Answer
To all you continuing BFLers and Body Builders who are experiencing "middle of the night" hunger:
Brett Hall wrote an excellent article in the September 2001 edition of Muscle Media (page 61) called "Top 10 Protein Pointers for Building Strong, Lean Muscle." In this article Brett notes (pages 66, 67 under #10 Pure Protein Pre-Bed Booster) that "there are two distinct stages that take place while we sleep. During the first half of the night our bodies are focused on cellular repair & recuperation. Then in the wee hours of the morning it begins to flip flop, and our bodies begin to become catabolic, breaking down tissues to feed our waning blood sugar."
I believe this is what you are experiencing as "hunger-in-the-middle-of-the night" because your system is very efficient now and may be running out of fuel and building blocks it needs to continue the recuperation and reparation processes. The article goes on to give 2 pieces of advice:
1. Make sure you consume 25-30 grams of pure protein (little or no carbs in this dose) within 30 minutes before you hit the sack. It's supposed to be a quality powder or non-fat cottage cheese (as long as it has a good source of casein). Casein will help "time-release" a consistent supply of protein to your muscles and it contains glutamine (the king of muscle repair).
2. Under the Hard-core Bonus Tip: Muscle Stacking/Midnight Snacking, Brett notes that many competitive (and/or possessed body-builders) have tested awakening at 3 a.m. and pounding down a pure protein shake (25-30 grams with 16 ounces of water) with real world results.
Hope this helps. |
