Bein hungry and muscle loss?

[TooPowerful4u]

Im not sure how bad hunger is during cutting. I dont take in carbs after 5-6pm and i get REAL hungry at night. I eat a can of tuna, a few slices of turkey, or grilled chicken, but thats all protein and im still mad hungry. If im hungry is that a sign of lack of nutrients and carbs and my muscle is breaking down, or is it ok to be hungry and not worry about muscle loss?

[Junkyard Dog]

Bro, when cutting, hunger is inevitable - make friends with it - lol. You just need to measure your cals to make sure you are getting enough not to cause muscle loss. It is a very fine line.

[Kidrok (Hop)]

If your protein is high muscle break down should not be an issue. If you're concerned though you can use glutamine or BCAA's when hungry with lots of water! It won't ease the hunger but at least you can feel assured that your body has nutrients to work with that will reduce catabolism.

[TooPowerful4u]

My cals are measured, and i meet my daily needed intake, but all the carbs are finnished by 5-6pm. That gap from 6pm-after my cardio the next day around 10:30-11pm there is no carbs in my diet. Only protein. Do i need carbs in that timespan to hold muscle, or will the protein do its job as long as the requirement for carbs was met earlier in the day?

[TooPowerful4u]

Haha through everything i wrote, i forgot my main thought. which is....

I just thought your body needed carbs to assist in processing the protein and puttin it to use. I am worried without the carbs, your body cant properly utalize the protein.

[Junkyard Dog]

Maybe change your diet to spreading the meals out so you can eat later in the day.

You may feel slightly hungry throughout the day but it might be better than VERY hungry later in the day.

If you drink water when hungry I find it helps curb the hunger.

[Kidrok (Hop)]

dude get some carbs to the brain! LOL
when do you train earlier in the day? As long as you get some carbs post workout you should be ok. Personally I use 7pm as my cutoff, but I train at 5pm so i need to get those pw carbs in.
You seem concerned that you won't release any insulin with just protein intake? That is not a problem, your body still knows to release enough insulin to transprt the protein, you just won't get large amounts released like you would with carb intake which would simply drie the protein in faster. At night you want a slower uptake anyway so your body has time to utilize the protein for repair and growth.

[SweatMachine]

Well spoken KR!

[VA Maddog]

2 ideas

A couple of thoughts. It would probably not hurt to have a small portion of fibrous carbs such as green beans or broccoli with your dinner time meal. Another tool if your total calorie intake will allow for it is to have one tablespoon (just one now!) of natural peanut butter with that meal or even later in the evening. The fats and protein in the PB will also help take the edge off the hungry feeling. Natural PB will have little or no carbs (sugar) and will also be low in saturated fats.

You are going to feel hungry when on a cutting diet. You get used to it, and it should not be to the point where you are often light headed, but you will be mildly hungry. Just part of the process. Your bodies natural instinct is to say feed me, and feed me a lot - goes back to the old cave man days when food was scarce and so they had to eat a lot when it was around. Mind over matter bro - use the same tenacity that you use to attack the weights and apply it to being dedicated to your diet. The best conditioned guy usually takes first place, and conditioning is very much tied to your nutritional plan. Good luck!