How to Combat Hunger from Swimming

Madalynne

Hey there!

I love swimming! It's the one exercise I can do day after day and be excited about doing.

After a large lull in any kind of fitness regime, I've been swimming consistently for 3 weeks now, and I am HUNGRY.
From what I've read, this is normal for swimmers, but what I haven't found is how to control it, or what foods to eat that would be most beneficial.

(Notes: I'm not a lazy swimmer, I push myself and I try to swim tough intervals using a variety of strokes, but I log it all under "light to moderate lap swimming" (because I've been warned of inflated calorie readings) and according to mfp, and multiple other calorie calculators I burn somewhere around 800 cal/hr)

Thanks for any help :flowerforyou:

sylviatx

I love to swim, too. It's the best.

I have had good luck eating Greek yogurt, usually with fruit or nuts (toasted almonds) and a little bit of honey. Very filling. Then I try to double up on the veggies at dinner time.

swimmer_kid

Hey, I'm a competitive swimmer and I'm nearly ALWAYS hungry!
The best thing to do is load up on protein, carbs and expect to eat more than usual. Swimming burns a lot of calories!

brokenhonu

Drink more water you sweat while you swim you are dehydrated.

cmriverside

If you are hungry, you need to eat. Get enough food, enough protein, and eat healthy food. If you are hungry consistently, you need to up your calories.

elenathegreat

Don't deny genuine hunger, it's your body telling you it needs fuel! Try to eat good quality proteins, chicken, lean meats and a good variety of complex carbs and fiber. Baby spinach and broccoli are both great steamed with just a LITTLE butter, and a heaping serving of these with 4-6 ounces of protein should really satisfy:)

Keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge for a quick snack to combine with a nice fresh orange or apple!

Lesalala

This can happen with any kind of good workout, if you don't provide fuel for your body to burn before hand. A little protein and carbs (I know it's a dirty word0 are needed to burn fat and build muscle about an hr before hand. Otherwise, you burn muscle and build up lactic acid (which makes you sore) and then as you have realized, you are ready to go on a carb fest afterward. This is your body desperately in need of fuel. Some people have protein shakes, yogurt, etc.. I like a piece of whole wheat toast whith about 2 tsp of honey. You have to figure out what works for best for you. Good luck!

Yardtigress

I swim an hour to 1 1/12 hours every other day. I eat breakfast about and hour before I swim and I have a protein snack (hard boiled egg, and or seaweed) after I swim. I use about 800-1100 calories each swim, but I can't eat that much extra food in the day. I eat veggies, fruit, some rice or sweet potato, and meat. I do eat some of the calories back on the days that I swim, about half.

Kaathmandu

Hi, I love to swim also, in fact I teach swimming - it is my day job
I remember as a kid, walking home from training feeling absolutely ravenous - praying that Mum had made spaghetti bolognese for tea!!
I've lost about 60kg (~132lbs?) mostly on Atkins. I don't get hungry. I can train without problems on Atkins (but I nearly drowned competing once! Had done 2k training session that morning, no problem, but made about 48m of a 50m fly race when I suddenly ran out of fuel. Seriously thought I wasn't going to make it to the end. Had been winning, but didn't place. I haven't competed for years, but I would have some carbs (fruit) before a race if I did.)
But if you're not a fan of Atkins, I would suggest a banana is great for taking the edge off after training. Take one in your swim bag.
Good luck

PS - eating when I was hungry is what got me into this mess in the first place - I eat carbs, I'm aaalways hungry! :huh:

Madalynne

Thanks for the replies, you guys! I'm going to try to work on what I eat before I swim and what I refuel with. :flowerforyou: