Just started exercising, and boy am I hungry.
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establishingaplace
Posts: 301 Member
I have been tracking my calories on MFP for two months now. I opted to do TDEE and accounted for the fact that I was going to get back to exercising some day soon. Took that number and subtracted 500 and came up with 1800. I have a day, maybe two, that I go a bit over my goal. Partially for sanity and partially because I like to dine out.
This was working out well. The scale was moving .5-1lb per week, which was thrilling. I didn't really feel hungry. I was semi-active in that I live in a city and walk a lot and sometimes run to catch a bus or avoid a car that wants to run me down.
Two weeks ago I started SL5x5 and this week added in some interval cardio. And. I. Am. Hungry. I'm still eating around my calorie goal. I'm not bored or stressed, and I don't think this is hormones though it could be. I figure it's the recent exercise.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Does the hunger go away? Will I start day-dreaming about cupcakes? Or should I increase my calorie intake?
This was working out well. The scale was moving .5-1lb per week, which was thrilling. I didn't really feel hungry. I was semi-active in that I live in a city and walk a lot and sometimes run to catch a bus or avoid a car that wants to run me down.
Two weeks ago I started SL5x5 and this week added in some interval cardio. And. I. Am. Hungry. I'm still eating around my calorie goal. I'm not bored or stressed, and I don't think this is hormones though it could be. I figure it's the recent exercise.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Does the hunger go away? Will I start day-dreaming about cupcakes? Or should I increase my calorie intake?
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Replies
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Are you eating back the calories you're burning? Also are you keeping up with your water? Dehydration can be mistaken as hunger sometimes. If both, try increasing your protein. That seemed to help me the most!0
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Cardio kills my appetite, but if I do any type of strength training (even just yoga), I am famished for the rest of the day.0
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Did you also increase your calorie goal? If you kept it the same, and you added substantially more exercise, of course you're hungry! :-)
I was just reading Gretchen Reynolds's recent book The First Twenty Minutes, which summarizes recent studies on exercise, nutrition, and health. Many studies show that increased exercise makes people hungrier. Interestingly, adding less intense activities like you describe (walking, occasionally sprinting to catch a bus) does not necessarily increase hunger.
So basically, you were getting some exercise at a low enough intensity not to trigger the hunger system, and now you're setting it off.
Based on my experience when I started MFP in January 2013, the hunger should ease off in a few weeks, as long as you're not at a crazy deficit.
Good luck!0 -
Did you adjust your TDEE number to reflect the increase in activity? It's not a static number and needs to be re-evaluated when your weight/lifestyle change.0
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Cardio kills my appetite, but if I do any type of strength training (even just yoga), I am famished for the rest of the day.
Ditto. Lifting makes me want to
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Did you also increase your calorie goal? If you kept it the same, and you added substantially more exercise, of course you're hungry! :-)
I was just reading Gretchen Reynolds's recent book The First Twenty Minutes, which summarizes recent studies on exercise, nutrition, and health. Many studies show that increased exercise makes people hungrier. Interestingly, adding less intense activities like you describe (walking, occasionally sprinting to catch a bus) does not necessarily increase hunger.
So basically, you were getting some exercise at a low enough intensity not to trigger the hunger system, and now you're setting it off.
Based on my experience when I started MFP in January 2013, the hunger should ease off in a few weeks, as long as you're not at a crazy deficit.
Good luck!
I kept the calories the same. Just wondering if this gets better. Sounds like it does!0 -
Did you adjust your TDEE number to reflect the increase in activity? It's not a static number and needs to be re-evaluated when your weight/lifestyle change.
I calculated it based on the amount of activity I am getting now. It was my way of shaming myself into starting. (Not really.)0 -
drink more water to fill you up. and a way to figure out if you are really hungry or dehydrated is to imagine an apple. if you are truly hungry that apple sounds good and filling. if you arent really wanting it, you arent hungry.0
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Cardio kills my appetite, but if I do any type of strength training (even just yoga), I am famished for the rest of the day.
Ditto. Lifting makes me want to
LOL yes exactly!0 -
Has anyone had a similar experience? Does the hunger go away? Will I start day-dreaming about cupcakes? Or should I increase my calorie intake?
If I'm understanding you, you calculated your TDEE and then later on added this exercise? This would make your original TDEE calculation null and void as you are doing something additional training wise.
That said, lifting pretty much makes most people ravenous. I think a large part of that comes from the fact that lifting does a number on your glycogen stores and your body would like you to replenish those...but also, your body continues to burn calories long after you've done the actual workout. On lifting days, I make sure I save up a pretty significant number of calories for post workout consumption that starts almost immediately with a protein shake.0 -
1800 kcals sounds like a reasonable number.
Looking at your diary...you aren't getting nearly enough protein.
Maybe change up you meal times? I eat like every 3-4 hours. 7a breakfast - 10:30a snack - 1:30p lunch - 3:30/4pm snack - 7pm dinner. 30g protein at breakfast/lunch/dinner and 1 snack.
