Increased hunger after running

passenger79

I 've been doing ok since I restarted logging and lost 3.5lb in 2 weeks .
Yesterday I 've done a run ( I'm doing c210k) and weights and I am absolutely starving today!

How do you manage a hunger or is it just me getting ravenous after a run ?
Yesterday I had extra exercise calories but I'm really sore today and it's my rest day so no extras and could easily eat double my allowance.

TavistockToad

figuring out what keeps you full is the best thing to do - plenty of protein and fat for me personally.

the runger is real, i struggle with holding any sort of deficit once my long runs get into double figures.

i do find that making sure i ate a good meal the night before a morning long run helped as well.

maybe1pe

As much as I used to love to run, it is not conducive at all to me losing weight. I get serious runger and can easily eat over my maintenance after running.

Ultimately I couldn't find a way of eating that satisfied that. I tried delaying and drinking water to ensure it wasn't dehydration, tried higher carb, lower carb, higher protein, higher fat, before run snack, after run snacks, I think I tried almost everything and couldn't find a way that worked for me. So I found different exercise that I like just as much if not more that doesn't give me the elevated eating response.

Hope you find something that works for you. Play around with it and see if there's a way of eating that can work with it.

collectingblues

Some days you'll be hungier than others. That's normal. I know for me, if I run in the evenings, I'm not hungry at all -- but then it hits me and smacks me upside the face the next day.

Perhaps look at the weekly average instead? There's no rule that says you have to eat all your calories the same day you earn them. That's one of the things I hate about MFP -- unless you look at the weekly average, it creates this mindset that everything resets at midnight, which simply isn't true.

passenger79

Runger lol I like that , thanks everyone for input. I'll have a look at weekly total maybe ,I have swimming,weights and another run planned for weekend so I need to find something that ll keep me fuller for longer and on track.

I don't want to blow all my hard work by overeating.

4legsRbetterthan2

Me too I agree that longer distances make it really hard to lose weight.

seems for me 5k is the happy distance where I get the extra exercise but don't get the rungries.

fitoverfortymom

Ohhhhh the runger is real. I struggle with this as I'm trying to lose the last 5-10lbs while training for a variety of races and such. I. Am. Ravenous. Even after my short runs during the week which are 3-5 miles, I'm so hungry almost immediately after.

I haven't quite figured out how to keep it at bay. I've made some efforts to up protein. No real change. I'm also working on staying more hydrated. The verdict is still out on that one--I'm notoriously bad at drinking water. I've noticed I do need substantially more carbs to feel full, and if I don't feel full, I just want to eat anything and everything.

The next few weeks I'm going to focus a bit more on volume eating so I can eat a LOT of food and stay within my calories. I'm determined to figure this out.

I try to balance my fitness goals (the races I want to do) with my weight loss goals. I've lost almost 100lbs, so I feel a little more comfortable focusing on fitness while maintaining weight rather than the aggressive weight loss I had last year.

rybo

Call me the lucky one, running suppresses my hunger.

fitoverfortymom

rybo wrote: »

Call me the lucky one, running suppresses my hunger.

DebLaBounty

No problem, just fit those post-run calories into your daily allowance. After you get home, grab a banana, have a bowl of oatmeal, eat a protein bar. Whatever you need to refuel your body. I did that when I was doing C25K. It helped me keep my energy up.

H_Ock12

The day of exercise I'm less hungry, but I'll be ravenous the next day....so I "save" any exercise calories for rest days.

rheddmobile

If you left a bunch of calories over from your run yesterday, you may need to eat more today. Look at your deficit weekly, not daily. There are a number of ways of doing this without going premium - I did it by creating "calorie bank in" food entries and "calorie bank out" cardio entries. Any time a run puts me well under my deficit, I bank some calories for the next day.

For me "runger" has to do with low blood glucose levels for about 12 hours after a run, and eating a few more carbs helps.

spiriteagle99

When you do a longer or harder run, eat some protein and carbohydrate immediately afterwards. Chocolate milk or a half sandwich would work. If you don't refill your glycogen, your body will demand it. It's better to have some control, rather than wait until you are starving.

When I started running, anything over 5 miles felt like a long or hard run. At this point I'm usually good for anything under 90 minutes. Then I get hungry, but I also have a lot of calories I can eat back. I eat some right after my run, some later in the day, some the next day. Or I choose those days to go out to dinner, and eat them all.