrote:

[quote]Cherrybomb wrote:
Take yourself to In-N-Out and buy a four-by-four, animal style and protein style, that’s what I do! Seriously, make food available that will help your cause. Keep nuts or jerky in your car/bag. The water idea is a good one. Or mentally think about *fat forming when you think about shitty food, may develop a slight eating disorder, but hey, whatever works, right? Or *start eating more nutrient dense food like liver and cacao.

*edited, stupid auto-correct phone.[/quote]

I don’t know what In-N-Out is? I’m Irish currently in NZ if that’s an American thing? It’s like I know I’ve eaten enough that I can’t seriously be hungry but my mind just craves food, the more shittier and processed, the more satisfying.
I eat liver occasionally but its so dry I find it hard to get through without half a bottle of ketchup, know any good recipies?
[/quote]ITs a fast food burger joint on teh west coast of the USA. Great burgers.

WHat he is saying is “EAT”.

the 4x4 is 4 burger patties , protein style is in a lettuce wrap not a bun, and animal is cooked in a mustard sauce, some fresh veggies, with or without onions. ITs quite tasty.

[quote]rian.omurchu wrote:

[quote]Cherrybomb wrote:
Take yourself to In-N-Out and buy a four-by-four, animal style and protein style, that’s what I do! Seriously, make food available that will help your cause. Keep nuts or jerky in your car/bag. The water idea is a good one. Or mentally think about *fat forming when you think about shitty food, may develop a slight eating disorder, but hey, whatever works, right? Or *start eating more nutrient dense food like liver and cacao.

*edited, stupid auto-correct phone.[/quote]

I don’t know what In-N-Out is? I’m Irish currently in NZ if that’s an American thing? It’s like I know I’ve eaten enough that I can’t seriously be hungry but my mind just craves food, the more shittier and processed, the more satisfying.
I eat liver occasionally but its so dry I find it hard to get through without half a bottle of ketchup, know any good recipies?
[/quote]
I was only being half serious when I told you in fast-food jargon to go get a giant burger, that’s just what I do. Liver is quite good if you cook it right, and make sure to get calf liver if you can. Also, this recipe calls for Vidalia onions, but any onions will carmalize just the same. Here is a good recipe. Just don’t over cook the liver, make sure it is still pink on the inside. When I make this, I don’t remove the onions, but turn the heat to low, add liver, cook for a few minutes, then turn the liver over, cook for a few minutes, and its done!

Some really good tips offered to you in here OP.

Personally I think you need to just eat more of the good stuff, or decrease your training a bit. Maybe limit yourself to 7 workouts a week and make sure you have at least one day when you have the whole day off.

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Why in the world would you think that lifting 12 hours a week and doing 6 hours of intense conditioning while seriously limiting your food intake was a good idea? C’mon, man, use your head.

Yeah basically what I’m gonna try is just eating intuitively but clean, any cravings and I just eat nutritious stuff and drink water till I’m full, so far so good but its only been a couple days, still get cravings but not as intense as before. Think I’m gonna cut cheat meals too it just kinda feeds cravings because I’m thinking about it all week.

Do I really need to worry about my training? It’s not like I’m picking up injuries and I have the energy to do it. I’m not progressing as much as I’d like strength wise but I figured its just the cardio?

What are your goals?