Exercise and Hunger

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bryandlandry
bryandlandry Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
Over the last six months I have been exercising more. I started on a tread mill and pushups everyday. I've worked my way up from 2.5 mph to 3.0 mph. I can do a light run at 4.0 mph for about 10 minutes at a time. Like I said I am not used to the exercise, so I'm working my way up. I walk/jog on average 40-50 minutes a day.

As I have been doing this I have noticed that I am more hungry than I've ever been. Should I resist the urge to eat more? Or do I listen to my stomach and increase my food intake? I've lost 40 lbs so far and I don't want to gain any back as I have 30 more lbs to lose. Any advice?

Replies

  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
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    I am one who gained weight due to overeating exercise calories. That said:

    In your place, I would probably try a controlled experiment. Add 100 calories to your daily total for a month. See what your weight does.

    Hopefully the extra will help satisfy hunger and meet your increased energy needs, without getting out of control and devouring everything in sight.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Assuming you are using MFP, the exercise calories should be logged which gives you additional calories on those days. You can consume some or all of those additional calories.

    ie;
    My normal calorie goal is 2,090
    I burn 350 calories doing cardio exercise.
    My calorie goal for the day increases to 2,440 for that day.

    Some people recommend that you can consume 50% of the exercise calories, that is a personal choice. Technically if you log everything accurately, you can consume all the exercise calories and still stay at the goal deficit.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    MFP is notorious for overestimating calorie burns. So, to be safe, I would recommend eating back half of the calories it says you burned working out.
  • Wiseandcurious
    Wiseandcurious Posts: 730 Member
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    cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »
    In your place, I would probably try a controlled experiment. Add 100 calories to your daily total for a month. See what your weight does.

    I would do this. It will take a while to gather enough data and see if you got it right, but you will know you're using the best data there is - your own.

    If you lost this much without many problems with boredom hunger/binges etc, then a new, repeated and unequivocal hunger signal probably means you need a bit more to sustain the exercise. Just a guess, the results will confirm it or not.

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