If you find yourself feeling incredibly hungry after a workout session, that’s a very normal response. It happens partially because of the way in which your body stores and uses energy and partially because burning stored energy is one of the major reasons why you work out in the first place. That’s what helps you lose weight.
Basically, energy storage in the body works like this: the calories that you consume are stored as glycogen – a simple sugar – in the short term. Eventually, unused glycogen is converted to fat. When you work out, your goal is to burn unwanted fat. The body doesn’t begin burning fat, though, until its glycogen reserves are already depleted. The end result is that when your workout session is over, your short-term energy stores are gone. That’s why you’re hungry.
When you feel hungry after a workout, the simplest and most appropriate response is to eat something that doesn’t leave you feeling guilty – something that’s high in fiber and nutrients in relation to its caloric content. We’ll give you some suggestions for that in this guide, and we’ll also provide some alternatives that can help you stave off the hunger without sacrificing your gym gains. Let’s jump in.
Choose the Right Foods
As we mentioned above, the most logical response if you feel hungry after working out is to listen to your body and have some food. It’s important to make the right choices, though, because you don’t want to nullify the gains that you worked so hard for. As satisfying as it might be to munch on a burger and fries after a workout session, you won’t really be doing yourself any favors and could possibly even end up taking a step in the wrong direction because there’s a strong tendency to overeat when you’re extremely hungry.
It’s important to make the right food choices after a workout. You want to choose foods that are high in fiber because that will help you feel full more quickly. You also want to select foods that are dense in nutrients for the calories they contain, partly because it’ll help your body recover from the workout more quickly and partly because it’ll help you avoid replenishing the fat stores you’ve just burned.
According to Mayo Clinic, some of the best foods to eat after a workout include:
- A freshly blended smoothie.
- A sandwich on whole-grain bread with a vegetable side.
- Bagged pretzels and a glass of low-fat milk – but be careful not to overconsume the pretzels.
- A peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread.
- A serving of yogurt with fresh fruit on the side.
Whatever you decide to eat after the workout, ensure that you also drink plenty of fluid because you’ll have lost a good amount of water during the exercise session. Drinking water will also help you feel full more quickly. We’ll discuss that next.
Make Sure You’re Drinking Enough Water
One of the interesting things about hunger and thirst is that they cause similar sensations in the body even though they’re not the same. The similarity causes some people to interpret thirst as hunger, and they end up overeating as a result. Although there’s nothing wrong with listening to your body and having some food after a workout, there’s no doubt that you lost plenty of water through sweat during your session and will have a good amount of fluid that you need to replace. You’ll probably need to replenish some lost electrolytes as well, which is one reason why sports drinks are useful.
In short, do have some food if you’re hungry after a workout – but make sure that you’re drinking enough water as well. In addition to staving off dehydration, the water will fill some of the empty space in your stomach. It’ll also cause some of the food that you’ve eaten to expand, helping you feel full longer.
Keep Your Mouth Busy Without the Calories
As we’ve discussed in this article, it’s not unusual to feel extremely hungry after a workout because exercising depletes your body’s short-term glycogen stores. Your body wants to replenish the glycogen as quickly as possible to provide fuel for the rest of the day, so there’s a strong temptation to overeat.
If you’ve been working out for a while with the goal of losing weight and find that you aren’t making much progress, it would be a very good idea to examine your post-workout snacks or meals and confirm that you’re actually making the right food choices. More importantly, you should make sure that you’re not consuming more calories than you need. If you have a tendency to overeat after workouts, try planning your meals more carefully to ensure that you’re eating a reasonable number of calories – and if you don’t feel satisfied, look for some calorie-free or low-calorie ways to keep your mouth busy. Here are a few possible options.
- Chew some sugar-free gum. It’ll keep your mouth busy and clean your teeth at the same time.
- If you’re a nicotine user, sit down for a vape and enjoy some tasty Raz flavors.
- If you don’t like gum, try a sugar-free lollipop instead.
- Munch on some carrots and celery sticks. There’s a good reason why these foods are staples for dieters – they’re low in calories and take a bit of time to eat. They also contain plenty of water, which can help you feel satiated. Need a dip? Try something like hummus, which is high in protein and low in fat compared to traditional veggie dips.
Work Out Before Bed and Go to Sleep Afterwards
If you have difficulty feeling satiated and managing your calorie consumption after a workout regardless of what you do, it might be time for a change in strategy. Try working out right before bedtime. After making sure that you’ve replenished the lost water and taken care of your basic nutritional needs, go to bed. You’ll wake up ravenous, of course – but that’s actually a good thing. Eating your biggest meal of the day in the morning helps to promote weight loss. It also reduces your risk of heart disease and diabetes compared to piling on the calories late at night.