Hey there! I am hoping someone can help me..I am currently taking in 15 blocks a day and am STARVING...I am extremely active and am not sure if I am getting enough for what I am doing...a quick run down of my day: 5 days a week I swim/run for 3 hours and then I do a crossfit workout..I am wanting to add in two days of bjj/mma but currently I just don't have the energy...I just don't feel as though I am getting enough..I am 5'6 weigh 133..any suggestions? I keep a food journal and take all my supplements..yet still no better..thanks!!

Wow, that's a lot of activity!! Have you increased X2 or X3 your fat intake?
Hunger is also a sign that you're eating more protein than carbs. Might be you're not balancing correctly. Water also helps quench hunger, especially just when you start to feel hungry.
Have you run your stats through the block calculator? I would suggest putting in very active in the Activity Factor pull down menu.
BTW, what supplements are those you're talking about?

Diego

Hey..I ran my activity through the block calculator and it came to 15 blocks..I have gone to 2x fat also..My supplements are the fish oils, multivitamin,etc...For example, yesterday I ran 13 miles, swam for 1.5 hours..I was starving all day and I am starting to get very irritable from it...I drink nothing but water and the occasional cup of peppermint tea...here is an example of a snack and meal..I think I am pretty balanced..maybe not: snack a zone bar or peach 1oz turkey 9 almonds
meal: 3 oz chicken grilled, zone salad (1), 1 slice ezekial bread, and 3 cups cooked broccoli...I either use olive oil or guacamole for my fats..

Well, swimming is a killer for making people hungry. I get wet and start to feel hungry
I'm guessing you're doing the 5 meals a day properly, and you got the fat increase, although try going to X3, it'll just give you a bit more energy. Have you been in the Zone long?
You're almost my height but I weigh 22lb more than you. I'm at 16 recommended blocks but I take 20, and I'm not killing myself doing exercise like you are, but then again I will have a bit more muscle growth. What BF% are you at? And LBM? Also, how old are you? If you're in your teens your metabolism will be much higher and therefore you will need to increase your blocks *hides from Sue*. Have you noticed any strength loss or muscle getting smaller recently?

Diego

I am 33 and it says I am at 21%..I've noticed that I am making no gains and that I am actually packing on ab fat now..???...I eat six meals a day and I've been zoning for awhile..it worked GREAT for me when I was just doing crossfit and minimum cardio...I was at an extremly low body fat and had great performance-so I know it works...I am just not sure how to make it work at this level of intensity..

It is what I feared, you might be overtraining but have definitely entered Starvation mode. You don't eat enough calories to sustain your level of activity and therefore your body is storing as much as possible and using your muscle as fuel. This process is more complicated and less energy efficient than burning stored fat. The body does this because the less muscle you have the less maintenance the body needs, so it can keep running with less food.
Did you get to those 15 recommended blocks before adding the swimming and running? If so it is like putting enough petrol in the car to go down the street, but suddenly you need to travel half way across the world and have not put more petrol in. I would suggest increasing 2 blocks a day if you feel so hungry. Do this for a week and see how it goes. Don't change your workout otherwise you'll be changing two parameters and this might mess things up. If with 2 extra blocks you are still hungry go up 1, and so forth. Recalculate your BF and LBM every week to see how it's going.

Let us know how it goes!


Diego

jessica, starving hunger combined with irritability, combined with the fact that you're gaining ab fat (keep tabs on fat% using the calculator, just to be sure), points to lack of insulin control. It can be resolved by changing carb foods and/or by adjusting the amount of carb you eat (you need less carb to protein in this case) and/or by adding more fat. Try to eat mostly favorable carb and lots of it from veggies. Also, Dr. Sears’ recommendation is that no more than 25% of the total carb in a meal be from unfavorable carbohydrate. For some individuals, even 25% unfav carb is too much to allow them to maintain insulin control (depends on your personal response to carb). As an example, your salad with broccoli and Ezekiel bread contains too much unfavorable carb. Try dropping the bread there, keeping the broccoli, adding some chick peas to the salad and some strawberries for dessert.

Please keep us updated.