HELP PLEASE! why am I always more hungry on rest days?

MusicLee_
MusicLee_ Posts: 19
in Food and Nutrition
today is another rest day, that I go crazy on my calories.
everybody suggest go lower the calorie intake on the days they don't exercise, but I always feel more hungry on those days.
why is this???

and when i notice i nearly go beyond my calorie limits for the day even before dinner, i became crazy and irritated,
and just like 'fXCK it' and go nuts....

help??

Replies

  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    anybody???
  • Mamalea32
    Mamalea32 Posts: 134
    I have no scientific evidence, but if you workout hard ur body repairs itself after so it needs protein and complex carbs to repair itself, so maybe that helps? Dont be afraid to feed your body when it feels hungry... Make good choices.
  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
    Sometimes I feel like that too. Listen to your body and if it says you are extra hungry and if you end up going over just make sure you offset it the next day by coming in under. Or you can go for a walk or something light to burn some extra calories on the rest day so you have a little more wiggle room in your daily calorie budget. I usually try to load up on fresh fruits and veggies when i feel extra hungry because they are low calorie and nutrient dense so I can eat a lot while not going too overboard on the calories.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    Why not aim for a weekly deficit so that you can eat more calories on rest days without feeling bad?
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Need more info, how are you calculating your calories? How .much are you eating on workout/rest days? What kind of workout? How many calories burn working out?
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    Need more info, how are you calculating your calories? How .much are you eating on workout/rest days? What kind of workout? How many calories burn working out?

    i run 10K 5 times a week , each session i'll aim for 600+kacl burn.
    i shoot for 1650kcal for everyday, workout or rest. it worked out fine on those days that i run, but, on days like today, u get the picture. ..
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    Why not aim for a weekly deficit so that you can eat more calories on rest days without feeling bad?

    hahah! yeah! that's what i've been doing now, but 'more' just turn into 'too much more'
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Height, weight, age?
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    Sometimes I feel like that too. Listen to your body and if it says you are extra hungry and if you end up going over just make sure you offset it the next day by coming in under. Or you can go for a walk or something light to burn some extra calories on the rest day so you have a little more wiggle room in your daily calorie budget. I usually try to load up on fresh fruits and veggies when i feel extra hungry because they are low calorie and nutrient dense so I can eat a lot while not going too overboard on the calories.

    good suggestion! I let myself enjoy little something everyday which are not that healthy, but when cravings creeps in , it all turn into a huge binge that kills my hard-earned progress!
  • totallyforgiven
    totallyforgiven Posts: 10 Member
    A lot of people think that cutting carbs super low, will help them lose weight faster, but if you cut your calories too low, then your body goes into starvation mode, and starts storing more calories, etc, because, even though you want to lose weight, our bodies need a certain amount of energy, just to keep the basics in our body functioning!
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    Height, weight, age?

    female
    5'2''
    136lbs
    23
  • jasonpclement
    jasonpclement Posts: 146 Member
    more cals if your running 5 10ks a week. I'd also throw in some resistance training. Your body is just going to downshift your metabolism to compensate for the large amount of cardio. Throw in some variables, and eat a little more. maybe 100-200 more cals a day. Maybe as much as 500 more....
  • KeithAngilly
    KeithAngilly Posts: 575 Member
    There are lots of different ways to set things up. I set my activity level to sedentary, and eat back my calories on the days I work out (currently 5 days). That gives me days when I can eat like a horse (and do!) and days when a little more planning is required. In the end, I suspect we all just have to find the MFP "sweet spot" that allows us to move toward our goals without being stressed about it all the time.

    Good luck!
  • aakaakaak
    aakaakaak Posts: 1,240 Member
    I'm no professional, but 1200 kcal is a pretty low number to meet. You might want to ask someone with more experience than I have to take a serious look at your diary so they can rearrange your calories and macronutrients.

    BTW, your before and after pic shows a definite improvement. Keep it up!
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    more cals if your running 5 10ks a week. I'd also throw in some resistance training. Your body is just going to downshift your metabolism to compensate for the large amount of cardio. Throw in some variables, and eat a little more. maybe 100-200 more cals a day. Maybe as much as 500 more....

    thank you! nice advice
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Need more info, how are you calculating your calories? How .much are you eating on workout/rest days? What kind of workout? How many calories burn working out?

    i run 10K 5 times a week , each session i'll aim for 600+kacl burn.
    i shoot for 1650kcal for everyday, workout or rest. it worked out fine on those days that i run, but, on days like today, u get the picture. ..