More protein = less hunger
ETA - When using the TDEE #'s you should change your MFP goals; use the customize setting and put in your goal of 1800 - then set to sedentary and not to track your exercise.0 -
Don't eat your exercise calories back since you're using the TDEE method. I believe this will get easier for you. I would try adjusting your calorie intake so you can have a healthy snack after your workout, when I assume you're extra hungry. Some good choices are a banana protein shake, an apple with turkey meat, yogurt and berries, all around 200-250 calories. Good luck!0
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did you enter in under goals what you are doing now?
you have to have it set for what you currently do, how much you work out how many days and it will auto adjust the numbers. and i dont eat back the calories. not on purpose but if i have a few extra bites of chicken and i had the extra calories then great other wise. water water and more water. the more you work out the more water you need. so if you normally drink 60 oz which is on a normal day and you work out for an hour you need to add in water back in to replenish. your body will get used to it. go for a protein shake or skim milk after a work out. filling and protein. its an adjustment.it does go away in about 2 weeks0 -
Has anyone had a similar experience? Does the hunger go away? Will I start day-dreaming about cupcakes? Or should I increase my calorie intake?
If I'm understanding you, you calculated your TDEE and then later on added this exercise? This would make your original TDEE calculation null and void as you are doing something additional training wise.
That said, lifting pretty much makes most people ravenous. I think a large part of that comes from the fact that lifting does a number on your glycogen stores and your body would like you to replenish those...but also, your body continues to burn calories long after you've done the actual workout. On lifting days, I make sure I save up a pretty significant number of calories for post workout consumption that starts almost immediately with a protein shake.
I calculated my TDEE based on doing exercise 4 days a week, and I just added in those 4 days of exercise.
I bet adding 100 or 200 calories to post-lifting days wouldn't hurt my weight loss. Worth a shot, right?0 -
1800 kcals sounds like a reasonable number.
Looking at your diary...you aren't getting nearly enough protein.
Maybe change up you meal times? I eat like every 3-4 hours. 7a breakfast - 10:30a snack - 1:30p lunch - 3:30/4pm snack - 7pm dinner. 30g protein at breakfast/lunch/dinner and 1 snack.
More protein = less hunger
ETA - When using the TDEE #'s you should change your MFP goals; use the customize setting and put in your goal of 1800 - then set to sedentary and not to track your exercise.
FWIW, I am tracking my exercise more to record it and not to eat back calories. If it looks like I'm eating back calories, those are days I've gone over, haha.
I will try to get more protein in though!0 -
1800 kcals sounds like a reasonable number.
Looking at your diary...you aren't getting nearly enough protein.
Maybe change up you meal times? I eat like every 3-4 hours. 7a breakfast - 10:30a snack - 1:30p lunch - 3:30/4pm snack - 7pm dinner. 30g protein at breakfast/lunch/dinner and 1 snack.
More protein = less hunger
ETA - When using the TDEE #'s you should change your MFP goals; use the customize setting and put in your goal of 1800 - then set to sedentary and not to track your exercise.
FWIW, I am tracking my exercise more to record it and not to eat back calories. If it looks like I'm eating back calories, those are days I've gone over, haha.
I will try to get more protein in though!
I like to track my exercise too but I change the calories burned that MFP provides to 1 so it doesn't mess with my calorie goals.0 -
your sugar levels are a bit high, the coffee and then the oj. plus the apple and candy bar, not judging but eating sugars like that can also make you feel hungry b/c you need to feed the sugar cycle. you eat sugar your body feels great then it burns off and your body thinks it needs more so it send a signal to feed it more. hence being hungry. you should be eating more filling foods. whole wheats, brown rice. etc0
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Yup, lifting makes me ravenous too! If you were already losing 1/2-1 pound per week before adding in exercise, now that you're actually exercising you should still lose even adding 100-200 cal per day when needed. Heads up though, since you're new to weight lifting, you'll likely see a stall or slight gain at first due to water retention in the muscles. This will go away in time as your body adjusts. Might be a good idea to take measurements, progress pics and pay attention to how clothes are fitting as the scale won't tell the whole story.
ETA: ditto on adding more protein and editing exercise cals to 10 -
Yup, lifting makes me ravenous too! If you were already losing 1/2-1 pound per week before adding in exercise, now that you're actually exercising you should still lose even adding 100-200 cal per day when needed. Heads up though, since you're new to weight lifting, you'll likely see a stall or slight gain at first due to water retention in the muscles. This will go away in time as your body adjusts. Might be a good idea to take measurements, progress pics and pay attention to how clothes are fitting as the scale won't tell the whole story.
ETA: ditto on adding more protein and editing exercise cals to 1
Haha, yeah, my weight jumped up 5 pounds and stayed there for a little bit. I am not concerned, but the reminder never hurts!
I will definitely work on getting more protein and start setting my exercise cals to 1
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Has anyone had a similar experience? Does the hunger go away? Will I start day-dreaming about cupcakes? Or should I increase my calorie intake?
If I'm understanding you, you calculated your TDEE and then later on added this exercise? This would make your original TDEE calculation null and void as you are doing something additional training wise.
That said, lifting pretty much makes most people ravenous. I think a large part of that comes from the fact that lifting does a number on your glycogen stores and your body would like you to replenish those...but also, your body continues to burn calories long after you've done the actual workout. On lifting days, I make sure I save up a pretty significant number of calories for post workout consumption that starts almost immediately with a protein shake.
I calculated my TDEE based on doing exercise 4 days a week, and I just added in those 4 days of exercise.
I bet adding 100 or 200 calories to post-lifting days wouldn't hurt my weight loss. Worth a shot, right?
Ahhh...
On my lifting days (3x weekly) arrange my daily calories so that a substantial amount of them com post lifting session. I generally take in 800 - 1000 calories post lift (and lots of protein...) On non-lifting days, those calories tend to be more spread out throughout the day. That said, my calorie goals are around 2300 to lose and 2600 - 2700 to maintain so your mileage will be relative.0
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