I have been cycling for 5+ years. I am currently deployed overseas and cannot ride. Before i left i was riding 70-95 Miles per week. My diet was almost perfect and I would never get hungry.

Now, I find myself getting hungry for absolutley no reason. Its getting hard to maintain my level of fitness (weight is in check though) without cycling. I do calisthetics 3 times a week and run 30-40 minutes 3 times a week as well. My thighs have shrunk 3 inches already!

My question is, how do I keep this hunger in check?

My daily (usually) menu is scrambled eggs with 2 slices turkey bacon, canteloupe or pineapple and an apple for breakfast; Lean meats (sliced roasted turkey, chicken or pork) or baked fish with rice or potatoes and a salad for lunch; and something very light for dinner like a salad or cup of lucky charms or something. My snacks are usually apple or pears twice a day and some nuts.

is there anything I could be doing or eating to stave hunger off?

What about Oatmeal, have high satiety and more health, or you can eat more fruit

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Grapes are a good , rice cakes are also good and tend to fill you up a bit. If you like dark chocolate, it has to have at least 70% cocoa then thats ok as well. How about a protein shake in between meals that will fill you up . But my best tip is to go and drink some water. Try doing some squats to keep your leg strength up, There are some good exercise routines on you tube ,short and intense that will help with your fitness while you cannot ride, Good luck.

coffee?

Eggs are wonderful for satiety, but the breakfast fruit is probably spiking your insulin and fighting against them - maybe replace them with leafy green vegetables.

Your lunch could probably do with a source of fat - fish and salad is low carb and depending the fish quite low in fat too. Can you add some cheese or something similar in there to up the fat content? That should keep you fuller for longer.

Are you drinking plenty of water with and between meals?

Lastly, I don't know about you, but the more fruit I eat, the hungrier I seem to get. Sugary snacks like fruit just make me eat more so I try to stick to fat/protein sources like nuts, jerky, etc.

I say all of this as a dieting office worker. I'm sure I'm a lot less active than you, but I weigh 90kg and I'm currently surviving on 1700 to 2000 calories per day without starving myself. Make sure you're taking your own metabolism and dietary requirements into account, make sure you're hitting you're protein and fat macro requirements and try to keep your carbs low GI wherever possible.

further to my previous post, replacing fruits with leafy greens will remove a bunch of calories from your diet. i get the impression that your work is very physical - this reduction in energy input may not be practical, but the metabolic impact could be helpful to stave off the hunger. if you remove these cals and are happy with your weight then make a conscious decision to add them in somewhere else to avoid making them up through snacking on "bad" foods.

also, coffee is an appetite suppressant, but it does other interesting things to metabolism (can contribute to insulin resistance and other funny things, though i doubt that's an issue in this case) and it's a diuretic so i wouldn't be adding it to your diet just for the sake of it. by the same token, i wouldn't be removing it if you only consume it in relatively small quantities.

i crash hard after a lunch of rice or potato - i ride the sugar high for a little while, but i come down hard and am starving and tired by mid afternoon. is there a lower-GI carb source available to you? oatmeal, cous-cous, brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta?

in terms of hanging onto muscle, do you have access to gym equipment? full body compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, military press, etc) are something that basically every human on the planet should be doing to improve their quality of life and general wellbeing. squat big and you'll go back to your bike with bigger quads than you had when you left. this will definitely not help your hunger issues though - appetite will only go up

Wow thanks fo the replies guys.

I stopped drinking coffee once i got here for whatever reason. But recieved a coffee maker and I have started adding cofee to my daily diet, Dee licious.

@mentok:
Thanks! I tried not eating as many fruits as i usually do and found that i was (well, wanted) snacking way less. Instead of apple or pears i had turkey bacon and pistachios. Snacking less, but it could have been the coffee too.

I also found that there is infact a small gym tent i have access to and will start leg workouts as soon as i get a chance.

I would also suggest adding some nuts - almonds, walnuts, cashews to your diet to help you feel satisfied and give you some good fats.

Drink lots of water, it gives you a full feeling. Plus being well hydrated helps performance.

Honestly 70-95 miles a week is not that much mileage really when you think about it. If you were more toward the 200 range it would be better. But it all depends on how much time you have and how fast you can do your rides based on how much time you have devote to it.

About you hunger you can eat 5 or 6 small meals a day so that you do not take in too much at once. You can eat breakfast which would have a portion that is smaller than you normally eat and then in between breakfast and lunch you can have a fruit snack and then at lunch time you can have a smaller portion of lunch and in between lunch and dinner you can have a snack of fruit or nuts...and so on.

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