Binging after exercise
 

I can't help myself :(

I go to the gym three times per week (spinning, step aerobics and weights), and after each session I am ravenous. It's insatiable. I try just eating one item, but that doesn't satisfy the hunger. It goes on and on.

Does anyone else experience this? :^:

Ι have the opposite effect, from way back when i was running and now that i am working out after the end of any workout i cannot eat anything for at least an hour, or an hour and a half. I have no appetite. After that time passes though YES i am ravenous!

I have heard that exercise can actually stimulate appetite....well, to be more specific, it's cardio. On the other hand, it appears that weight training doesn't. I'm not sure about all of this but I think the author is Gary Taub and he gathered and summarized all the research. What are you eating the rest of the day? Could it be that you're actually thirsty/dehydrated? Maybe you could plan on having a protein shake after the meal and sip on it very slowly (perhaps mix it in a blender with ice so that you have to sip slowly). I hope you figure it out.

This happens to me if I work out really hard. I end up binging and eating way more calories than I burned. However, I have found that if I just walk or do another not-to-intense type of workout it reduces my appetite.

This is why I am not a fan of crazy cardio. Back when I was actively trying to lose during most of 2010, I exercised around 2 hours/day. I always ended up so hungry that I binged and ruined all of my work for that day. So basically I was bingeing daily. I never weighed more than when I exercised the most. Go figure!

I stopped exercising in 2011 and dropped 25lbs because my appetite had decreased so much.

I'm not anti-exercise by any means. But I think exercise for weight loss is futile approach. I agree with another poster: perhaps stick to walking and small things like that instead of intense cardio.

It's ironic isn't it.

I did my spinning class tonight, then ate a ready meal, 2 apples, a few rice cakes and a few bowls of bran flakes. Not too bad. I won't count it as a binge. Normally I have boxes of cakes. :o

My doctor recommended that I use peppermint candies during my workout, it keeps the blood sugar steady. After I am finished working out, I drink a protein shake and around 20 ounces of water. 20 - 30 minutes later, I have a small non-fat latte. It sounds like an odd routine, but I no longer have the ravenous cravings I did before I integrated this routine. Good luck!

I binged :(

Hmm... How soon after your workout are you eating? I find that I lose my appetite for about 1-2 hours after a workout, but if I don't get some protein into my system within that time window right after a workout, I crave carbs like CRAZY for the rest of the day...

I would definitely try drinking more water. You may be confusing hunger with thirst.

Since I'm in my 60s, I'm pretty sure my workouts aren't as intense as yours, but I don't have problems with being ravenous. I do two sets of cardio with weights in between. Before ever going to the gym, I drink 8 oz of water. After my first cardio, I drink a bottle or 16 oz. And I eat lunch as soon as I get home. If your schedule doesn't allow for a meal right after, then I think the suggestions of making sure you're staying hydrated and eating something with protein in it will help with keeping it under control better. Or, cut back on the intensity and see if that helps.

Are you able to eat a bit prior to working out?

I get soooo hungry during the day if I've gone on a morning run. It seems like it's only running that does this to me. If I hike or kickbox I don't have this issue. But if I run in the morning, I'm stomach-rumbling hungry all day.

I eat about an hour prior to workouts. The workouts are very hardcore (always to exhaustion).

I did a class last night and didn't binge afterwards!! Yay!!

My next class is tomorrow (spinning) and that's always the one where I'm guaranteed to binge afterwards. Let's hope I can break the cycle.

If you're exercising to exhaustion, I think you need to tone them down. Your body is trying to tell you, enough! Exercise should be fun, but what you're doing sounds like a punishment :/

Toning it down would burn less cals though. It wouldn't help my weight loss (which is already crap even with the hardcore workouts).

I hate to tell you this, but the bingeing is what's hurting your weight loss, not a possible reduction in workouts. The workouts lead to binge eating, ergo you gain more weight. Reduce the intensity of the workouts, and it's probable you might stop binge eating, ergo you will lose weight from stopping bingeing alone. I'm not trying to be mean or a know it all, just trying to get you to look at it another way and help because bingeing sucks! Exercise doesn't burn that many calories anyway. It's highly overrated when it comes to weight loss.

Two years ago I was like you. Exercised hardcore thinking I would drop a lot of weight, faster. Well I exercised so much, I became ravenous every night after my last workout. Like you, I also ended up with incredible urges to binge, which I followed every time, effectively ruining every single days efforts.

Eventually I got fed up, started eating what I wanted when I got hungry and quit exercising except for a few short dancing sessions in my basement *for fun* whenever I felt like moving (which may have only been once per week!). I ended up losing 25lbs. The decrease in appetite from ceasing all hardcore exercising solely with the intention of burning calories, aided by weight loss - the total opposite of everything the "experts" put out there.

Yes I would agree with the previous poster. I have the same problem, where after I go to the gym I overeat, but more because I feel like I "deserve it" (whatever that means!) The last time I lost my excess weight was when I was eating smaller portions (ie fewer calories at each meal, but still eating some of the junk food I like), and exercising about 3-4x a week. I used to punish myself with long workouts, but that only exacerbated the feeling of 'deservingness' afterwards, and then it became a bad cycle.

While it's definitely frustrating, you should still pat yourself on the back for going to the gym- that's half the battle. For some of us, the rest of the battle is the eating part.