220g Protein, 4 Lifts/Week: Why Is Appetite Gone?

The part people forget when they compare options: protein targets scale with bodyweight, and 220g at 178 is a whole lot of chewing. Common surprise at the next weight up — at 190, 170g is what tends to keep you full for hours.

Same, protein is the main switch for me. Once I pass 1g/lb I can't finish meals.

Carbs get blamed, but squats kill my appetite more.

High-volume squats leave me ravenous. Intervals do the opposite.

That interval point is real. Two hard conditioning sessions can mute my hunger all evening.

The protein vs training debate might be missing fiber. Worth knowing before you start stacking grams: when a food log shows fiber creeping toward 40g a day, appetite can just vanish — and that's usually the sign it's tipped too far.

40g fiber would wreck me. 25g is my ceiling unless I want bloat all day.

Common surprise: when appetite goes quiet, liquid calories are the workaround people forget about. A shake with oats and PB goes down a lot easier than a plate of chicken.

Shakes land heavier than solid food, which feels backwards. Whey mixed in water sits like a brick.

Your fastin gglucose 89 is close to my 91 then. Tracking weekly intake helped me more than chasing one lab.

Agree on tracking. I dropped protein to 160g and added rice; appetite came back and lifts held.

I ran almost the same setup last spring: 180 lb, 4 lift,s two intervals, 210g protein. Appetite was lowest on interval days, not lifting days. When I cut protein to 170g and added 60g carbs around training, hunger returned but body weight stayed steady for three weeks. My fasting glucose was 91 then, so nothing wild. The protein target mattered, but the conditioning seemed to be the bigger lever. I'd log hunger 1-5 after meals for a week before changing much. Sleep was also rough that month, which probably didn't help either.

i’m in the empty-nester reset too—daily walks, learning to cook for two again. When I ran 200g+ protein, dinner was the hardest meal because I’d saved most of it for evening

For me, appetite was more about meal distribution than the 220g number. When I front-loaded protein at breakfast, I’d be stuffed till mid-afternoon and then dread dinner. Shifting more of my protein to lunch/dinner—same daily total—made hunger cues feel normal again. Also, my hardest days were lift + intervals days; that combo seemed to blunt appetite for hours. Are you forcing dinner only on training days, or is it every night? If it’s training-specific, it may be timing and volume more than the protein target.

Hi, I’m new here and only on week one, so I’m mostly following along. Your protein number jumped out at me: is most of it shakes, or whole food? When I tried ~180g, two shakes made me weirdly uninterested in dinner, but the same protein from chicken/cottage cheese left me hungry by evening. Also, do you spread it evenly or backload it after your lifts? I’m trying to learn what actually blunts appetite vs. what just makes meals feel like a chore.

220 g at 178 lb is ~2.7 g/kg, so yeah, that’s a satiety sledgehammer. But source matters: 220 g from chicken, egg whites, and Greek yogurt brings huge volume plus PYY/GLP-1 stimulation; 220 g mostly from shakes is a different animal. Are you blunted only on lifting days or all seven? If it’s every day, I’d log fiber and total food volume before blaming the four lifts. If it’s post-lift only, that’s more likely acute exercise-related appetite suppression. Track hunger 1–10 pre/post meals for a week; the pattern usually answers it.

I am following this closely. For me, the bigger appetite suppressant was cumulative weekly training load plus sleep, not the protein grams. When my seven-day lifting volume crept up and sleep slid under seven hours, dinner felt like a chore even with calories steady. I now log weekly averages for calories, protein, steps, and sleep; appetite tracks those trends more than any single day. Do you notice the flat appetite on rest days too, or mostly after your four lifting sessions and bike intervals? That pattern might tell you whether it is volume and fatigue rather than the 220 g target. Rooting for you.

at 2,250 kcal, 220 g protein is ~39% of intake—satiety-heavy. What’s your weekly rate of loss? If it’s >1.5 lb/wk at 178 lb, the deficit is probably the bigger driver than the protein target. I’ve run similar macros; appetite only vanished when I also let fat drop under ~55 g. Training volume alone rarely suppresses appetite for six straight weeks. If there’s a GLP-1 in the mix, that’s a separate variable. Check rate of loss and fat grams before blaming the 220 g.

I lift 4x and run similar protein. What fixed my dinner appetite wasn’t lowering protein—it was sleep and caffeine. Sub-7h nights plus two big coffees before noon made me weirdly not

Empty-nester here too, walking most mornings. One thing I’d check: are those 220g mostly shakes, or whole foods? When I leaned on powders to hit a high protein number, appetite vanished and dinner felt like a chore. Switching to more eggs, fish, Greek yogurt, and beans—while keeping the total similar—made hunger feel more normal. My appetite also dips more on interval weeks than lifting weeks, even when lifting volume stays the same. Are you noticing it after the bike days or especially the day after lifting?

