Hungry on non workout days!!

Pearsquared wrote: »

It may be that your cravings for more food are due to your workouts (even though it's not the same day). Workouts require more fuel than regular days, but if you are eating less on those days, you are creating an even bigger deficit. It's not going to be an immediate effect, but more like how people really don't feel a hard workout until the next day.

Kind of thinking along those lines as well. I understand her point too - on light or non-workout days I also tend to be hungry if not downright ravenous at times. Body is calling for more nutrients and I find that I have to eat the same on low activity days or else I feel horrible. But I lift heavy on my workout days, so that could be it - before I started that, there wasn't a lot of variation from one day to the next (except that time of month).

I also have to drink more water on "off" days because I tend to not be as thirsty, in general as on training days. I just make sure to keep the food intake healthy because it's way too easy to start wanting things like pizza, tacos, etc (at least for me, it is) on those gotta have it days!

I can't leave too many calories left on workouts days. Otherwise the following day I want to eat everything in sight. Now obviously making yourself eat an extra few hundred calories when you are full can be hard. But I found I like to pack in the calories prior to the workout (if it's in the evening). I'll eat a big lunch on days I play soccer after work for example. As long as my day equals out in the end, the next day isn't bad at all. However, if I leave 400 calories on the table, I have learned to be okay with eating them the next day and going over my daily limit. It evens out in the end.

Take a look at what your exercise was the day before your rest day. For me, I am always starving the day after a heavy lifting day, not the day of. Running, I'm hungrier the day of. Your body is recovering the day after a hard workout. Makes sense to be hungrier. Adjust your weekly calories accordingly.

I'd also take a look at what you're eating on non-workout days. I always eat fairly lean protein, but I've found that the carbs I pick make a big difference. I can't eat bread on non-workout days- doesn't fill me up, and 5 minutes after I eat it I'm hungry again, whole grains or not. I try to add things that are really filling and nutritious- quinoa, brown rice and vegetables being a big part of that (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots are favorites).