I always get a monster appetite after exercise, could just be conditioning. Sample size of one.
I can easily not eat for three hours after exercise. Actually, I experience no hunger at all.
Could just be conditioning. Sample size of one.
I found that I recover from quite intensive sets faster when training fasted. The decline in performance I experience can be explained by my age and, frankly, that I do not exercise regularly enough.
When I switched over to cycling, anywhere from 150-250 miles a week, my appetite went through the roof, and I just inhale food constantly.
As an aside, I found my tastebuds get extremely, extremely sensitive right after a spirited bike ride. Sometimes things I thought that tasted pretty good suddenly had certain flavor profiles ultra amplified and overpowering. Other times, food & drink that tasted weird would become absolutely delicious. But even an hour later, after satiating the post-bike-ride appetite, that very same food or drink could taste significantly different. Like Sierra Nevada's Hazy Little Thing IPA, man, it can taste like 2 vastly different beers. Doesn't make me wanna become a foodie per se but it does make me think that my body craves and rewards me for eating after a spirited ride.
I believe this could be the main reason why its almost impossible to eat at a caloric defecit (with surplus protein) and train anabolically at the same time. Some people are able to do that, it's just very rare.
Heavy weights induces a deep visceral hunger that I can only describe as the hunger that you feel when your body is depleted and is starting to burn fat stores. It’s different to the usual hunger pangs. Anyone else felt it? It makes me double over sometimes and I completely lose track of what I was doing whenever I get those pangs. I almost always follow up with a heavy meal.
I'm not sure it has anything to do with burning fat stores though, because I don't get the same feeling after say, a 3-day water fast. At that point I'm definitely hungry, but don't have the same insatiable food craving.
In fact, when I was experimenting with extended fasting, the only reason I stopped at 3 days is because I was lifting lighter weights every day and hit a point where my strength was physically depleted. I could only do about 3 reps instead of finding 15+ easy. Hunger wasn't really a problem after the first day of getting used to it.
But when I walk in the mountains for full days (8-12 hours per day), I don't have much of an appetite, especially after two days. I almost have to force myself to eat a real lunch and dinner, though I tend to frequently eat small quantities of dried fruits.
Do you exercise regularly? If so how does your appetite feel between sessions (while youre recovered)?