Strange Appetite Pattern...

kiela64
kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've noticed a weird pattern with my appetite - I'm hungrier when I don't exercise. I'm just under my calorie limit for today, but I feel so hungry. Yet yesterday and the day before, I felt very satisfied - the only difference was I swam for 45-60min. I've noticed this before too, that I seem to be less hungry, or more easily satisfied with what I eat, on days when I've worked out.

I find this so strange, because you'd think it would be the other way around. You "earn" calories when you work out, so I would expect the body to go "hey I expended some energy feed me" but...nope.

I didn't work out at all today and I feel like I'm getting a headache from hunger. But on thursday I felt fine and I didn't hit 1200cal....WHAT?! (I don't regularly eat below 1200, if you look at my diary you'll see it's pretty all over the place, with a number of days over the 2000 mark...ooops....and yeah, those are all days w/o any exercise!)

Does this happen to anyone else? Do you have any tips for appetite management for these days? I can't work out every single day, at least not until my knee gets better. This is honestly just so bizarre lol.

Replies

  • jaqcan
    jaqcan Posts: 498 Member
    Don't eat your exercise calories on the day they're earned. Keep track of them for the week, and eat them on the days you are hungrier!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Very often, hunger I should've had the day before kicks in the next day, especially if exercised in the evening. But sometimes it hits same-day, especially if I do a lot of swimming.

    I've stopped trying to make sense of it and just eat when I'm hungry. If you figure it out, let me know! :)
  • Glinda1971
    Glinda1971 Posts: 2,328 Member
    I'm less hungry on my active says as well. Yesterday I didn't do much early in the day and I could have eaten a bear!!

    Weird isn't it?
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited August 2015
    I find the same to be true for me - exercising makes the hunger back off.

    My suggestion would be to shoot for your original calorie goal for the day (whatever it was before intentional exercise) and eat over that if you're hungry, trying to make sure you get a good amount of protein and fat while you're at it.

    If you're not hungry, don't worry about it and eat them later in the week. Could this mean you're netting a low number of calories for that day you exercised? Maybe but one or two days in the week won't do harm. My net intake is under 1200 for 2 days this week (Tuesday and today, both days when I ran 3-4 miles), but my overall intake was more like 1500 and 1800, respectively. I've been doing this for the entire time I've been logging (around 6 months now) and haven't seen any ill effects.

    ~Lyssa
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,889 Member
    I know, I know! Haha, I don't have any evidence of course, but I feel this could have something to do with it, I've noticed a pattern myself. I think the amount of exercise that most people can manage, doesn't burn that enormous amount of calories we like to think it does, and thus, creates no particular extra hunger. But boredom can make you hungry. Exercise is a way to chase away boredom.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,446 Member
    Yup! Exercise keeps my appetite in check. Particularly intervals or strength training. But moderate cardio exercise screws me over and I am really hungry.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    It sounds like your exercise hunger hits you the next day.
    Our bodies can just be plain odd!
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    jaqcan wrote: »
    Don't eat your exercise calories on the day they're earned. Keep track of them for the week, and eat them on the days you are hungrier!

    That actually sounds like a great plan. I haven't been eating my exercise calories this week because I overate earlier, so for the future I'm going to try to do this! :smiley:
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Very often, hunger I should've had the day before kicks in the next day, especially if exercised in the evening. But sometimes it hits same-day, especially if I do a lot of swimming.

    I've stopped trying to make sense of it and just eat when I'm hungry. If you figure it out, let me know! :)

    That would explain it....I tend to exercise in the mid-afternoon, though it impacts my sleep something awful so I'm working on getting up earlier to get to the gym in the am. Haven't had much luck, though if I manage it I'll see if the hunger changes!
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I know, I know! Haha, I don't have any evidence of course, but I feel this could have something to do with it, I've noticed a pattern myself. I think the amount of exercise that most people can manage, doesn't burn that enormous amount of calories we like to think it does, and thus, creates no particular extra hunger. But boredom can make you hungry. Exercise is a way to chase away boredom.

