When you feel hungry after exercising

Increasing appetite while exercising is a normal physiological response of the body. When you exercise, you expend energy, and the body strives to replenish calories and restore balance by sending you hunger signals. The situation is different with psychological hunger. Most people overestimate calorie expenditure – they think that they spent a lot of calories in training and now they can not limit themselves. Let’s take a look at why you feel hungry after exercising and how to deal with it.

Reasons for increased appetite

As mentioned above, the reasons can be physiological and psychological.

Physiological reasons:

• You spent energy in training, and the body seeks to restore balance – this is natural and should not interfere with losing weight.
• You do too much cardio (do at least an hour every day). Excessive aerobics creates a lot of stress, which introduces an imbalance in the hormonal system. Stress increases the production of the stress hormone cortisol and the hunger hormone ghrelin, but decreases the saturation hormone leptin.
• You are not eating enough calories. Perhaps your food is so meager that you simply do not gorge yourself. In addition, low-calorie diets disrupt hormonal levels, making it much more difficult to control appetite and lose weight.
• You don’t sleep much. Sleep deprivation lowers leptin levels, increases ghrelin and cortisol, and decreases insulin sensitivity. With a lack of sleep, the body tries its best to store as much energy as possible, increasing hunger and reducing calorie expenditure.

Psychological reasons:

• You overestimate your calorie expenditure and think it’s unfair to limit yourself.
• You mistake for hunger ordinary tiredness after training or thirst.
• You can’t tell the difference between real hunger and food cravings.

Studies in athletes have shown that moderate-intensity exercise does not increase hunger, and eating a balanced diet can help you control your appetite.

What Helps Keep You Full

If we consider the diet as a whole, then it must meet the following criteria:

1. Adequate daily calorie content. There are simple formulas for calculating the daily requirement.
2. Convenient number of meals. If frequent and small portions are not satiating, then eat less often.
3. Protein, fat and carbohydrates in every meal. A balanced meal should contain at least 20 g of protein, 10 g of fat and 30 g of carbohydrates.
4. Adequate amounts of protein, fat and fiber in the diet. If you exercise regularly, then you need to get 1,5-2 g of protein and 0,8-1 g of fat for each kilogram of weight with your diet, eat vegetables and greens every day. According to research, a combination of protein, fiber, and fat can help control appetite.
5. Solid food is better than liquid food. Liquid calories from smoothies, kefir, juices are easily absorbed, and therefore the feeling of hunger after such a meal comes very quickly.
6. Proper nutrition before and after exercise. Protein and complex carbohydrates are especially important before and after exercise. They nourish muscles for a long time and keep blood sugar levels at a normal level, which helps control appetite.
7. Moderate intensity strength training and a fair amount of cardio. You should not crawl out of the hall or live in it. If you want to burn fat, then 2-4 strength training and 150-300 minutes of cardio per week are enough.
8. Mindfulness to your feelings. If you have a hearty breakfast, and in the evening the feeling of hunger makes you overeat, then maybe it is worth distributing the daily calorie intake so that you feel comfortable?

It is important to say about awareness. Whenever you feel hungry, ask yourself: Am I really hungry or is it a craving for food? What’s behind it? Stress, boredom, fatigue, habit? Or maybe I want to reward myself for a successful workout or a lost kilogram? Pamper after a busy week? Do not be afraid of psychological work on yourself. Ask yourself questions and answer them honestly.

Examples of successful snacks

When you managed to sort out your feelings and understand that this feeling in the stomach is the same hunger, it’s time to think about the right snack. Remember that solid foods and a combination of proteins, fats, and fiber saturate us? Therefore, the popular recommendation of an apple for snacking is no longer valid.

Easy, quick and healthy snacks

1. Vegetable sticks with Greek yogurt sauce;
2. Breads with chicken and herbs;
3. Bread with curd cheese;
4. Low-fat cottage cheese with berries and nuts or moderate fat cottage cheese with berries or fruit;
5. Non-starchy vegetable and chicken breast salad;
6. Whole grain bread toast with egg;
7. Baked apple with cottage cheese.

Calculate your snack based on your daily calorie capacity. Remember that your snack should be smaller than your main meals, but it should also contain protein, fat, and carbohydrates.