Exercise that greatly increases appetite, is it worth it?

lagringaloca1
lagringaloca1 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I broke my knee last Summer and I think it was partly due to having a torn meniscus prior, so the knee was week to begin with. Anyway, I have been walking about an hour early in the morning and another 45 minutes after dinner and was losing an extra .5 lb per week by not eating back my calories.

Unfortunately I tore my meniscus just a bit again last week so now walking on pavement is very painful, so instead I have been going to the beach every morning and walking underwater. This burns lots more calories, HOWEVER my appetite is GREATLY increased and I am ravenous most of the day and eating back all my calories! Will my body soon get used to the new more intense exercise and will my appetite go back to more normal, or should I just wait out the meniscus tear and go back to walking on pavement?

I had no health insurance and I had to have surgery (long plate and 10 screws) so I cannot afford to go to the gym until that bill is paid off sometime NEXT YEAR.

Replies

  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Even if you are eating back all your exercise calories you should still have a deficit (assuming you set up your MFP based on wanting to lose weight) so it should not affect your weight loss.

    Cardio is good for heart and respiratory health and it sounds as though underwater walking would be good physio for your knee problems so yes, I would say the exercise is worth it. Just be sure to log everything you eat and you should still be able to lose weight.
  • Daisychain65
    Daisychain65 Posts: 161 Member
    I thought this might help explain why you are more hungry
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/391401-why-do-you-get-hungry-lose-weight-after-swimming/
  • lagringaloca1
    lagringaloca1 Posts: 22 Member
    When I first was able to walk with a cane I was going to the beach and doing the underwater walking thing, and I was losing about 1 lb every 8 - 10 days. When my knee improved enough to put all my weight on it, and it got too cold for me and/or the VIS was bad (I do not like stepping into gooey weed patches) I switched to walking super early in the morning and at night, and I was losing 1.5 lbs a week. I was not using MFP when I first started, I actually have lost 42 lbs since last June, but it was very slow going once I started walking on pavement it speeded up a lot.
  • lagringaloca1
    lagringaloca1 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks Daisy, I will definitely check out that link as soon as I get back, I am hitting the beach again this morning. Want to get there before all the tourists clog up my laps lanes! LOL!
  • stestut
    stestut Posts: 42
    Eating back your calories is great for maintenance, but if you are trying to lose, I recommend not following that practice. Also, if you are hungry after exercise, you may not be eating the right things. Change, and keep and eye on, where your calories are coming from. Try to eat 40% Carbs, 20% Fats and 40% Proteins. When I say carbs, I mean whole grain carbs, not white carbs.

    Playing with my percentages has worked wonders for me. Maybe it will help you. I eat 1200 calories on rest days, and 1500 on other days.

    Good Luck!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    I exercise just for the fact I can eat more. But also take into consideration, it's not just about weight loss, especially fast. While losing weight is great - as it will improve health and reduce stress from your joints - you ideally want to lose fat. Weight loss can be made up of muscle, tissue, fat, water, etc while fat loss is self explanatory. It's ideal to minimize lean body mass loss. LBM is what supports your body. The more muscle you have, the greater the support your body will have. Also, when you have more muscle, you body will rely more on it, then it will on the ligaments and tendons (and I am speaking from experience as I tore my MCL before).

    So I would high recommend staying away from the thought of, if I exercise I create a larger deficit so I can weight faster. In reality, it's only faster according to the math. High deficits lead to plateau's fairly quickly due to many factors. It's why you see hundreds of plateau threads and have two common theme: eating low calories (1200 for women, 1500 for men and tons of exercise) or inconsistent logging.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Eating back your calories is great for maintenance, but if you are trying to lose, I recommend not following that practice. Also, if you are hungry after exercise, you may not be eating the right things. Change, and keep and eye on, where your calories are coming from. Try to eat 40% Carbs, 20% Fats and 40% Proteins. When I say carbs, I mean whole grain carbs, not white carbs.

    Playing with my percentages has worked wonders for me. Maybe it will help you. I eat 1200 calories on rest days, and 1500 on other days.

    Good Luck!

