Constant hunger/exersice

[karomanic]

Hi guys! I'm not sure if this is where it belongs but I had a question: I find that the more often I exercise, the more hungry I am. Like, it's a constant thing, no matter what I do refuel(ex: I had a big salad with almonds, cranberries and 3 slices of eggplant and whole wheat toast after my workout- still ravenous )! The moment I drop off exercising, the problem is gone- and the constant hunger tends to be the reason why I've been doing MMA interval training (1.5 hr intense workouts-Ex. 100 burpees, 12 rounds of jump rope, 3 mins each with 30 second breaks between, 15 pound kettle ball runs, etc) at least 3 times a week, as well as MMA classes/boxing classes at least 2 times a week.

 

I also run whenever I have free time, max 5 miles(full time college student) so I have about 2 rest days a week. I'm currently trying to get ready to join the Army, so I'm trying to get in shape. I've been eating healthy, salads with almonds/dried cranberries, peanut butter on whole grain bread, all kinds of fruits, and I drink about a gallon of water a day. I take a multi vitamin/b12/omega 3 but thats about it. I think I'm getting about 1.1k calories a day, I'm 5'1, 125 pounds. Is this normal/ has anyone else had this problem? What did you do?

[Justin Morgan]

You need to consider the calories your taking in verses what you're expending. at 125 ibs if you don't get out of bed you'll need at least 1250 calories just to maintain weight, if you get up to use the bathroom, you're done. If you work out moderately add another 1500 cals. For the workout your described above I'd add at least another 2000 which comes out to 3250. I don't necessarily advocate counting calories, but do it for a week and know what you're getting.

 

The meal you described according to http://cronometer.com/ had around 875 calories. Which for that one meal isn't bad except most of them came from fat if you only used a 1/4 cup of almonds. Since fat takes up to 24 hours to digest it's not really going to make you feel full right away. You need more carbs. Fruits digest quickly which is always beneficial. Rice, potatoes, breads and other grain based carbs are great too, but they'll sometimes make you sluggish for an hour or two afterward, so keep that in mind for training.

 

You also only mentioned a few meals, and both of them had the majority of their calories from fat. I know it doesn't seem like it, but fat rich foods like nuts/nut butters have a lot of calories which is fine, but your body runs off of carbs. If you're constantly hungry, then eat a lot more carbs and pay attention to the levels of fat you are getting. You need some fat, but if every meal is similar to the ones you mentioned above then you're getting a lot of fat and not many carbohydrates. 1 banana has around 100 calories mostly from carbs with a little fat/protein. 2 leveled off tablespoons of peanut butter has around 180 calories of fat. So point being for every serving of PB you'll need around 20 banans or 10 cups of cooked rice, or pretty much a day's worth of foods that are carb based in order to get the bulk of your calories from carbs.

 

Nutritionists and researchers argue a bit over the amounts (%'s) of macro-nutrients(carbs, protein, fat), but most agree that carbs should be the base of your calories. So if you're constantly hungry, then double or triple up on your carb intake.

[stcalico]

If you find it hard to eat more, you can always add protein shakes - drinking calories is easier than eating them. You can mix in a banana and flax seeds with your shake. Or try other fruits or nuts or oatmeal. That will add lots of calories. The Clif Builder bars may be good to include on occasion too - by themselves, not in a shake.. tho that might be good too.

 

Definitely 1100 calories is not enough. I eat more than 1800 each day and I'm 116 lbs and (because of injury) not working out too hard lately.

[Raynak]

The thing that really makes a difference for me in the amount of hunger I feel, and how fast I get hungry again after a meal, is protein. Now matter how much carbs, fat or kcal there is in my meal, I'm always hungry again too soon

That is, unless I eat a sufficient amount of protein each meal. For me the source of the protein doesn't really matter. How much protein is enough for you to not get hungry again so soon, you'd just have to try, but for me about 20-25 g per meal works.

[karomanic]

Thank you very much guys! I'll definitely give upping calories/protein a shot

[Raynak]

Maybe it's an obvious suggestion, but I forgot to add that upping the amount of fiber for me also works great for keeping a 'full' sensation for a longer period of time.

 

Let us know how it goes, if you've found anything that works.