Competition dieting: What type of foods can be eaten to satisfy carb cravings?

[str8cubano]

Place a teaspoon of L-Glutamine under your tounge. Some Low-carbers swear by this trick when the urge to carb up comes on.

you can always try 5htp

Ok, i know that 5htp is to help balance out healthy seretonin levels, somebody educate me on how 5htp helps eliminate carb cravings or helps in bodybuilding whatsoever

 

[WannaImpress]

Ok, i know that 5htp is to help balance out healthy seretonin levels, somebody educate me on how 5htp helps eliminate carb cravings or helps in bodybuilding whatsoever

I'm also interested in how this works?

SirWanksalot, SAF what is the recommended dosage taken of 5htp, I saw that 300mgs, 3 times a day was needed. Also where can you purchase 5htp, I saw 100tabs/100mgs for $40.95, good price?

 

[SAF]

I'm also interested in how this works?

SirWanksalot, SAF what is the recommended dosage taken of 5htp, I saw that 300mgs, 3 times a day was needed. Also where can you purchase 5htp, I saw 100tabs/100mgs for $40.95, good price?

I'm taking 50mg, 3 times per day, and it seems to be helping out, a little.

SAF

 

[Buld0g]

Bro my show is June 15th and I'm just starting to ween my way off of crystal light. It's so fucking hard to drink water all the time. What about gum? I use Dentene about 3 or 4 pieces a day. Each stick is only 1 carb.

 

[WannaImpress]

Bro my show is June 15th and I'm just starting to ween my way off of crystal light. It's so fucking had to drink water all the time. What about gum? I use Dentene about 3 or 4 pieces a day. Each stick is only 1 carb.

Buld0g, look into Tic Tacs, yes Tic Tacs, the orange ones are pretty damn good and also very low in carbs! I take some when I'm just craving something sweet!

 

[serge]

I FOUND THIS DIET TO WORK VERY WELL, TAKE A LOOK

Hi-Lo Carb Diet
Each cycle last four days.

DAY 1 MODERATE carbohydrate intake, 1.5 grams
Moderate protein intake, 1.0 grams
Low fat intake, 1/4 gram

DAY 2 LOW carbohydrate intake, 0.5 grams
Moderate protein intake, 1.5 gram
Low fat intake, 1/4 gram

DAY 3 LOW carbohydrate intake, 0.5 grams
Moderate protein intake, 1.5 gram per lb.
Low fat intake, 1/4 gram for each lb.

DAY 4 HIGH carbohydrate intake, 2.0 grams
Moderate protein intake, 1.0 gram per lb.
Low fat intake, 1/4 gram for each lb.

REPEAT CYCLE, IF NOT LOOSING ENOUGH THEN ADD ANOTHER LOW CARB DAY

 

[SirWanksalot]

Carbohydrate cravings are essentially the brain telling the body that it's serotonin has become low - send the hunger pains. Simple carbs boost serotonin production.

5htp helps the body make and maintain level serotonin levels. thus if your serotonin stays up, you stay happy, the hunger pains stay away. Heres a good link http://www.doctormurray.com/B5htpFAQ.htm

I would dose 5-htp at 300mg a day (divided doses) and go from there.

Extreme tip: Sugar and nicotine both cause serotonin spikes. Most hunger disapeers after smoking a cig (this is why ex-smokers gain weight, they increase sugar consumption as a way to boost serotonin levels up to comfortable nicotine norms). If you have the disapline, try using the nicotine patch (high dose patch cut in 1/2 - save some money on buyin lesser dose patches)
if the urges get so strong. maybe a regimen of 1 day on 1 day off using half patch will get you over a severe dieting hump. THIS IS JUST A TIP...

 

[Sassy69]

SAF - are you working with anyone who is watching how you lookk from day to day? I had great luck with carb rotation - for me it was a 3 day cycle of really low carbs, 1 sweet potatoe (3-4 oz) and then 2 sweet potatoes + oatmeal. But as the show got closer I cut out almost all carbs and I started looking pretty flat. I did the depletion and then carb up but waited a little too long to do the carb up. Note that it takes 48-72 hrs to see the fullness from a carb up - a lot of people wait too late and look great the day AFTER the show, but flat the day of the show.

Check if you are looking flat now or see if someone who has been watching you thinks you look flat. You have some time to see how a carb up would affect you now. If you are doing a carb up, definitely stick w/ the sweet potates -- good stuff!

I think the biggest thing is to see if you look flat. I bet you could probably handle a small cyclic carb up yet. The whole carb depletion and then carb up is debatable among trainers so I couldn't say if it works or doesn't. I think you should test it once and see how it works for you first. If you are looking flat, then definitely jump the carbs a little every few days.

 

[SAF]

SAF - are you working with anyone who is watching how you lookk from day to day? I had great luck with carb rotation - for me it was a 3 day cycle of really low carbs, 1 sweet potatoe (3-4 oz) and then 2 sweet potatoes + oatmeal. But as the show got closer I cut out almost all carbs and I started looking pretty flat. I did the depletion and then carb up but waited a little too long to do the carb up. Note that it takes 48-72 hrs to see the fullness from a carb up - a lot of people wait too late and look great the day AFTER the show, but flat the day of the show.

Check if you are looking flat now or see if someone who has been watching you thinks you look flat. You have some time to see how a carb up would affect you now. If you are doing a carb up, definitely stick w/ the sweet potates -- good stuff!

I think the biggest thing is to see if you look flat. I bet you could probably handle a small cyclic carb up yet. The whole carb depletion and then carb up is debatable among trainers so I couldn't say if it works or doesn't. I think you should test it once and see how it works for you first. If you are looking flat, then definitely jump the carbs a little every few days.

I dont have anyone watching me, but I can tell when I look flat and when I dont. Right now I feel absolutely like shit. I only took in 50g of carbs from oatmeal this morning because I had a bit too much PB on Wednesday, so I had to pay for it today.

My headaches come and go, but they really hurt like a mutha fucka when they stick around. I started the 5HTP today and it seems to help only a little.

I tried the deplete/load technique about 1 week ago. I only loaded up for 1 day, and everything began to fill out pretty nice, only I did not continue with it because I wanted to get back to dieting. I threw in some Twinkies for the hell of it, and some pie filling, and my veins were enormous, especially in my legs.

SAF

 

[Tombstonealley]

Hold Tight

Hey Man,
Don't do anything drastic. Make small changes. If you are going to try a high carb day do it asap. You do not want to wait too long. I like to use banana peppers, crystal light, pickles, and water saturated vegetables (lettuce, cucumbers, celery, etc.) when I am having carb cravings-but I generally do not get carb cravings if I keep my carbs to under 25gms per meal.

This has been a great thread!