I just read the sticky on working out & gaining weight, which was insightful to me. My question for all of you regular exercisers is this: how do you combat the hunger during the day from an AM workout?
I am exercising 5-6x/week for 30-60 minutes. I alternate jogging, Jillian Michaels DVDs (she's a KILLER!), and pilates of various sorts. Especially on my high cardio days, I find I am ravenous ALL DAY LONG. I'm doing pretty well at controlling my caloric intake, but am really struggling to stay satisfied. Ultimately, I end up eating small meals all day long, and only eating 1 "real" meal at dinnertime with my family.
What do you do? Am I the only one dealing with post-exercise munchies?
I have upped my calories in response to upping my exercise, and I've never seen it stop my weight loss (though my weight loss has become more erratic as I've exercised more: I am losing the same on average.)
The trick is to upp your calories by 100-200, not the 500 you want: I add protein, an extra serving of chicken breast or cottage cheese. It helps.
When I do a good run in the afternoon, I find I get pretty hungry after. I try to eat some protein after. 1/2 C of LF Cottage Cheese and some fruit. Sometimes, if I know I am going to work out particularly hard, I plan an extra snack for that day.
How many calories are you taking in a day? Since you are at maintenance (congratulations btw) you can either work out a little less OR eat a little more. I'd probably be eating at least 1450 calories a day if I were in your shoes.
Thanks for the replies. I am struggling to get above 1200 calories a day, which is where I've been for the last few months while I worked at those pesky last 10 pounds (I was eating 800/day for several months...not advisable, by the way!).
I just reached my goal 10 days ago, so I am still figuring out how to carefully add calories back in to get to a more reasonable level for me. I think (hope) I will be able to maintain averaging 1800/day if I keep up the exercise schedule I've been on, but expect it will take time to get there. Without exercise, 1400 is probably the right level. I've always had a slow metabolism, and it is getting worse as I'm getting older.
I like the idea of extra lean protein. I've pretty much cut out milk from my diet, with the exception of reduced fat string cheese (new in the last 2 weeks). Maybe I'll put it back in to see if that helps. There's an extra 90 calories with health benefits!
On the days that I do Couch to 5K I am hungry all day long. I've learned to do two things that help me to not feel like I'm starving to death.
1. This article says, "There are two phases of post-activity nutrition: immediately after activity and within two to three hours after activity." When I get back from a run, I have a carb/protein snack-meal, usually cottage cheese & fruit or plain Greek yogurt & fruit. About 2 hours later, I have breakfast, usually eggs & fruit.
2. I eat carb/protein snack-meals throughout the day, about every 2 hours, instead of any one big meal. I just divide up all my calories between these snack-meals.
On the days that I do Couch to 5K I am hungry all day long. I've learned to do two things that help me to not feel like I'm starving to death.
1. This article says, "There are two phases of post-activity nutrition: immediately after activity and within two to three hours after activity." When I get back from a run, I have a carb/protein snack-meal, usually cottage cheese & fruit or plain Greek yogurt & fruit. About 2 hours later, I have breakfast, usually eggs & fruit.
2. I eat carb/protein snack-meals throughout the day, about every 2 hours, instead of any one big meal. I just divide up all my calories between these snack-meals.
In reading your post, this is pretty much what I do. By dinnertime, I'm very full and eat mostly lean protein & a small veggie.
I also get very hungry, and on days I exercise, I add a little more food, about 50-70% of what I estimated I burned off. I am happier when I make that food high volume things like broccoli or cabbage with a protein like cottage cheese, beans or egg. A little peanut butter or avocado also helps - fat makes me feel satisfied. Occasionally, I make the extra calories a cookie, but I usually end up less full and less happy.
I also eat small meals/snacks throughout the day. High volume veggies are key for me.
Exercise & hunger
