Would it stand to reason
 

that the day after exercising twice as much as you're used to, you would have a bigger appetite? Yesterday I was feeling more hungry than usual. Could it have been from the extra exercise?

Sounds perfectly normal to me. I don't usually have days where I work out a ton, but on days when I'm really active in general I'm usually hungrier.

Yes, that can certainly happen.

Okay... and should I eat more than usual to satisfy that hunger? Of should I eat my normal amount and hope my body adjusts?

I'd say that if you're feeling hungry that your body is telling you it wants more food. So give it a little more food. More protein, especially.

Okay, thanks:)

I generally do NOT eat back calories from exercise. So my advice is no, don't eat more, your body will adjust over time. The only time I eat extra calories are for runs over 10 miles.

Your mileage may vary. :)

hmm... lol I'll wait for some more opinions. Not that both of yours isn't good... It's just that there is two different ones :P

Hey Ace,

I'm afraid I won't be able to break the tie, cause I agree with them both! Jo is a very experienced exerciser and I agree that in general one should not eat exercise calories back. However, you are pretty new to calorie restriction and exercise and sometimes people might go a little too far too fast. What I mean is that your body might truly need the nutrients due to too much calorie deficit or too big a change in exercise.

So I would skate in the middle. Maybe have some carrot sticks and a hard-boiled egg. Something with a reasonable amount of calories, protein, fat & fiber. Over time your body will start to adjust to you exercise and calorie choices and you will be able to see what works for you. What I would not recommend is eating a donut or somesuch cause the elliptical states you burned 400 calories. :) I know you wouldn't! Right now you and your body are learning a lot together, so see what works for you. Being hungry never works for me.

I would say it depends on how hungry you are. If you just a bit hungrier, then I wouldn't eat more, but if you're starving and you feel like you might break down and pig out on something, then I'd eat a little bit of cheese or maybe some peanut butter or an egg - something with protein and a bit of fat. But only just a little bit. If you want more than that have some celery of carrot sticks too. Usually I find one egg does the trick - they're really filling and seem to stop the cravings (and I'm not even an egg fan!).

BP

I would have to agree. That was always my problem. I'd work out and get hungry and think "oh, ok...well, I just worked out REALLY hard so I can eat back what I burnt off". I never lost weight that way.

Yeah, it is easy to do that, isn't it? I've noticed I struggle more with hunger the longer my runs get -- even though I'm not massively dropping any more weight, so clearly I'm already eating enough to cover the extra calories burned. And like you said, mentally, it seems ok to eat more when you're working out REALLY hard. But it is something I have to carefully watch.

For me, it depends on the type of exercise. If it was cardio, my appetite is usually less than normal, even if they cardio session was longer and harder than normal. Lifting, on the other hand, makes me ravenous. I usually eat back some of the calories burned from lifting.