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When Lori Nersesian of Napa, California, recently started working out again after a months-long hiatus, not only did she find herself gaining more muscle, but gaining quite an appetite as well.
A longtime healthy eater, Nersesian, 50, describes herself as diligent about her diet. But after taking up regular strength-building sessions — with workouts full of crunches and body-weight exercises like push-ups — her cravings intensified. “It's usually around 4 in the afternoon that I want to eat everything in sight,” she explains, “particularly the stuff I shouldn't be eating. I want to consume an entire bag of chips — and sometimes I do!"
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Nersesian's hunger spikes are common, says Nancy Clark, a Newton, Massachusetts-based registered dietitian and author of the best-selling Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook (2019). “Your body is your best calorie counter,” she explains. “If you have a car, you put gas into it. If you drive only 20 miles, you need less gas than if you're driving 100 miles. The same is true with our bodies.” When you exercise, you increase your calorie expenditure and you need more food. If you're not eating enough and/or you're not eating the right foods, you'll get hungry, she says.
But before you reach for an energy bar, also consider that working out may have simply made you thirstier. “Many times you might think your body is hankering for something to eat, but all that your body may actually want is water,” says Clark, who notes that as we age, our “thirst mechanism isn't as sensitive, which means we may not feel thirsty even when our body needs fluid.”
To be sure you're hydrating sufficiently, drink every two to four hours and check that you're urine is light yellow. “If it's not, you need to be drinking more,” Clark says.
Hunger hormones at work
Much of postexercise hunger is stimulated by hormones, explains Morristown, New Jersey-based Tina Marinaccio, a registered dietitian and American Council of Exercise-certified personal trainer. “If your glycogen, or stored sugar, is being used up after a hard workout, you have an increase in the hormone ghrelin, which makes us hungry,” Marinaccio explains. “This is particularly true if you exercise after fasting, for example, if you exercise in the morning on an empty stomach after not eating all night long.” Such was the case for Nersesian, who typically exercises in the morning after just a cup of coffee.
If you're training for a race and find yourself doing long bouts of exercise, you may also be temporarily reducing the amount of leptin — the satiety hormone — circulating in your body, Marinaccio says. This could trigger intense hunger as well and make you want more even after you have something to eat.
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