Workout 1-3 hours per day & am HUNGRY

[JMS]

I am a group exercise instructor. In my job I workout 1-3 hours per day four to five days per week. I'm on day 13 and am seriously hungry most days. I'm eating three meals and three "snacks" per day. I'm eating far more meat than I used to eat. We have vegetables at every meal and I use them for some of my snacks as well. I'm eating olives, avocados and compliant nuts on a daily basis (3 servings of one/mix of these per day). I start my day with 3 eggs plus a little egg white.

 

Any suggestions? 

[GoJo09]

I would increase what you have in that first meal - I find that if I don't have a big breakfast, I'm hungrier for the rest of the day, even if I load up at lunch. Maybe add in another egg or some ground beef to your eggs, and have some starchy carbs at your later meals too.

 

And have protein and fat with your vege snack too - the vege isn't going to fill you up very much, you need the protein and fat for that.

[Tom Denham]

The volume and distribution of your workouts makes deciding how many post-workout meals you should be eating debatable, but you clearly need more nutrition. The meal template calls for a palm-size portion of protein as a post-workout meal. You might need as many as three of those on days you workout 3 hours. However, before I ate 3 post-workout meals, I would experiment with increasing the amount of protein I ate at each of your regular meals to two palm-size portions - the max we recommend per meal for active (hungry) people. You would also need to scale up fat at your regular meals. And like Gojo09 suggested, make sure you are getting some starchy veggies too, either with meals or as part of a post-workout meal.

 

You may want to study the meal template and see if you are meeting all the standards suggested: http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf

[JMS]

Thanks for the info. I'll try adding some meat to my morning eggs. Plus I will work on increasing the volume of food I am taking in. 

 

My "snacks" have included a protein (not just veggies) ... sorry I didn't make that very clear in my first post. However, I might need to up the protein.

 

One of my struggles is that I don't always go home right after a workout. I could stay at the club to teach another class (no gap or 30 minute gap between) or shower & run errands. So I have been doing a lot of prepping of food to eat on the go. Unfortunately, some items just aren't very portable. However, looking at the meal template sparked an idea (thanks for that). I know you can buy pumpkin puree in a can that is 100% pumpkin. I'm thinking I could portion it into serving sized Rubbermaids and take it to eat immediately post workout (with some protein). Maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon on top would make it feel like I was treating myself for working hard.

 

I'll try all of this over the next few days and see how it goes. Thursday will be the real test as I teach two hours in the morning (one is low-impact yoga) and one and a half hours in the evening. Thursday is my heaviest class day.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Physibeth]

I wanted to check in and see how this has been going for you. I'm also a group fitness instructor so I totally get it. My main challenge has been meal timing especially when I teach evening cardio classes because if I eat too much/wrong thing before I teach it makes for a very unpleasant tummy.

[ladydeevious]

I coach roller derby and some practices take up to 2to3 hours of hard skating....I find those days Im soooo hungrey....I really try and fill my meals but find myself "grazing" which I stuggle with my whole life of binging and snaking so the 3 meals a day actually has been good for me until these days im going back to my bad habits..damn hormones lol

[JMS]

Things have gotten better. I think it took awhile for my body to adjust and for me to learn the right timing/mix for what I do.

 

Adding some meat to my morning eggs made a big difference. I make it through morning classes (sometimes two in a row) without feeling hungry. I am eating four meals per day. I know they want three, but that just doesn't work well with the amount of calories I burn. My third meal is smaller and usually mid to late afternoon (3 pm ish) which seems to help. 

 

I also find that I have to make sure I don't skip some kind of healthy fat at every meal. My favorites are half an avocado or a large handful of green olives (not the stuffed kind ... Lindsay brand makes Naturals which only have olives, water and sea salt).

 

I tried the pumpkin puree and couldn't do it - just tasted gross to me. So I have started eating more sweet potatoes. I baked some and mashed them - then divided into single serve rubbermaids. I'll even eat those cold. I also finely dice and saute them some mornings to add to eggs (days when I teach more than one class).

 

I do have one day that is a little harder to handle as I teach four classes (two morning, two evening). I find that I need something small between class 3 and 4. A travel nut butter packet is usually enough. If I don't eat this quick single item I am hungry midway through the 5:30 pm class (and it's an intense cardio/weight training class).