    If there is already a deficit built in to the equation, eating back exercise calories won't hurt your weight loss. Creating larger deficits is bad and can adversely effect long term weight loss (see link below). And from a weight loss perspective, there is nothing wrong with white breads or simple carbs. They only downside to them, is they aren't as filling so you might be hungry faster but white carbs do not effect weight loss.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
    I thought this might help explain why you are more hungry
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/391401-why-do-you-get-hungry-lose-weight-after-swimming/

    So THAT answers why I was always desperate to visit the chip shop after swimming at my old place, but now, in a gym with a properly warm pool, I never seem to feel the desire.

    Thank you!
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    bump Good thread! :smile:
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
    I am always hungry about 3 or 4 hours after exercising!! But it doesnt bother me, as I know I have done a good work out, and worked hard. Im not trying too loose now
  • FattieBabs
    FattieBabs Posts: 542 Member
    that is really interesting and encourages me to think about putting swimming back on my exercise agenda as our pool water in our local council pool is quite cold..... I do weight training and cardio and although feel a bit hungry afterwards can eat within my cal allowance without a problem. It is a different case with swimming so maybe this explains it. thanks for the link!
  • lagringaloca1
    lagringaloca1 Posts: 22 Member
    GOOD GAWD! NO WAY would I be swimming if the water was only 68ºF. LOL! I skip the coldest winter months when the sea temps are only 78ºF. Right now the water is 80 - 82ºF and its still makes me swear a blue streak when I first get in... Anyway, I decided to not push my laps so fast today only doing 5 in 50 minutes instead of 6, and I am going to see if that helps with not feeling so ravenous the rest of the day. Just to explain how CRAZY hungry I was, I bring a hot dog in a baggy for a little stray beach dog every day, and yesterday when she wasn't around to get it, I ATE IT MYSELF! AND I don't even LIKE wieners! Hahahahaaaaaa...
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    I would wait it out.

    For your stated goals the trade off between the benefit you are getting from the exercise is greatly outweighed by the increased caloric intake and also the possibility of buggering up your meniscus.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    I thought this might help explain why you are more hungry
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/391401-why-do-you-get-hungry-lose-weight-after-swimming/

    So THAT answers why I was always desperate to visit the chip shop after swimming at my old place, but now, in a gym with a properly warm pool, I never seem to feel the desire.

    Thank you!

    LOL---and that explains why the ladies in my pool exercise class never seem to lose any body fat. They go out for doughnuts and coffee after and complain of "eating out the house" when they get home. One of them commented on my weight loss the other day and was wondering aloud why she didn't seem to be losing any weight (assuming the water exercise alone was responsible for my loss of body fat). I smiled and said that I thought it was important to watch what one ate as well. The response was a grumpy, "But I get too hungry after exercising in the pool. You must be anorexic." Laughingly, I replied that since I got off of sugar and wheat, I didn't seem to have any problems sticking to my food plan. She snorted and said, "Sugar and wheat are my two favorite food groups---I don't know what I would eat if I didn't eat them!" :laugh:
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Only thing that seems to help me is just to make sure I have enough fat in my diet. If I'm feeling pretty ravenous and get a nice piece of marbled steak or avocado or add some cheese to my salad that helps to counter the feeling. Other than that you portion it out once your plate is empty you are done...kitchen closed and sit with the hunger. Not a great option I know. I have to be very careful with food prep especially the day after I've done some resistance work.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    I thought this might help explain why you are more hungry
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/391401-why-do-you-get-hungry-lose-weight-after-swimming/

    OOOOO this is why! I didnt think about the pool temperature but that makes sense. I still lost weight when I was swimming intensely, but damn I would be so hungry. I found having a really thick peanut butter, flax, banana shake helped before my swim. Now that I've learned about the secret of low fat chocolate milk I might give that a go if I ever pick up swimming again.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    Exercise is always worth it. Depending on the exercise it can strengthen your cardiovasular system, your brain even, your muscles (obviously), your bones... Not to mention increases your metabolism, your stamina, and your endurance.

    Just these reasons alone (and I'm sure they aren't the only ones) are worth the slightly increased appetite. Just chose wisely what you eat and drink your water and it shouldn't be a problem.
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
    Went swimming this evening. The pool is usually 80. But the heating has packed up and it had fallen to 77.

    It wasn't that bad, actually - and I managed to walk past the takeaways without thinking about it.

    Guess it has to be colder than that to make a difference, then.

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