I’ve done the lose-regain-restart loop too, so I feel this. What jumped out: 220g protein is a lot, but for me the real appetite killer was accidental under-eating from hidden fats—oils, nut butters, bites while cooking. At your size with 4 lifts plus intervals, 2,250 might be a steeper deficit than it looks, and that can make hunger go quiet. Not saying that’s your case, but a wek of weighing everything including cooking oil would tell you more than tweaking protein. Are you tracking those “little” fats?

Same here—protein is the satiety culprit for me; lifting just makes me tired, not full.

Systems view: appetite is a lagging indicator, not a lever. Four lifts plus two interval sessions can suppress hunger via sympathetic load and delayed recovery, independent of protein. Test it like an A/B: keep 220g and calories fixed, drop one bike interval for 7–

Honestly, how’s your caffeine timing? At similar training volume, an afternoon coffee or energy drink flattened my dinner appetite way more than 200g+ protein. Also, what do your rest days look like? I kept rest-day carbs too low while lifting 4x, and hunger vanished. When I added more rice/potato/fruit on rest days and kept protein steady, dinner felt normal again. Are you training fasted or within a few hours of dinner? Heavy lower-body sessions kill my appetite for about 3 hours.

Same—my hunger disappears when lifting + intervals stack, protein just makes dinner a chore.

tbh budget dorm rat here. My dining hall’s idea of protein is sad grilled chicken and hard-boiled eggs I smuggle out in a hoodie pocket. When I ran 200g+, dinner was impossible only on days I lifted after 6 pm. Moved lifts to 7 am and dinner appetite came back, same protein. What time are your 4 sessions? Also, are you eating the same 3 dorm meals on loop? Boredom kills my appetite harder than any macro split, and hot sauce is basically my food group.

Two things I’d track before blaming the protein: sleep and caffeine. There was a long thread here last spring about vanishing appetite during a lean-out—several of us found it wasn’t the 200g+ protein, it was 5–6 hours sleep plus afternoon coffee. When I moved my bike intervals off lifting days and cut caffeine after noon, dinner hunger came back within a week or so. Also: is your appetite flat all day, or just dinner? If it’s just dinner, front-loading more carbs around your lifts instead of saving them for the evening made a bigger difference for me than shifting protein.

Same here—high protein made dinner feel like a chore, so I switched to cozy soups and it helped.

same vibes—late-night soda swaps + huge protein meals and dinner feels like a sde quest lol

I had that when I front-loaded protein; dinner felt like a chore. How’s your sleep and stress?

not the protein number alone for me—it was liquid volume. i’d slam 2L sparkling water + diet soda during late raids and wonder why dinner felt impossible. tracked for a week, kept 220g protein same, cut carbonation after 6pm and dinner appetite came back a bit. also 4 lifts + intervals can kill hunger for a few hours, but if it’s all day i’d look at lunch volume (huge salads/s

Not a doc, just a chronic tracker. For me it wasn’t the 220g itself—it was timing. I was hitting a shake and Greek yogurt around 4, then dinner at 7 felt like a chore. Shifted most protein to breakfast/lunch, kept dinner as a normal plate (meat, potato/rice, veggies), and appetite came back in about a week. Our little pharmacy has a cheap food scale; weighing dinners showed I was actually light on carbs, not protein. How are you spreading those 220g across the day—and how late is your last caffeine?

Honestly, same here—my spreadsheet blames protein, not the lifts. Dinner’s become a chore.

Cafe owner here—so I get the constant bites and taste-tests. What changed my dinner appetite was front-loading protein: big eggs/cottage cheese at 7am, then just a normal lunch. By 6pm I actually wanted salmon and rice. If I spread 220g evenly or graze all afternoon, dinner feels like a chore. What’s your timing look like—most protein early, or saved for evening? And are your bike intervals close to dinner? That combo would kill my appetite too.

Mom of two here. What revived my dinner appetite wasn’t lowering protein—it was moving it. I used to slam a big yogurt + chicken lunch, then had zero interest at 6pm. Now I keep lunch lighter protein and stash cheese sticks/hard-boiled eggs in the snack drawer for after the kids are down if I undershoot. Sharp question: what time are you hitting most of your 220g? If it’s before 3pm, try shifting some to dinner and see if hunger shows up. Also, how’s sleep? Bad sleep tanks my hunger cues too.

Fellow regainer here—not the protein number alone, IMO, it’s meal shape. Two big protein-heavy meals early + a late-afternoon snack left me with zero dinner appetite. What helped: lighter lunch in protein/volume, saved most carbs (rice, potatoes, fruit) and fat for dinner, and a 10-min walk before eating. Dinner went from force-feed to wanted. Sharp q: what’s your caffeine load and timing? 2–3 coffees before noon can flatten hunger by 7pm more than people realize. Also, is dinner a clock thing or actual hunger? If clock, maybe just hit remaining cals with something easy and don’t white-knuckle a full plate.

same, 220g protein turns dinner into a boss fight lol

Honestly, i’m with you—living out of a carry-on, protein bars in every pocket, and by dinner I’m just pushing food around the plate.

