I am more hungry on days I don't exercise

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DoubleUbea
DoubleUbea Posts: 1,115 Member
in Food and Nutrition
On the days I can not get to the gym, and I don't log any exercise, I end up being more hungry at the end of the day. People tell me to eat back at least some of my burned calories but I am never hungry enough. I don't do anything strenuous, 60 minutes on the treadmill, steep incline, just over 3mph. The machine says I burned about 500 calories. At then end of the day I am not hungry and I am under my original calories. (not net)
The days I don't go to the gym I could eat more than my allowed calories.

Is there a logical reason for this?

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My appetite is suppressed after exercise. It can happen. The day after I can be ravenous. I theorize the body is playing catch-up with the calories.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    For some folks, exercise stunts their appetite. When I do cardio, I am not hungry much the rest of the day. When I lift, it's the opposite. I eat my cardio exercise calories on the days I lift and it balances out.
  • ballerbryan
    ballerbryan Posts: 24 Member
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    On top of what's been said it can also be a mental thing.

    Sometime on my off days I don't necessarily feel "accomplished" because I'm not dying from my workout. Plus I feel like I have more free time because I didn't workout for 2 hours.

    So then I'm just sitting there doing whatever it is I'm doing and out of nowhere I'll start getting hungry or get random cravings.

    Working out usually suppresses my appetite but I always tend to tell myself things like "You just worked out, don't ruin it"
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,337 Member
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    I'm very hungry after exercise
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    If having your appetite being suppressed on gym days and playing catchup on non gym days is a pattern for you, I'd put your exercise on the non gym days and enjoy your exercise calories then.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    My appetite is suppressed after exercise. It can happen. The day after I can be ravenous. I theorize the body is playing catch-up with the calories.

    This is my story, too.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    I exercise st the end of my day. It’s not unusual for the hunger to come the following day. I find the weekly view on calories very helpful
  • cdjs77
    cdjs77 Posts: 176 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    My appetite is suppressed after exercise. It can happen. The day after I can be ravenous. I theorize the body is playing catch-up with the calories.

    I am the same.

    OP, I actually use this to my advantage. Since I bike a lot for work, there are some days where I end the day with a 1000+ kcal deficit and I'm just not hungry enough to eat it all back. I bank those unused calories for days when I haven't done much exercise but want to eat more, by, say, leaving a deficit of 500 and then just eating 500 over the next day. Your burns probably aren't that high, but you can still do the same. If you're not hungry, don't force yourself to eat, just leave all your leftover calories for the next day.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,401 Member
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    For me, exercise means appetite suppression, but not just after the workout but also for the days to come. I always work out after dinner as I'd otherwise not eat enough for dinner (plus my blood pressure is too low during daytime)
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
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    This happens to me too. I don't get hungry on exercise days. It's usually the days following and then I'm ravenous. I do not know why it happens though. My speculative guess would be that exercise suppresses the appetite, and the next day the body realizes it needs to consume what it burned the day before, thus making you hungrier. I budget my calories on a weekly basis, so my daily average is around goal. So on days when I'm not that hungry I don't eat much. But it's balanced out by days when I'm more hungry and need to eat more.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    My appetite tends to be much lower after cardio. The next day, I'm ravenous. I just go by my weekly calories and it all comes out in the wash.
  • Dakase83
    Dakase83 Posts: 2,524 Member
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    It is the same for me when I do cardio. Seems strange, but I just go with it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,979 Member
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    On top of the appetite-suppressing action of exercise (and delayed hunger the next day) for some people, including me, I note that you refer in your OP to days you "can not get to the gym" -- if that's a reference to days when you're too busy to get to the gym, and being busy is stressful (or if your emotional reaction to not making it to the gym is to feel stress), it could be that stress hormones are stimulating your appetite.

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    It happens with me, too, but I know that I tend to get hunger signals if I'm stressed or bored. (Or, at least, the urge to eat). When I exercise, I'm not as stressed and I'm not bored.

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