Why am I so hungry after working out? Why am I so hungry after working out?
Centr Team
26 Feb 2020
After a tough session of sit thrus and bear crawls with Luke or Da Rulk, are you left with a grizzly bear sized appetite? Could you destroy an entire buffet table after #SufferingwithSylvia? Even when you’re doing everything right with your meal plan and fueling for your workouts, the question remains: why do you feel so damn hungry after exercise?
Successful weight loss comes down to managing a calorie deficit. Building muscle requires a calorie surplus. And getting fit and toned requires maintenance and balance. So whatever your goal, what you eat matters just as much as how often and hard you exercise. Consuming the right foods at the right time, the right carbs and sufficient protein will impact not only how you perform, but your hunger levels, too.
To help you take control, we asked Advanced Sports Dietician Lisa Middleton to translate what’s happening when that ravenous post-workout hunger strikes.
Why am I so hungry?
Different exercises can influence our hunger to a different extent. While swimming leaves many of us screaming for carbs (researchers have a theory it could be a result of cool water causing our body to lose heat), high-intensity exercise tends to curb our appetite.
“High-intensity exercise can often create some nausea due to metabolic changes, and may reduce hunger for a while after exercise,” explains Lisa. “Lower intensity creates less stress on the body so you’re more likely to be able to eat after.”
This means that you’re more likely to feel hungry after a slow jog than after a fast run. However, if it’s high intensity but not cardio, such as resistance training, it could cause your tummy to rumble a bit more.
Is it real hunger or just a craving?
According to Lisa, post-training hunger shouldn’t manifest itself as a junk food craving. In fact, you’re just as likely to be starving for a filling, healthy whole-foods meal – it may just be the convenience of a vending machine that’s influencing your craving.
Remember, what you eat before exercise will affect what you eat after. Lisa says: “People often won’t eat much in the hours before exercising, so by the time they finish a workout they are starving. Hunger post-exercise is often more related to the timing of food intake prior.”
That’s why perfectly timing snacks and meals around your workout routine is so important – and we’ve got the lowdown on when, why and how.
Does it depend on how fit I am?
Sorry, Legends. Your current fitness level has little to do with your post-workout cravings.
Lisa says: “Although elite athletes often train at a higher intensity, so they’re less hungry straight away, they can be even hungrier later as they may have burnt more energy/calories.”
Am I starving because exercise boosts my metabolism?
Not quite. Your resting metabolic rate and hunger also depend on how much muscle you are building, and how that changes your body’s daily calorie needs.
“The more energy burnt in exercise, or in the recovery period when the body is trying to repair and build muscle, may not create immediate hunger,” says Lisa.
“However, it usually increases your hunger overall to meet daily energy needs.
“The effect of increasing muscle mass is an increase in resting metabolic rate, so you burn more calories all the time. A single exercise session burns calories during and for a little bit of time after, but it depends on the type and duration of exercise.”
To summarise, a workout increases calorie burning during and immediately after, but longer-term resting/basal metabolic rate increase is due to increased muscle mass. This effect and need for calories is accounted for in your Centr meal plan as you move from Get Fit & Toned to Build Muscle.
So how can I tame the post-workout hunger beast?
Follow these tips to stay satisfied and on track to your goals.
1. Save your main meal for AFTER your workout
Try this two-pronged attack before you start training: enjoy a snack, and have your main meal prepped so you have something healthy ready to eat as soon as you feel that post-workout hunger pang. Here are a few easy recipes to get you started.
Breakfast: Between rolling out of bed and pressing play on your workout, grab one of Dan’s Almond Butter Protein Bars. For breakfast, nothing travels with you to the gym as conveniently as a smoothie, and our Almond, Date & Banana Smoothie is a post-workout classic.
Lunch: A high-protein wrap or sandwich is easy to take with you, and our Tex Mex Wrap is one guaranteed to keep you energized and full.
Dinner: Let’s keep it simple. Our Chicken Korma with Broccolini can be batch cooked and frozen, so when you hit the kitchen post-workout you can just defrost while you’re whipping up fresh rice and broccolini. Dinner is served!
2. Make sure your main meal is balanced
A balance of protein, fiber and low-GI carbohydrates will help you recover and feel full. If you don’t pick the right meal, you can end up battling cravings for the rest of the day.
3. Stay hydrated
We often mistake thirst for hunger, so before you raid the pantry try hitting up your water bottle instead.
4. Snack smarter
A healthy main meal should keep you full for at least three hours, so when you do have to snack, be sure to snack smart. Choose something with low-GI and fiber, and try not to have more than one snack between meals.
5. Remember: A post-workout meal is not a reward!
If you’re slamming out those sit thrus thinking about what food you’re going to ravage when you’re done, you’re likely to end up indulging a bit more than a mere grumbly stomach calls for. Eating after training is about refueling and replenishing – a ‘reward’ mentality creates an unhealthy relationship with food and can prevent you from reaching your health and fitness goals.
