Not hungry after PWO meal for a LONG time

[jenna]

I am really struggling to get proper nutrition in Post workout. I eat a meal sized portion of lean meat, and about a cup of sweet potatoes. And I am not hungry within 1-2 hours. In fact, I ate this 3 hours ago, and am still really full. If I workout in the afternoon, I am often full up until bedtime after eating the post workout meal. (or, what usually happens...I am full up UNTIL bedtime, and then I get hungry, and of course it is too late to eat....but sometimes I don't get hungry at all before bed!)

Should I cut back the portion size of the post workout meal or should I expect that I will eventually get used to it and maybe get hungry again?

[Tom Denham]

I would try cutting your portion sizes in half for the post-workout meal for now. My guess is that your hormones are not in a good rhythm yet, but eating appropriately should help them get there.

Let's explore what may be having an influence on your experience. Are you eating within an hour of waking in the morning? What are you eating for breakfast. How long until lunch? What are you eating for lunch? Are you hungry earlier in the day? When you eat supper, what do you eat and at what time? How much are you sleeping and what is the quality of your sleep?

[Fenderbender]

I have kinda the same problem when I workout late in the day.... Twice a week I do our " combat fitness" 6:00-7:00pm (military style conditioning ) then tactical drills from 7-7:45. All I can stomach in between is a banana or 1/2 a sweet potato.... We just don't stop!

Then I have my " fourth" meal at 8-8:10.

So..... On those days I eat meal one imidiatly open waking.... Spread out meals two and three but cut the portion back just a bit , and add my forth as my post meal

No way I could do a post workout mealat 8:00 PM then stay up long enough for ( be hungry enough for ) a standard third meal....

I also do this on the weekends when I regularly work a 12-14 hr shift..... I'm hope a Mod will chime in, but for me it's about adapting your lifestyle to fuel, feel great/ energetic all day.....

[jenna]

I would try cutting your portion sizes in half for the post-workout meal for now. My guess is that your hormones are not in a good rhythm yet, but eating appropriately should help them get there.

Let's explore what may be having an influence on your experience. Are you eating within an hour of waking in the morning? What are you eating for breakfast. How long until lunch? What are you eating for lunch? Are you hungry earlier in the day? When you eat supper, what do you eat and at what time? How much are you sleeping and what is the quality of your sleep?

Breakfast is always within 1 hour of waking - and I typically do 3 eggs sauteed with some ground beef (small amount for flavoring mostly), onions, peppers and ample amounts of ghee or coconut oil. I usually add 1/2 apple (today was small banana) and small handful of cashews. Today I cut down to 2 eggs because I have been having a hard time finishing 3 eggs. Oh, and I have an herbal tea.

Meal 2 is about 4 hours later (around 11:30), and I am always hungry for it. Meal 2 is usually a soup (easy to take in thermos) - today it is chicken, carrot, celery with chicken broth, and onions. I usually bring the other 1/2 of an apple (today is the rest of my sons banana that he didn't eat - didn't want it to go to waste) and some olives (about 1/2 cup).

My pre-workout snack is 1 small chicken thigh and a handful of cashews OR olives. I am usually hungry enough to eat that OK.

My workouts are usually 90 minutes by the time my warm-up and lifting is complete.

After my workout I eat the 1 cup of sweet potatoes (roasted - with some coconut oil, but not a lot....it's not like they are fried) and a palm-sized portion of chicken. I can barely eat it all I am so full!

Last night I forced myself to eat a small salad and some chicken drumsticks around 7:30 (much later than I want to eat), and that was OK but I wasn't really hungry for them.

I generally sleep 10-7 or 7:30. If I get less than 9 hours I am pretty grumpy, so even on the weekends I try to get to bed by 10 - 11 at the very latest! I have a 2.5 year old so I never get to sleep in past 7:30. The quality of my sleep is generally very good b/c I take magnesium at night and I rarely drink coffee - and if I do, it's about 1/2 shot, in the morning.

I will try cutting my PWO meal in half. I am used to doing a liquid post workout meal - such as a protein shake. Also I have no doubt my hormones are messed up - I know for starters my cortisol is low (and backwards). I have been hungry in the morning and staying full until bed, after dinner, so I thought maybe I was starting to repair.

Thoughts?

Thanks Tom!

[Tom Denham]

Your food and sleep is excellent. My guess is that all you need is more time for things to settle in.

You might be better off just baking your sweet potatoes (350 degrees for 90 minutes) with no oil. The trick of post-workout meals is to avoid fat so the food digests quickly and the protein can get to your muscles fast.

You could move the sweet potato to supper and just eat the lean protein. I like to see active people eat some starchy carbs every day, but the only part of a post-workout meal that is critical is the protein.

[jenna]

Okay maybe I will try moving the sweet potatoes. I did try a smaller portion today after my workout and was adequately hungry for dinner, so that is an option. I probably won't be able to do baked sweet potatoes with no oil/cinnamon because I am a very new sweet potato fan - up until recently, I didn't like them at all! I can't imagine them without coconut oil. In fact, the only way I used to be able to eat them was the sweet potato chews (isn't that recipe from your website, Tom?)

Thanks!

[Tom Denham]

The sweet potato chews may be a Melissa Joulwan recipe. They looked like too much work for me, so all I do with sweet potatoes is bake them or make oven fries.