I went from 253 to about 175 between Dec 2012 and Jan 2014 by eating fairly cleanly, (high protein, low fat, healthy carbs), 6 days each week in the gym (some days lifting, other days intervals where the running intervals were fairly short).

Started running in Jan (Cto5K, then bridge to 10K and now a month away from a planned half-marathon in late July). Weekly milage getting close to 25 miles and I ran 9 miles yesterday morning. Hungry, especially for carbs, all the time and back to about 185. (Gaining slowly but steadily).

Try to eat lean and eat plenty of veggies (plain with NO dressing) and fruits, but still am starving for heavier carbs a lot of the time.

Perhaps after the July race I might go back to last year's routine to get those 10 or so extra pounds back off again.

I seem to be in the minority in that exercise doesn't make me hungry. And in the case intense exercise, it actually curbs my appetite to the point where I literally can't eat afterwards.

That said, I need to have something in my stomach before I run. If I run in the morning without eating, my stomach just feels empty and it ends up being uncomfortable and annoying by the end of the run. I tried just eating an energy bar beforehand and that works OK, but a small breakfast works better. Afterwards, I just eat when I feel I might start being hungry. If I wait and just let that hunger grow, I'm more likely to overeat. But if I nip it in the bud immediately, I can eat small meals and stay on schedule. I do eat a nutrition/recovery bar after my runs. I don't necessarily do it because I'm hungry, but it could be that it helps in that area too.

I am always hungry but it is bearable.

I am always hungy too. It seems that the more I run, the hungrier I get. As long as you are giving your body the right stuff, you are doing it right

I throw a bottle of recovery drink down my throat as soon after I finish as possible, that seems to take the edge off.

I seem to be in the minority in that exercise doesn't make me hungry. And in the case intense exercise, it actually curbs my appetite to the point where I literally can't eat afterwards.

I'm the same! Particularly with high intensity stuff. On days where I do speed work in the morning, I get up at 4:30, drive an hour, run for at least an hour, shower, and get to work by 8am. I'm still not hungry at 8 and often don't eat until I am hungry around 9 or 10. (Yes, I know you should eat after a workout, but I like to just eat when I feel hungry.)

Rest days are another story. I want to eat everything and anything all day long. Same with day after the long run.

I find that I'm either famished and ready to eat all of the calories I can cram into my head-hole.... or I don't want to go anywhere near food and am at a huge deficit for the day. I have no in-between setting, and I don't know what makes me ravenous versus not (haven't been logging long enough to see a definitive pattern). It's awful when my complete lack of hunger happens after my long run, because then I can be literally 1000 short for the day. I try to make up for it by drinking powerade (80 calories per scoop) and other drinks that have calories, instead of the 0-calorie versions, so that I don't wither away and die. Then there are days where I only run 3-4 miles and need to eat EVERYTHING IN THE REFRIGERATOR RIGHT NOW.

But I don't really sweat it too much, because I'm 99 lbs and 5'3, so if I gain a few, pfffft, whatever.

I have no idea how I would manage my wildly oscillating food cravings if I needed to maintain or lose though. Gaaah, that sounds hard!

Hey Guys! I hope you are having fun logging the miles and meeting your goals!

I love hitting the pavement first thing in the morning, but the rest of the day I'm starving. Then I overeat and before you know it, I've undone the morning's hard work.

Does this happen to anyone else? Do you have any tricks, suggestions, advice? Thanks for the input!

What are you eating after your long run? I'm putting in 50 miles or so week and I don't find I am any hungrier than normal. I do eat every 3 hours and consume A LOT of fruit which gives me great fuel. Reviewing your current diet might also be worthwhile--to insure you are getting the necessary macros daily (depending on your goals).

Your post doesn't tell me if you experience it (hunger) everyday or only on the days you run.

If it's only on the days that you run it's kind of / somewhat / maybe acceptable to some degree ... you get what I'm saying. Still there maybe chances that your diary settings maybe/can be off somewhere

However -

What method are you using MFP or TDEE?
How are you logging your food?
Are you eating your exercise calories back? If yes, how much?
Last but not the least are you currently trying to loose weight or are you in maintenance?

Please do keep us posted.
Been there, felt it and now handling it.

