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Comment by Tenoke | Hacker News Reader

Anecdata: I'm way hungrier later in the day after exercising. If you look for reddit posts on cutting/dieting you can see a lot of people reporting that the extra food craving from exercise can frequently be bigger than what you burn with it.

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I've noticed that I'll massively overeat if I don't get enough protein, salt and nutrients. So I'll chug something isotonic and eat a bunch of protein mixed with a food-replacement powder after running and weightlifting. I end up not being hungry the rest of the day.

This is my experience. I'll swim lanes for an hour, or maybe do a 2-3hr bike ride, and afterwards I'll do a protein smoothie or maybe bacon and eggs if I haven't yet had breakfast, but overall I avoid using the exercise as an excuse to eat an "extra" meal.

Also anecdata: I'm hungry after I exercise, but this is almost entire resolved by drinking something cold with a electrolytes. A big chug of coconut water for example

Could it be an evolutionary adaptation to fight or flight? After the exercise period, the body is still in 'active' mode, so it may seem that the period to use energy is still on (hunting & fleeing, not eating). However, after this ends the body switches back into 'inactive' mode to store energy for future 'active' modes.

Weights kill hunger, especially if you eat lean protein after (a shake made with water or low-fat Quark/Kwark). You can combine it with high intensity cardio too for burning fat.

Can't wait until the toddler starts school because then I can start again.

My anecdote: type of exercise makes a huge difference. Lots of steady-state cardio makes me hungry. After several hours of boxing / Jiu Jitsu practice, I have to force myself to eat, even several hours after practice has ended.

For me, cardio-type exercises leaves me wanting to eat stupid amounts of food afterwards, but strength exercises not so much. Perhaps the triggers are more nuanced than an overarching concept of exercise?

Anecdata: im not craving sugar in the daily basis, but i have huge cravings after long-distance runnings (but no after gym).

Anecdata: I used to get food cravings after going for a run until I started to take a bottle of water with me.

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