Crazy hunger today!

MelanieCN77

I did a fairly heavy arms workout this morning and my hunger was just out of control all day. I ended up about 350 over cals which is not horrible but really out of the ordinary for me. Was it the lifting? How does maintenance and building muscle work? My brain is locked in to the CICO balance I've come to understand in terms of loss and gain and I can't get my head around the idea of eating more to fuel me as I clearly needed today, as I know I'll see the number on the scale going up again which is the fear zone to be honest. Today's calories should be going to muscle building yes? I should watch the scale but also measure as well perhaps so I don't start freaking out about the scale going up?

sijomial

Hunger response simply isn't always proportionate to the actual calorie burn unfortunately.
A short but intense bout of cardio (short duration = low burn) will make me hungry but a long duration but moderate intensity session that burns a load of calories will have little hunger impact until I'm into multi hour sessions.

Strength training and walking have similar calorie burn rates but walking doesn't trigger hunger whereas strength training does. That's life!

Read the recomp threads in this forum for info on muscle building while maintaining your weight.

Yes tracking measurements and also progress photos are a good idea, often changes are subtle and take time.

Francl27

For me it's always hormone-related. It started getting way worse in my late 30's too.

MelanieCN77

sijomial wrote: »

Hunger response simply isn't always proportionate to the actual calorie burn unfortunately.
A short but intense bout of cardio (short duration = low burn) will make me hungry but a long duration but moderate intensity session that burns a load of calories will have little hunger impact until I'm into multi hour sessions.

Strength training and walking have similar calorie burn rates but walking doesn't trigger hunger whereas strength training does. That's life!

Read the recomp threads in this forum for info on muscle building while maintaining your weight.

Yes tracking measurements and also progress photos are a good idea, often changes are subtle and take time.

Thanks! I mostly did cardio while losing and days like this were rare, I figured it was the lifting. "Food hole" was how I was describing it

Francl27 wrote: »

For me it's always hormone-related. It started getting way worse in my late 30's too.

I had noticed that I was getting really hungry around ovulation but I'm a good week past that right now. Oh well, today's another day. Filled with more broccoli and less yoghurt pretzels. Helps that I can eat at home all day today.

BeeerRunner

Sometimes hunger is more intense the day after a really hard workout. Most runners seem to experience the strongest "runger" the day following a long run.

Francl27

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Hunger response simply isn't always proportionate to the actual calorie burn unfortunately.
A short but intense bout of cardio (short duration = low burn) will make me hungry but a long duration but moderate intensity session that burns a load of calories will have little hunger impact until I'm into multi hour sessions.

Strength training and walking have similar calorie burn rates but walking doesn't trigger hunger whereas strength training does. That's life!

Read the recomp threads in this forum for info on muscle building while maintaining your weight.

Yes tracking measurements and also progress photos are a good idea, often changes are subtle and take time.

Thanks! I mostly did cardio while losing and days like this were rare, I figured it was the lifting. "Food hole" was how I was describing it

Francl27 wrote: »

For me it's always hormone-related. It started getting way worse in my late 30's too.

I had noticed that I was getting really hungry around ovulation but I'm a good week past that right now. Oh well, today's another day. Filled with more broccoli and less yoghurt pretzels. Helps that I can eat at home all day today.

Well if ovulation was a week ago, your period is due... so yeah. I turn into a ravenous monster the days before mine starts.

CJ_Holmes

If you're lifting more or heavier, you may want to experiment with your macros as well. You may feel more stable with more fat or protein that what you eat now. I've noticed that when I hit the "food hole" (good one) I need to eat a bunch of baked chicken and then I feel better!

richardgavel

There are worse days to be over than your weight lifting day. Your body does need the building blocks to build muscle. Myself, I tend to let myself go over a bit on lift days and under on cardio. Not a ton, but some. Part of that it it lets me have a more even amount of calories day to day instead of having to eat, say +900 on a longer cardio day compared to a non exercise day.