Hungrier on non-exercise days???

Snipsa
Snipsa Posts: 172 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, so I've been working out and losing pretty steadily for more than 2 months now.

I started on 1200 calories (eating back my exercise calories), soon saw this wasn't nearly enough food (my new job entails lots of walking, standing and lifting heavy stuff).

Upped my calories to 1560 (changed my mfp settings to losing 1 pound per week, and changed my activity level to moderately active). This worked fine for exercise days (where I could eat back some of my calories), but I still found it difficult to maintain on non-exercise days.

I worked out my BMR, TDEE etc, and am now on 1900+ calories per day (not eating back exercise calories).

Now here's the weird thing that I've noticed. Even now, on 1900 calories, I seem to be hungrier on non-exercise days than on exercise days. On exercise days I sometimes need to eat extra snacks when I'm not hungry just to get close to the total. Today however, is a non-exercise day and I'm munching like crazy - mostly healthy stuff - and I've found in the last few weeks that on these non-exercise days (please note, this is non-traditional "gym" days, I do still walk around a lot for my work, still climb stairs, etc) I sometimes have to go to sleep slightly hungry as I would eat up my allotted calories before evening snack time...

Does anybody else experience this? Any hypothesis on the reasons - I can only think that it is because my body is recovering and therefore needs more food? Just incase it is of importance my exercise days consists of mix cardio and lifting (not heavy lifting yet, but close to, or at fatigue at 10 reps)

Could there be a psychological component to it?

I don't really feel that it's bad, or that anything needs to be changed, I just found it interesting and a bit puzzling so was wondering why it seems to work like this?

Replies

  • PearshapedFitness
    PearshapedFitness Posts: 1
    Hi. I have the same "problem". I have read that exercise suppresses appetite by raising body temp. Compare your appetite after swimming / aqua class - the water temp keeps your body temp low. I found this out by googling it after finding aqua class made me feel hungry as. Lucky I much prefer strength training.

    Sorry can't provide any scientific info to back this up. Perhaps someone else could do the research?
  • PurpleTina
    PurpleTina Posts: 390 Member
    I'm quite often hungry on non-exercise days, but assume that it's because I have exercised the day before and it's catching up with me. I tend to exercise in the evenings, as it fits in with work, so a 5 mile run one evening sees me with the munchies the next day.
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
    IMHO, there is a psychological component to what we experience as hunger. As you are no doubt aware, we don't just eat because we are experiencing the physical sensation of gnawing in the stomach. When we are bored or seeking comfort we may find ourselves in the kitchen again, and again. Its something to watch out for.

    One of the ways I have attempted to manage my real and perceived hunger is to not have a day off from exercise. Most days I am at the gym or swimming but on days I don't do, I usually put in at least an hour of walking.
    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
  • xampx
    xampx Posts: 323 Member
    I would agree with that. Its like my brain is saying no, you just exercised, don't ruin it now. On my birthday (tuesday) I did an hour of strength training and then went out with friends and I just didn't fancy cake, which is so unlike me! I ended up eating chocolate just to NET 1200! Usually on exercise days I will eat peanut butter by the spoonful just to make up some calories, but on none exercise days I will just eat and eat.
  • muayqis
    muayqis Posts: 72
    IMHO, there is a psychological component to what we experience as hunger. As you are no doubt aware, we don't just eat because we are experiencing the physical sensation of gnawing in the stomach. When we are bored or seeking comfort we may find ourselves in the kitchen again, and again. Its something to watch out for.

    One of the ways I have attempted to manage my real and perceived hunger is to not have a day off from exercise. Most days I am at the gym or swimming but on days I don't do, I usually put in at least an hour of walking.
    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben

    ^that^
    I try to avoid 'days off' too, as those generally result in eating heaps. on training days i generally eat much better and much less.
  • Carfoodel
    Carfoodel Posts: 481 Member
    Yes that happens to me too - on higher exercise days I often feel I can't be bothered eating after a really strenuous work out and they non exercise days where I just have low level exercise like my walking days< i could eat twice my allowance - as I rarely have rest days - if I am hungry I eat.
  • mccollumse
    mccollumse Posts: 84 Member
    This is just my theory.
    For me, I will sometimes have days where I just want to eat and eat, and I find that exercise is the ONLY thing that eliminates my appetite. Work out and I can finally get a handle on my eating.
    My theory is that it has to do with insulin levels. That I tend to eat a lot of sugar, my insulin goes up, then drops and I want more sugar. A vicious cycle. If I exercise, the insulin level goes down and so does the sugar cravings. I am now experimenting with eliminating simple sugars to prevent the ravenous appetite. I suggest that you try eating non-sugar things (protein/fat heavy, carb low) and see what that does for you.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    This is not an uncommon occurrance. Our bodies do not run on a 24 clock like our food logs do. Think of it as a two day period or even a weekly period. If you're less hungry on workout days as many people are, then don't feel pressured to get right up to your calorie goal. Go ahead and leave 200-300 calories if you're not that hungry. Then the next day when that recovery/after-burn hunger kicks in, you've got the cushion to go ahead and satisfy it with an extra healthy snack or two. The average of the two days should still equal out to your calorie goal and you'll still lose weight.

    Going to bed hungry is silly IMHO. Your body is asking for fuel and you should satisfy it. Sometimes I just dip my finger in the PB jar, have a cup of water and that's enough to make me feel better. A little something is better than nothing and you'll likely sleep better.

    While I agree that "psychological" hunger is real and a threat to many dieters success, going by what the OP wrote, this is not her issue. If anything, OP, I think maybe your activity level is still too low and you could bump it up a bit.
  • tomg33
    tomg33 Posts: 305 Member
    I can't really relate to this since I don't get hungry unless I make very poor food choices (calorically dense foods) which don't fill me up. As far as I'm concerned there is no reason why anybody has to go hungry since you can so easily keep frozen vegetables on deck for cheap and microwave them up with some herbs and spices. Beans are great too.

    Or, if you're restricting your calories way too much and/or too quickly, then your body will fight you. Assuming that's not the problem either though, it has to be psychological. To be honest, I've never really been an emotional eater so I can't help with that.

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