    Ok, Ok so if I got this right you eat 1650 per day. You burn 600 per day X 5 days. So you eat 11500 cals per week. You burn 3000 cals exercising. That equals 8500 net calories per week, or 1214 per day. Now, your BMR is 1430 per day and if you choose lightly active as your activity level, thats TDEE of 1966. So, if we choose 1966, and that lightly active, then you add your exercise cals to thAt, you get 16762 per week or 2394 per day.....THAT IS YOUR TDEE. Now, a healthy deficit it is 20%, so, we get 1915. Bottom line, you are hungry because you are hungry, you are averaging 1214 per day, and should around 1915 per day. Wow when I reread this it sounds confusing......do you get what I'm trying to say?
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    I'm glad I read through the whole thread before responding. I was originally going to say that I suffered from the same problem and I corrected it by doing active rest days (where I'd go for a walk) because that almost always takes the edge off my eating cravings.

    But then I saw that you burn 600 cals running 5x a week and eat 1650 cals...

    So you are only netting about 1050 cals five days a week. I'm not surprised in the least that you're hungry on your rest days. In your case, I think it's your body screaming at you that it's not getting enough to maintain the sorts of demands you're putting on it. Eat more on your workout days to at least net 1200. This might help your rest day cravings.
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    I'm no professional, but 1200 kcal is a pretty low number to meet. You might want to ask someone with more experience than I have to take a serious look at your diary so they can rearrange your calories and macronutrients.

    BTW, your before and after pic shows a definite improvement. Keep it up!

    thanks for your encouragement. I'll do anything just not to go back.
    I should keep pushing!
  • MusicLee_
    MusicLee_ Posts: 19
    There are lots of different ways to set things up. I set my activity level to sedentary, and eat back my calories on the days I work out (currently 5 days). That gives me days when I can eat like a horse (and do!) and days when a little more planning is required. In the end, I suspect we all just have to find the MFP "sweet spot" that allows us to move toward our goals without being stressed about it all the time.

    Good luck!

    thanks! I really should learn not to beat myself up. but the whole eating things seems to get me stuck here. I still workout pretty hard, but once i blow, i blow it all...like domino. I'll work my way through
  • KeithAngilly
    KeithAngilly Posts: 575 Member
    more cals if your running 5 10ks a week. I'd also throw in some resistance training. Your body is just going to downshift your metabolism to compensate for the large amount of cardio. Throw in some variables, and eat a little more. maybe 100-200 more cals a day. Maybe as much as 500 more....

    thank you! nice advice

    Yes, do some resistance training, but I would quibble with the idea that cardio causes a "downshift in metabolism". I have found the exact opposite to be true.
  • KeithAngilly
    KeithAngilly Posts: 575 Member
    There are lots of different ways to set things up. I set my activity level to sedentary, and eat back my calories on the days I work out (currently 5 days). That gives me days when I can eat like a horse (and do!) and days when a little more planning is required. In the end, I suspect we all just have to find the MFP "sweet spot" that allows us to move toward our goals without being stressed about it all the time.

    Good luck!

    thanks! I really should learn not to beat myself up. but the whole eating things seems to get me stuck here. I still workout pretty hard, but once i blow, i blow it all...like domino. I'll work my way through

    If you are very hungry, then something isn't set-up properly. I think Brower47 hit the nail on the head. The key to long term success is to work with a slight deficit and it sounds like yours is very large. Food is your friend! :o)

    And yes, please be kind to yourself. A little patience and perseverance will go a long way!
  • janettles
    janettles Posts: 69 Member
    I had huge amounts of hunger after beginning a new exercise routine. I assumed it was my muscles asking for protein, so I began drinking a protein powder preparation until my hunger felt satisfied.
  • totallyforgiven
    totallyforgiven Posts: 10 Member
    The one other thought I had, as far as the feeling hungrier on your rest days, is because you are not keeping yourself as busy, as you do on your exercise days, so you actually have more time to think about food and whether you are really hungry, or just bored!
  • brownacb
    brownacb Posts: 8
    Hey, did you ever find something that helped with this dilemma? I have the same problem, and it stops me from making any progress!

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