Was thinking about this when I got back from a road ride this morning, I did 90 minutes of fast riding, burning up about 1300 calories. Running for that length of time would be a bit shy of that, closer to 1000-1100 calories.

The difference was that I felt less hungry after the ride. I had my usual bottle of recovery drink as soon as I'd finished and racked up the bike, but usually after a run I'll hoover up granola bars, fruit and nuts, I just didn't have the same urge. I took a couple of pieces of fruit with me when I walked the dog afterwards, but without the same urgency.

No conclusions on why, as it was a ride in the same HR range that my long runs would normally be in, perhaps a little lower but not much.

runner 475 -

Thanks for following up and being supportive. And congratulations to YOU on your fitness successes!

Currently, I'm inconsistent with my training and food-logging as my family just moved across the country and I'm trying to finish up my PhD dissertation. Ahh! I try to log in MFP but oftentimes fail to report food consumption later in the day. I'm probably eating back my exercise calories and more .

It's usually running (not lifting) days and moments when I'm feeling particularly stressed when the hunger sets in. I am trying to lose ~15 pounds and am considering training for a marathon (my first) in December. I've only run 2-5Ks and a half up to this point.

Hopefully that gives you a little more information. Thanks again for your concern and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

All the best!

Please, please do not get me wrong but I was predicting these answers. I'm highlighting all the crucial words in bold for ya.

That being said besides the inconsistency with logging other thing that's probably happening is the below scenario and I don't know I'm jus' about analyzing based on my experience and your response let's say your schedule is

Monday - Running
Tuesday - Strength Training
Wednesday - Running
...

So Monday being your Running day you have a good meal (or the hungry day). That is you eat for your next day - you fuel. However next day if it's a Strength Day you end up not eating as much as you should and may be you are in calorie deficit. However next day to ST being your running day again you get the feeling of stress. This being "stressed feeling" technically is coming from inadequate fuel that was provided a day before.

My recommendation to you

1) If you are following MFP method take a look at your diet/fitness setting. 15 pounds ain't a whole lot to get rid of. Ideally with endurance training and being so close to goal weight - I would want to get rid of no more than 0.5 pounds per week. If you want you can set it at 1 pound however that's going a bit aggressive for this situation. IMO.

2) Logging for 3 weeks minimum will help you understand the pattern your body is expecting w.r.t eating. do you think you can afford 3 weeks of religious logging. I know being a grad student it's one hella task. Totally with you on this one.

3) The reason 3 weeks is b'coz there will be a lot consistency to fueling for your running days and besides 21 days is a magic number.

4) Stock up on good carbs and protein immediately after your run.

5) On the day of ST - less carbs more protein.

Hope this helps and if you have any questions feel free to keep us posted.

Good Luck.

Why am I here? Why am I here? Because I put on about 15 lbs since I took up distance running.

I was really hoping when I started logging calories that I was making some HUGE mistakes. Nope. Problem is that I'm consistently hungry for about 100 more calories a day than I burn. Over time..... Over a few years.... that's 15lbs.

When I go to bed hungry, I maintain my weight. When I go to bed not hungry, I gain weight back. When I go to bed so hungry that I want to cry, I lose the weight. Not happy about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

I couldn't post this for OP, at this time, she ain't logging regularly.

But I think the video may help in this situation. I don't know what your logging looks like but have a feeling should help.

I meant to reply to this thread once again to comment that long runs make me feel the opposite. I also feel like that might be due to extreme heat/humidity conditions. For example, last Saturday I had a 18 mile run and I didn't feel much like eating afterwards (forced some fruit and a bar though). I used to have similar circumstances with long rides in the summer, lack of appetite post-ride.

Generally speaking, I don't think I am every really hungry unless I am stacking mileage (like a few weeks ago I put in 475 run/bike miles). However, that was more for hungry with lack of time to eat with so much time spent on the bike and running.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I love running, but I hate the constant hunger and fantasies about junk food that seems to come with it.

Has anyone had luck with running in the evening instead of the morning? Maybe sleeping through the worst of the hunger?

Yes, actually! This works pretty well for my EATING but works not so great for my training because I'm lazier in the evenings. Sometimes.