Why Do I Feel Like I Am STARVING After I Run? page

[CaveMama]

I am 5'7, 130lbs, female, just getting back into shape again after lapsing with my diet and fitness for a couple years post baby.

I have been eating primal for a few months and definitely feel better, but need to start exercising again. I LOVE running, it really elevates my mood and makes me feel good, so that's where I'm starting. And damn, I am SO out of shape. I was dying just running 2 miles with walk breaks yesterday.

Then, I am SO hungry throughout the day.

I know, it burns calories so my body wants to replace them. But, if I'm only burning 300 calories in my run, why am I feeling the need to eat, like, 1000 calories more than I would normally eat? I normally eat about 2,000 a day (but I'm not really a strict counter, so I'm not sure exactly). I ended up gorging on tacos last night, which kindof defeats the purpose of the run. And I had eaten a rather huge bowl of primal soup with tons of grassfed beef and veggies in it right after the run. I should NOT have been that hungry.

My goal is to increase over-all health but not to lose weight. But I don't want to GAIN weight from eating like a glutton!

[Primal Fist]

Don't stress. Eat good food when you're hungry, stop when you're not. Your body knows what it's doing.

[Grumpycakes]

I know, it burns calories so my body wants to replace them. But, if I'm only burning 300 calories in my run, why am I feeling the need to eat, like, 1000 calories more than I would normally eat? I normally eat about 2,000 a day (but I'm not really a strict counter, so I'm not sure exactly). I ended up gorging on tacos last night, which kindof defeats the purpose of the run. And I had eaten a rather huge bowl of primal soup with tons of grassfed beef and veggies in it right after the run. I should NOT have been that hungry.

I would guess it's because you are out of shape and haven't been running. I assume that the human body doesn't take chances when it comes to food. If it detects a sudden increase in physical activity, it wants to make damned sure it has enough energy to compensate, and it's better to err on the side of gluttony. Your body needs to re-tune its hunger signals taking into account your new exercise.

However, running is the kind of exercise that sabotages diets because moving at a quick pace requires quickly accessible fuel, which is glycogen and not ketones. Regular running saps your glycogen stores and causes you to crave food high in glucose (carbs), which as we all know is all too easy to overeat.

Make sure to eat lots of protein which provides glycogen through gluconeogenesis, and be very strict with yourself in the beginning when it comes to carbohydrate or else you will constantly binge. Later on, after you've adapted, you can incorporate things like potatoes if you need to.

[George_Bondrew]

how many grams of carbs are in you diet? i run a lot too, and I find when i am in the 50-150 range i am always hungry too, but when i am sub 50 I have no problem with hungry, and my runs are awesome!

btw it can take a while for your body to fully adjust to running on ketones for things like running/biking my endurance goes up, but my end sprints are not as fast and that is a fair trade in my book for my goals

[CaveMama]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. I would say my carb intake has been averaging 50-100/day. I wonder if I should experiment with restricting it.

[js290]

how many grams of carbs are in you diet? i run a lot too, and I find when i am in the 50-150 range i am always hungry too, but when i am sub 50 I have no problem with hungry, and my runs are awesome!

btw it can take a while for your body to fully adjust to running on ketones for things like running/biking my endurance goes up, but my end sprints are not as fast and that is a fair trade in my book for my goals

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Ketogenic diets and physical performance

[scotchncoffee]

Another possibility, and one that I experienced often back in my chronic cardio days is plain old dehydration. Heck I get this lifting heavy outside nowadays when it pops above 90. I end my workout feeling hungry enough to eat a ton, but the hunger goes away if I take a glass of water and wait a couple minutes. Then I go ahead and eat a normal-sized dinner.

[supersellen]

Another possibility, and one that I experienced often back in my chronic cardio days is plain old dehydration. Heck I get this lifting heavy outside nowadays when it pops above 90. I end my workout feeling hungry enough to eat a ton, but the hunger goes away if I take a glass of water and wait a couple minutes. Then I go ahead and eat a normal-sized dinner.

+1

[Kenzington]

+1

+2
This is a great tip!

[Leida]

I experienced this phenomenon as well, and my instructor explained that carb-sensitive folks tend to go in the over-drive carb-craving mode after burning carb during high intensity excersise; you would want to eat far more than you've burned. The solution is to mix high-impact with low impact and keep high impact to short bursts. I do not run long runs any more, I do all my cardio sessions as HIITs and I walk. And lift.

One more big thing - you have to eat enough to support your activity level. When you are chronically starved, which a lot of females do when they try to lose weight, continually dropping calories lower and lower. I kept doing this too for a long time, because the weight was not dropping (I had a notion that I just HAVE to be 115 lbs) and because the moment I ate a bit more, the weight 'jumped' by a couple of pounds. But it rebalances after a couple of weeks of higher calories and I started feeling MUCH better and have MUCH more energy. I thought I have a very low methabolic rate and have to work out 3 hrs a day and eat 1,300 calories (I am 5'7"). Well, I now do ~ 2 hrs, and most of it low impact walking, and eat in the 1,500-2,000 range, and didn't turn into an elephant, woot!

Also, some people get hungry when excersising, other, surprisingly don't (they are a minority). That's how it is.