Dorm rat here, so my cheap-protein rotation is Greek yogurt, eggs, tuna packets, and dining-hall chicken that’s seen things. When I ran protein that high, dinner became a chore because I’d saved a massive dry chicken-and-broccoli pile for 8 p.m. What helped was flipping it: bigger protein breakfast (yogurt + eggs + oats), then a smaller, denser dinner

I track this stuff too. My n=1: appetite tracked weekly hard sets more than protein. Holding 210–220g and ~2,300 kcal, hunger fell from 6/10 to 3/10 in weeks I went from ~12 to ~18 hard sets per muscle; sleep and caffeine were flat. Four lifts plus two intervals can quietly stack fatigue. So what’s your weekly hard-set count per muscle and average RPE on main lifts? If that’s climbing, I’d look there before lowering protein. Bonus: caffeine total/timing? My dinner hunger drops about 1.5 points when I front-load most caffeine before noon.

Not the protein number by itself, IMO. For me, the appetite killer was hard intervals too close to dinner—a 20-min bike session at 5:30 pm made solid food feel like a chore, even at 2,200 kcal. Moved them to late morning and dinner got normal. Worth

For what it's worth, what’s your 7-day average weight doing? If you’re losing >1% BW/week, appetite suppression is usually cumulative deficit + training stress, not 220g protein. Protein is satiating, but it rarely erases hunger entirely. I’d log hunger 1–10 before dinner for a week. If it’s low every day, you’re under-recovered; if only on lift days, it’s the sessions. Sleep is the other variable I’d check. What’s your average sleep and weekly loss rate?

Same — I hit protein by 3pm and dinner feels like a second job. 😅

Contrarian angle: I’d break out fat grams by meal before blaming protein. My sheet had 210–220g protein for 12 weeks at ~2,300 kcal, and dinner hunger only vanished when lunch fat crept past ~35g. Hunger score 1–5 vs lunch fat gave a weirdly clean inverse trendline; total protein barely moved it. Try logging fat/carbs separately for lunch and dinner and see if the 4–6pm window is the culprit. What’s your fat split at lunch vs dinner? Also, are the bike intervals before dinner? Those flattened my evening appetite more than lifting did.

I’ve done the lose-regain-lose thing too. What helped when dinner felt impossible was tracking my weekly average instead of forcing each night. I’d bank 200–300 cal from dinner into a bigger afternoon snack, then do Greek yogurt + berries at night. Same protein, way less dread. Also, are you measuring waist or just scale? My appetite tanked when I was actually losing faster than I thought—once I saw my waist dropping ~0.5 in/week, I stopped panicking and adjusted calories up a bit on hard days.

Night shifter here. Protein isn’t usually what kills my hunger; sleep debt is. When I stack lifts on short day-sleep, appetite goes flat by day 3. The tell: I can force protein but carbs sound gross. Track your sleep window and hunger 1–10 at the same times for a week. If hunger only tanks after <6h sleep or a 12h shift, that’s your lever. Also, are you waiting for a hunger signal that isn’t coming? I stopped waiting and used scheduled meals.

honestly same, my dorm protein hak was tuna packets and regret—dinner became a fork-staring contest lol

Not a doc, just a tracker: how much of your 220 g comes from shakes/liquid vs chews? I’m similar height/weight and found liquid protein tanks my next-meal hunger way more than solid protein, even at the same grams. I started logging hunger 1–10 before each meal and noticed a whey-heavy afternoon = 3/10 at dinner, chicken/eggs = 6/10. Also, are you eating within an hour or two of lifting? That window seems to mute my appetite for hours. Maybe swap one liquid serving for a solid, slower meal and see if dinner gets easier? Gentle experiment, not advice.

Are you front-loading that 220? I live in hotels and airports, and if I slam a 50g shake plus Greek yogurt before a morning flight, I’m done eating by 2pm. Dinner becomes a chore. Shifting some protein later—eggs, shrimp, whatever the hotel can muster—helped me actually want food again. What’s your split? If it’s like 70/70/80, that might explain the force-feeding more than the lifting volume.

I’ve lost and regained, so I know the weird panic when hunger disappears. New angle: sleep/stress and food texture. When I stacked 4 lifts + intervals, my appetite tanked worst on <6h sleep and stressful weeks. One full rest day plus a carb-heavy lunch (rice, fruit, potatoes) brought dinner hunger back. Also, are most of your 220g coming from shakes? Liquid protein slides down but leaves me zero desire for real food; swapping to eggs/yogurt/meat changed that. Just my experience.

Systems angle: appetite is downstream of recovery, not just protein. First thing I’d log is sleep and stress before touching macros. At that training load and 2,250, if I dip under 7h sleep, hunger disappears like someone unplugged it. Also, how much of your 220g is liquid? Shakes and egg whites create a lot of fullness with very little meal reward. Track hunger 1–10 30 min before each meal for a week; the pattern will tell you if it’s training volume, timing, or protein crowding out actual food.

late-night gamer here. my appetite goes ghost when i accidntally go low-carb for a few days. 220g protein leaves little room for rice/potatoes/fruit, so i end up mostly meat/eggs/greens. tracking carbs for a week fixed it for me, especially breakfast carbs. what’s your carb split/timing like? are you basically low-carb without meaning to?