Why Am I So Hungry

[Ghost Donkey]

I went for my ride yesterday and i had dead legs (no energy) and the wind was bad, i had my tea had my supper, 15 mins later i was starving, went to bed, had the biggest bowl of cereal in the morning and was still hungry half an hour later, had a banana some tomatoes went on my ride and im still starving, i had to have a baked spud after the ride something i have not had in years, had my tea and im still hungry, i have never had this before and i ride everyday except for every other Sunday, i have been losing weight slowly but surely was 15 stone in June when i started down to 14 St 4 lbs, i have been doing 18.5 miles a day at roughly an hour long (i try and treat every ride like a TT) is this just a case of i have tipped the scales of using more calories and not eating enough for myself and energy used, i don't have anything wrong with me or feel ill or anything.

Would you say this is the type of food you eat when you constantly feel hungry? Cereals, bananas, potatoes, starchy carbs? If so they're all good for energy for exercise, especially straight after exercise, but do you eat much in the way of protein and fat as well during your day? High carbs can have an effect of constant hunger especially if you don't consume enough protein and fat. I've got no idea of your usual food intake and don't want to make assumptions. If you don't have a lot already perhaps consider adding more protein and fat to your diet. Breakfast cereal is not good for filling you up and the added (fortified with) vitamins are better found in real food. I still like porridge mind. There's various figures around for recommended protein intake such as 0.7 - 1g of protein per day for each pound of lean body weight you have. A nice mish mash of metric and imperial there!

 

[Rob3rt]

How inaccurate do you think they are in general ? (its all white mans magic to me )
obviously it depends on the unit and how well calibrated they are,
my bike computer is fairly accurate on milage, certainly within a mile. and indoor cycle measures heart rate which I assume is linked to energy output.

I don,t know if you have one but what % do you nock off or add to get a more probably figure?

Garmin figures I half or take 2/3rd. It is an arbitrary amount, no better than the accuracy of the unit. But I figure it is better to under estimate than over estimate as the result will be much more immediate and you can adjust on the go! That being said, I don't calorie count or agonise over my food intake, I eat, I ride, my performance increases, my weight falls (when I want it to) or remains stable (when I want it to). If I want my weight to fall, I will intuitively reduce intake or up my workload to get the desired effect.

 

[andsaw]

I had another big bowl of cereal today and its all but practically gone, i will have my normal banana and a few fig rolls before my ride and see what im like later. Rob are you asking me to stop the way i ride, i cant im a pusher casual dont work for me i have to feel like i have worked at it.

 

[Rob3rt]

I had another big bowl of cereal today and its all but practically gone, i will have my normal banana and a few fig rolls before my ride and see what im like later. Rob are you asking me to stop the way i ride, i cant im a pusher casual dont work for me i have to feel like i have worked at it.

I am saying you should stop treating every ride like a TT! There are many reasons!

1) It promotes the chances of taking silly risks to better your times.
2) There are too many variables for it to be a relevant measure.
3) Your body is slowly being destroyed, you are not allowing it to recover, hence your fitness will platou and then decline as you become over-trained.
4) If you do a TT effort 1 day, chances of doing an effective one the next day are not very high!

That being said, I doubt you are actually riding to TT efforts, you just couldn't do it day after day!

 

[Stonepark]

Swap recovery carb food (post ride) for mainly proteins and a little fat, if you are feeling tired/muscles are sore.constantly hungry, your body is trying to build/repair muscle fibre and empty carbs (cereal), don't do anything for you.

Try a couple poached or boiled eggs, pint of milk, burger and salad (no roll), etc for a week after exercise and you will notice the difference.

 

[andsaw]

To Ghost Donkey. In June when i started on an old MTB i was doing weights not to bulk up but more cardio after packing up smoking in march, and i stayed at 15 stone, i was eating no different, i have a pretty much balanced diet, it was only when i got my new ride 2 months ago and the mileage went up that i started to lose the weight (tying to lose my belly from 2.5 years ago after an episode i wont go in to) my consumption has stayed the same, i figured if i keep to the same routine i should start to see results which is happening, i had to stop the weights because of tennis elbow a few weeks ago, and thought that would slow the process but don't think that's happened as i lost 3 pounds last week, everything has been fine since this episode, which is the first time this has happened.

 

[andsaw]

Im not trying to better times or take risks and i think riding like a TT is more of an exaggeration just feels like it, im quite happy with the way i ride and don't think im damaging myself and i feel my fitness is getting better not worse as i can feel that with breathing easier and slower with each ride, and my legs are getting more muscley, im going on holiday next month and will have an extended rest and i did say to my wife i would love to get my weight and belly down for then, now i sound like a woman lol, also if im trying to lose weight and go on a ride and lose say 500 calories and then eat food after it that equals what i lose, isnt that defeating the object.