    This, this is also a good theory. I would believe that about my brain. Silly brain. I have also noticed some of the estimated calories burned seem waaaaay too high to believe, even from my fitness tracker. I'm now going by the perception that everything is really closer to ~50% of those estimates.

    Thanks for all the responses guys! :smiley: Good to know I'm not ~totally~ nutso!
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,324 Member
    This happens to me, definitely. I switched to the TDEE method because I was tired of trying to stick to 1400 calories a day when I was ravenous, but then having 2300 to eat on hike days when I wasn't even particularly hungry. Now I have the same target every day, regardless of whether I exercise or not.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    MakePeasNotWar wrote: »
    This happens to me, definitely. I switched to the TDEE method because I was tired of trying to stick to 1400 calories a day when I was ravenous, but then having 2300 to eat on hike days when I wasn't even particularly hungry. Now I have the same target every day, regardless of whether I exercise or not.

    I'm definitely tempted by that method, but I need to make my exercise much more regular before I can do that. It varies so much by week (and I won't do much if anything on my period) that I'm not sure I could make it accurate enough, at least at the moment. Maybe once my knee gets better I'll look more into it though :)
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,324 Member
    kae612 wrote: »
    MakePeasNotWar wrote: »
    This happens to me, definitely. I switched to the TDEE method because I was tired of trying to stick to 1400 calories a day when I was ravenous, but then having 2300 to eat on hike days when I wasn't even particularly hungry. Now I have the same target every day, regardless of whether I exercise or not.

    I'm definitely tempted by that method, but I need to make my exercise much more regular before I can do that. It varies so much by week (and I won't do much if anything on my period) that I'm not sure I could make it accurate enough, at least at the moment. Maybe once my knee gets better I'll look more into it though :)

    Good point. I waited for quite a while before switching over, because I wanted to make sure my weekly exercise was consistent. Now I pretty much do the same routine every week so it makes sense to average it out.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    MakePeasNotWar wrote: »
    kae612 wrote: »
    MakePeasNotWar wrote: »
    This happens to me, definitely. I switched to the TDEE method because I was tired of trying to stick to 1400 calories a day when I was ravenous, but then having 2300 to eat on hike days when I wasn't even particularly hungry. Now I have the same target every day, regardless of whether I exercise or not.

    I'm definitely tempted by that method, but I need to make my exercise much more regular before I can do that. It varies so much by week (and I won't do much if anything on my period) that I'm not sure I could make it accurate enough, at least at the moment. Maybe once my knee gets better I'll look more into it though :)

    Good point. I waited for quite a while before switching over, because I wanted to make sure my weekly exercise was consistent. Now I pretty much do the same routine every week so it makes sense to average it out.

    Awesome! I'll try to work towards that, for sure. I'm aiming to do at least something 6 days a week. My doctor told me I should be doing 60min of cardio every day, but it just seems so so overwhelming so I'm working up to it. I'm still only at 3 though, so next is to get to 4, and so on.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,147 Member
    Yep, the day after lifting, I can eat a horse.
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
    I have the same problem. The way I get around it is to just listen to my hunger cues. If I'm not hungry on the days that I work out, then I don't eat. That way, I get hungry on my rest days, I can eat using the calories that I had "banked" from my workout days. So long as I stay at maintenance for the week, then i won't gain weight.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    It's probably a delayed response to burning those calories.
  • Tahlia68
    Tahlia68 Posts: 204 Member
    edited August 2015
    I'm the opposite, my hunger level increases when I workout. . Not really sure about being hungry if I don't workout as I do everyday? Try and drink lot's of water if you don't have many calories left. :smile:
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    Heat can mess with your appetite. What I've noticed with exercise calories is if they're not eaten close enough to the actual workout, the body will pitch a fit later. This gets tricky sometimes because enough exercise will delay the appetite.
  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
    I often find that I'm rather hungry, so start walking down to the supermarket, but by the time I'm half way there, I don't feel hungry anymore.
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