Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I don't know what my problem is, if I need to add more protein or what I need to do. Latley I feel like I am constantly hungry. Sometimes I can eat and an hour later I am hungry again. I am not too bad at night, but during the day I feel like eating all the time. I am trying not to eat too much because I am trying to lose the rest of this weight. I am also trying to go without eating so much nut butter. I need help. Here is my training schedule:
Mon: 1 hr. chest and bicep, 35 min. stationary bike-intervals and HIIT training- sometimes if I am not tired later on in the day I do a 20 min. crossfit workout

Tue: 1 hr. back and tricep, 35 min. HIIT training- running, same thing if not tired or busy 20 min. crossfit

Wed: 1 or 2 crossfit workouts, run 5k

Thur: 1 hr. shoulders and abs, 30 min. crossfit cardi

Frid: 30 min. legs, 30 min. crossfit workout, 30 min. cardio

Sat.: 1 hr. crossfit class, and sometimes later 20 min. crossfit at home

Heres what I have eaten today so far:
B: 1/2 c. pumpkin pie oatmeal, 12 almonds
S: oatmeal pancake( I usually have edamme here)
L: 2 1/2 c. split pea soup over 1 c. hashbrown potatoes, big salad
S: 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp. almond butter
S: protein smoothie made with Sun warrior, 1 frozen banana, 1 c. almond milk
D: 1/2 c. quinoa with 1 1/2c. broccoli and 4 slices of tofu
S: if I am hungry I sometimes have a fruit salad

Like I say I really need help. I have been trying to stick to 1500 cal. but I find I eat closer to 1600-1700 easily. I am lifting heavy and I am starting to see some good muscle, I just would like to lose this last bit of belly fat.
thanks, Kathy

Hey Kathy,

I feel the same way if it makes you feel any better. I think cardio makes people more hungry.

I heard you are suppose to mix protein and carb at every meal. Lately I been eating more fruit to fill me up. Yes it has a lot of sugar but it can be filling and low in cals.

Hi Kathy simple answer your body want calories (protein, carbs, little fat) for the hard workouts you've been doing. GREAT JOB! This is totally natural, don't try and fight it. Without knowing you, 1500-1700 is not enough if what to keep up with your AWESOME training. Now if you want to do less work then maybe you be closer to that range (but that defeats the purpose).

For your belly fat issue:
Give it time, how long have you been training like this?
Reduce your fat intake and don't be afraid of lean carbs.

I started bodybuilding in December, but added Crossfit and HIIT and running until 3-4 months ago. What do you mean by lean carbs? I have been vegan for a long time and I did do Mcdougall program and lost 55 lbs. But then my weight stalled. I have about 10 lbs. left to lose. Although I am not keeping near as track on lbs. since I am building muscle but I got my body fat measured and I measured at 25% and that was about 4 wks ago. I noticed when I started really getting into my workouts and bodybuilding that I became very tired in the afternoon and my mom said to try more protein. So I did and I automatically felt better. So I know with my workouts I need to keep up my protein. But I don't want to become a carb phobia person either. Thanks for your help.
Kathy

While you've definitely been at it for some time, you're still relatively fairly new to bodybuilding/hard training to judge how your body responded to training. It can take years on a single workout plan/goal for someone to really see how their body changed from a result of their consistent training. Your body had years to adapt to the way you personally used eat, sleep, move, etc so it will take some time to adjust to how your currently using your body. There's a great deal of physiology at work from your neuromuscular, skeletal, endocrine, and really all systems in your body making minor adjustments to how you live your life.

So my point is you may be surprised that even following the same routine (with progressions) that all of the sudden you notice your "belly fat" slowly goes away. Most of the time people will forget about these issues and totally forget that they even were concerned about it in the beginning.

You could try to increase your protein, but you may have felt better by simply adding more calories into your diet, which to me is why your tired. I'd be dead tired training how you are and eating 1500 calories. If your consuming enough calories, you'll probably get enough protein. I used to be a major carb basher until I realized that eating lean carbs (such as fruits and starches) really did nothing except give me better energy and performance. That's also what began to sell me on the vegan diet.

Thankyou so much for your help. I was feeling confused and lost. I feel much better. I actually hate calorie counting. And when I did Mcdougall program I didn't do any calorie counting whatsoever. I just listened to my body and ate the right foods. I think I will do that now as well and not be so afraid of fruit and healthy starches. Every time I calorie count I get obsessive about it. I just need to stick with this way of eating and my training. Thanks again. Kathy

Hmm it seems your digestive system is very powerful . I mostly drink water when i got hungry at inappropriate time.

For me there is a direct correlation between calorie counting and being hungry allt he time. I obsess over food and it ends up being detrimental.

One thing my trainer told me is to stop doing high intensity cardio every day, it's not necessary to lose weight and makes your body release the stress hormone cortisol, which will actually prompt your body to retain belly fat. He said "Have you ever, EVER seen an RPM (spin) instructor without a little gut? especially a female one?"

Drop back the cardio and walk more, it worked for me.

Calorie counting is just a tool. The problem is when people cut back too much, then they get hungry all of the time. Using calorie counting as a tool to simply stop overeating can get a LOT of good results over time.

I agree about the high intensity cardio.

A higher percentage of fat is burned at the lower heart rates in the aerobic range. Going really hard, especially going anaerobic with carido training drains the glycogen (carbs, sugar, fuel) out of the muscles more and burns fat much less, so that triggers hunger.

That isn't a problem if people are disciplined with their portions, but it makes it a lot harder to be disciplined.

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very interesting regarding the high intensity cardio. I agree that HIT also makes me more hungry.

Is the same true about high intensity weight training?

The person that mentioned don't do HIT every day can you share your exercise/gym routine.

thanks