 

[VamP]

How inaccurate do you think they are in general ? (its all white mans magic to me )
obviously it depends on the unit and how well calibrated they are,
my bike computer is fairly accurate on milage, certainly within a mile. and indoor cycle measures heart rate which I assume is linked to energy output.

I don,t know if you have one but what % do you nock off or add to get a more probably figure?

Very inaccurate!

I burn (power meter measured) cca 500 calories an hour on an endurance ride, and about 750 calories per hour in an hour long race. It's very hard to get anywhere near race effort on the road so assume you're closer to the 500 than the 750 number.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Swap recovery carb food (post ride) for mainly proteins and a little fat, if you are feeling tired/muscles are sore.constantly hungry, your body is trying to build/repair muscle fibre and empty carbs (cereal), don't do anything for you.

Try a couple poached or boiled eggs, pint of milk, burger and salad (no roll), etc for a week after exercise and you will notice the difference.

Cereal is bad but a burger is recommended? Are you aware that feeling hungry post ride is in all likelyhood due to blood sugar levels/glycogen depletion.

Headscratch smilie anyone?

 

[Rob3rt]

Cereal is bad but a burger is recommended?

Headscratch smilie anyone?

I just do a few Squats!

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

I just do a few Squats!

They will help you to show those weedy cyclists your heels on huuuuge climbs.

 

[andsaw]

Back from my ride, hunger has gone, and done my quickest ever on my route, average speed 19mph, im shocked, i wouldn't and don't touch burgers, cant go without my cereal its only rice crispies but i love them, first time had the fig rolls in ages but certainly made the difference a whole packet since yesterday, hopefully its just a one off this hunger.

 

[User16625]

because I have yet to come across one that is accurate.

When you do come across one that is accurate then how will you know? Are you going to take it to a group of scientists to measure your exercises while using it? It would be like using a compass in space.

 

[lulubel]

I went for my ride yesterday and i had dead legs (no energy) and the wind was bad, i had my tea had my supper, 15 mins later i was starving, went to bed, had the biggest bowl of cereal in the morning and was still hungry half an hour later, had a banana some tomatoes went on my ride and im still starving, i had to have a baked spud after the ride something i have not had in years, had my tea and im still hungry, i have never had this before and i ride everyday except for every other Sunday, i have been losing weight slowly but surely was 15 stone in June when i started down to 14 St 4 lbs, i have been doing 18.5 miles a day at roughly an hour long (i try and treat every ride like a TT) is this just a case of i have tipped the scales of using more calories and not eating enough for myself and energy used, i don't have anything wrong with me or feel ill or anything.

If I've done a harder ride than usual for whatever reason (in your case, it was very windy), I know I will have used more energy than usual. If I eat afterwards, and feel hungry again a short while later, I eat some more. I keep on doing this until the hunger goes away. It isn't scientific, but it works. The kind of things I eat in this situation are toast and butter, cake, more toast and butter, fruit, more toast and butter ... I don't bother about extra protein because I get loads of it from my normal diet and don't need any more, but if I'm giving my body carbs and it's asking for more very quickly afterwards, I know it's using them to replenish my glycogen stores, so I give it what it wants. (The fat in butter and cake tastes nice, and I tend to be a bit low on fat intake usually, so I don't worry about having more.)

I was undereating on a regular basis, and I found I got this need to eat and eat and eat every time I did a longer or harder ride than usual. Now I eat more day to day and it happens less often, but it still happens. I think it's just the body's way of rebalancing.

 

[andsaw]

If I've done a harder ride than usual for whatever reason (in your case, it was very windy), I know I will have used more energy than usual. If I eat afterwards, and feel hungry again a short while later, I eat some more. I keep on doing this until the hunger goes away. It isn't scientific, but it works. The kind of things I eat in this situation are toast and butter, cake, more toast and butter, fruit, more toast and butter ... I don't bother about extra protein because I get loads of it from my normal diet and don't need any more, but if I'm giving my body carbs and it's asking for more very quickly afterwards, I know it's using them to replenish my glycogen stores, so I give it what it wants. (The fat in butter and cake tastes nice, and I tend to be a bit low on fat intake usually, so I don't worry about having more.)

I was undereating on a regular basis, and I found I got this need to eat and eat and eat every time I did a longer or harder ride than usual. Now I eat more day to day and it happens less often, but it still happens. I think it's just the body's way of rebalancing.

I couldn't agree more, i think that's what happened in my case, we just didn't have anything in the cupboards or fridge i could eat, and the wife had to go town for supply's, i agree with the protein side of things and don't have much fat, it seems there's a fine line between having enough energy and not going hungry and still able to lose weight as well, ill just make sure i get a few extras when we do the shopping tomorrow.