Why do we get so hungry after working out, And how will we control it

As a nutritionist and trainer I am more than familiar with that feeling of being hungry after a workout. It’s quite common, we all get it (at one point or another), but why does it happen?Actually, there a few reasons that explain exactly that.

The firs reason, is the balance between energy expenditure and intake:

When training intensively without changing our caloric intake, there is a chance of falling into a caloric deficit. This may happen, for example, when adding as little as one more training session a week. The extra workout might not seem like much but could make a big difference in the total energy expenditure, which calls for a caloric adjustment. If not mad (?), our body will ignite a chain of reactions in order to restore the energy balance. These actions are part of the body’s effort to stay in a state of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the state in which internal conditions of the body remain constant (such as body temperature, blood pressure etc.) and is necessary for keeping the human body stable in response to external changes.

The Schwartz et al model for demonstrating homeostasis describes a ‘Negative feedback’ for regulation of fat tissue; leptin and insulin are signals that circulate in proportion to body adiposity, and act in the hypothalamus in the brain, to stimulate catabolic- (e.g., POMC/CART) and inhibit anabolic- (e.g., NPY/AgRP) effector pathways. These pathways have opposing effects on both energy intake and energy expenditure and, consequently, on the amount of body fuel stored as fat. Weight loss induced by intense training without nutrition adaptations, for example, lowers insulin and leptin levels, which in turn activates anabolic and inhibits catabolic effectors. The anabolic pathway eventually causes us to feel hungry and thereby eat and eventually recover lost weight.

Another reason for feeling hungry after a workout is meal timing:

It is best to demonstrate this point with a study. Cheng MH & Bushnell D. et al. checked hunger signals after a 50 minute workout that took place two hours after a full meal, as opposed to the same workout taking place one hour before eating. The group that trained after eating showed higher consecration of Ghrelin, AKA -the “hunger hormone”. Ghrelin is a peptide hormone produced in the gastrointestinal tract, which functions as a neuropeptide in the central nervous system, and acts in an opposite way of leptin. Ghrelin stimulates anabolic- (e.g., NPY/AgRP) effector pathways and encourage eating. This research concluded that training before eating a proper meal might induce hunger.

Although not a nutritive cause, weather can affect the hunger mechanism. In their study, White LJ & Dressendorfer RH et al. showed that swimmers who trained in a 20 degrees pool, ate 40% more calories than swimmers who have trained in a 33 degrees pool. Other studies show that running in a cooler climate caused the study group to eat 700 kcal more than the control group.

We can conclude that working out before eating could cause excessive hunger after the workout.

So, what can we do in order to avoid over eating after a training?

Here are some useful ideas:

1. Eat meals frequently- eating three full main meals and at least two intermediate meals per day will lower the chances of getting to a significant caloric deficit.

2. Do not skip a meal before working out- make sure you have something to eat about 2 hours before working out and a small snack, such as a piece of fruit, about 20 minutes prior to your work out.

3. Have a proper recovery meal- the role of a recovery meal is to reenergize the body, as well as to contribute to its rebuilding. Do not skip this meal even if it means eating late at night (when working out in the evening). This meal should contain a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate and protein.

Create your own recovery meal- choose your protein and then add on crabs according to the ratio:

Food that contains 25 grams of protein:

90gr of meat, 100gr of fish, 10gr of chicken, a cup of legumes (?), 270gr of tofu, 200gr low fat cheese, 3 middle sized eggs.

Food that contains 15 grams of carbs:

4 spoons of legumes or grain (rice, lentils, quinoa, 1 sweet potato), a cup of cooked pasta, a piece of fruit.

4. Dress appropriately J

does this sound familiar?