The Quiet Rise

Being a lifelong snacker, it is hard for me to eat one balanced meal and be done for the next 3–4 hours.

Bodybuilding suggests (at least how I was taught) a simple structure: 4 meals, berries or kiwi, and close to a gallon of water per day. Of course, those 4 meals vary in size and calories depending on whether you are maintaining, gaining, or losing weight, but the overall system remains the same.

The teaching suggests that you follow this schedule consistently, day after day, until your body and brain adapt. Eventually, eating becomes routine and requires less mental effort.

This is usually where the brain starts having riots:

• How about nuts?
• How about peanut butter or any nut butter?
• How about those cottage cheese patties with honey?
• Occasional non-fat Greek yogurt with berries?
• A protein bar? Just once in a while?
• Watermelon?
• Protein cookies?
• Popcorn?
• Holidays?

The list is endless because there are always choices available.

For the most part, I think these thoughts come from a sense of limitation. When you follow a strict meal schedule, your brain notices what it cannot have. That often creates food obsession. You start thinking about food all day, and no one wants to live that way—especially if you want bodybuilding to become a lifestyle rather than a temporary phase.

What to Do?

The teaching suggests a simple rule:

If you are still hungry after your scheduled meal, go to your next meal and then continue as planned.

If you eat part or all of your next meal early, later you simply eat whatever remains from your daily plan.

It is strict, but it works because your body responds to what you do consistently. But before going to your next meal, however, I suggest asking yourself a question: Is this physical hunger, or is it food entertainment?

Sometimes we are genuinely hungry.

Sometimes we are looking for stimulation, comfort, distraction, stress relief, or simply something enjoyable to do.

If it is physical hunger, then definitely go to your next meal.

If it is not, then you are probably craving stimulation of some sort.

One lesson I have learned is that systems replace systems. If you remove something from your routine, something else will take its place. The question is not what to remove. The question is what to replace it with.

Think about what replacement you can introduce so that you do not feel restricted while still remaining in control.

My Food-Stimulation Tactics

I like incorporating foods I crave into my meals and adjusting the rest of the meal accordingly.

For example:

• If I add nuts, I remove egg yolks or cooking oil.
• If I add a protein cookie or protein bar, I reduce carbs elsewhere in the meal.
• If I am going to a movie and want popcorn, I simply eliminate other carb sources for the day.
• If I want honey then, same thing. I don’t eat that many calories of the scheduled carb.

• If I want non-fat Greek yogurt with berries, I usually reduce another carb serving. I do not necessarily reduce protein. I am comfortable slightly overeating protein.
• If I want a plate of vegetables between meals, I eat it.
• If I want pancakes, muffins, cookies, or cake, I adjust the rest of the meal. I lean toward egg whites and very lean protein sources while reducing fats and carbs elsewhere. If it is planned ahead of time, I simply treat it as a scheduled indulgence rather than a mistake. Maybe pancakes or waffles become Sunday breakfast. Either way, they fit into the system.

One thing I do not do is cut vegetables or berries. Those stay. No matter what additional foods I eat.

Why I Do It This Way

I am strongly against feeling restricted.

When the brain registers deprivation, it often becomes obsessive. The more forbidden a food becomes, the more attention it receives.

That is exactly what happened to me after competition prep. I became so restricted that food occupied too much space in my mind, and eventually I binge ate.

I never want to repeat that experience.

Today, I would rather build a system that I can follow for years than a perfect plan that I can only follow for weeks.