Lifting weights and hunger

V

Venus

Cathlete
Cathe or anyone,

I'm coming off a 2-3 month weight lifting hiatus to let some tendon injuries fully heal. I've been lifting again for 3 weeks, working up slowly. I have noticed an increase in my appetite. While I wasn't lifting weights I was still doing 1-2 hours of cardio 5-6 days per week. I've cut back slightly on the cardio to fit the weights back in and I'm technically burning less calories now (1 hour of weights burns less while I'm doing it than 1 hour of cardio in most cases).

Is the hunger just due to the change in the routine? To the building back up of the muscle? I've lost a lot of weight in the last 2 years (80 lbs.) but still have 32 lbs. to go and due to my increased appetite (and subsequent increased eating) my weightloss has slowed down (I don't think it's due to gaining muscle, I don't gain it that fast). Any tips for dealing with the hunger besides the regular eat healthy unprocessed foods and drink lots of water and eat frequently? I'm trying to do all of those but still hungry.

Thanks!
 
Hi Venus--I'm not Cathe but.....

Heck yeah! I do think weight training increases appetite. I know after my leg workout I could eat a horse! After cardio I'm hungry but not to the point of passing out w/o shoving food down my pie hole.

By the way, congratulations on your progress, it's really incredible! You should feel great about yourself!
 
Venus, After I've done a real intense heavy lifting workout (esp. legs), I sometimes feel like getting sick ~ but after that feeling passes I am starving!! I'll make a lower calorie, high protein shake followed by a glass of water about one hour before I eat breakfast (or my next meal).
Cardio seems to have little or no effect on my appetite.
Susan C.M.:D
 
i get hungrier when i workout/ride my bike! it makes sense.. you are burning more calories and your body wants to be replenished!
 
I am mildly hungry after I run, even after a long run of 12-15 miles. However, if I am lifting for strength building, I become ravenous.
 
The reason for the hunger is the increase of metabolism. Lifting weights builds muscles. In order to survive and grow, muscles need lots of fuel. A pound of muscle burns up to 50 extra calories per day just to sustain itself. Just imagine if you have 8lb of lean muscle mass. That's a whopping 400 calories burned per day WITHOUT CARDIO. While it is true that doing cardio burns fat during the session itself, lifting weights will enable our bodies to burn calories all day long! As a result of this, the metabolic rate is raised ... and that explains the hunger.
 
Hi,
The estimate of number of calories burned per lb of muscle at rest has been dropped over the past two years. It is now estimated to be only 5-10 calories more per day than fat. There was a thread here about 6 weeks ago with reference links. I agree you need fuel to build muscle but the estimate of the amount of muscle that the average woman can put on is also low. About 1 lb evry 4-6weeks if you are training hard. The rate then drops off significantly after a few months. Steriod chicks who lift heavily were estimated to only put on about 11 lbs muscle in total. Average women who don't do steroids and don't lift as seriously as these women can only hope for several pounds gain in muscle in total. It has been demonstrated that your metabolism goes up more after a weightlifting session than it does with moderate cardio but the total calorie burn including the workout and post workout burn is higher with cardio.
 
That's funny. Three months ago I weighed at 116lb, and now I am 124lbs. I didn't change my diet. The only thing I did change was that I lifted heavy weights in the 4-6 rep per set range (one body part per week), decrease my cardio to 3x a week, and increased my protein intake. If anything I got smaller and my pants are looser. To say that my 8lb gain is water weight is not justified because I was not bloating when I weighed myself. And I'm not on steroids.
 
Well first thing you should do is get off the "scale mentality" and throw you scale in the dumpster. Your weightloss is going to slow down simply because you are adding muscle to your body. Muscle weighs more than fat. So I would use another gauge for your progress, like clothing size for instance.
The fact that you are building some muscle on your body is probably why you are more hungry. Having more muscle on your body means your metabolism will be higher all the time than it was when you had less muscle. After 3 weeks of regular lifting I guarantee you have added some muscle, or at least started the molecular changes in your muscles that will lead to growth, even if you think otherwise. The trick is to find a way to add muscle and satisfy your hunger by eating more healthy so that you maintain that muscle without gaining back the fat. I do think eating six smaller meals a day, healthy stuff, might help keep hunger pangs away...
As a side note, any reason why you do so much cardio? If you enjoy 2 hours a day that's great but that is really alot of unnecessary cardio you have going there.
Good luck!
T. :)
 
Hi Faie,
If in fact you have put on 8lbs of muscle in 3 months, an average of more than 2.5 lbs muscle every 4 weeks, you are an extraordinary woman.Your clothes shouldn't be getting looser however unless you are also losing non-muscle tissue weight as those 8lbs of muscle have to go somewhere. In this instance you would be putting on muscle at an even higher rate. I have included a link for you to look at. The typical woman does gain only about 1 lb of muscle every 4/6 weeks at the beginning of training. The rate drops significantly after several months of training. The claorie burn estimates for muscle, as I have posted above have been dropped significantly. Due to your 8 lb weight gain, you are probably burining bewteen 100 and 160 extra calories/day depending on the percentage of lean mass in that extra 8lbs and assuming you are moderately to very active. The best way to measure muscle gain is underwater weighing but this is very inconvenient. I have done this and know that I have put on only between 4 and 5 lbs of muscle and lost 16 lbs of fat over the last 16 months and I work out hard and lift primariliy slow and heavy and do alot of cardio and interval training. I didn't change my diet much. Calipers are also good as is body measuring.http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living/health/4747575.htm?1c

Cathy
 
Cathy.......

what's your cardio work like in a given week? Congrats on using intervals. They really do the job don't they?
T. :)
 
Thanks everyone for your input!

Trevor, I said 1-2 hours a day. The 2 hour days are either: a long single-track mountain bike ride with my mtb club (once out there I just have fun and stay as long as I can) or a day I did 1 hour cardio in the morning, then a friend asks me to bike ride or hike after work and I want to go. So I'm not grinding out 2 hours just because I'm sadistic, usually 2-3 days a week it just happens more for fun than anything. The other days are just 1 hour or sometimes even 40 mins. What I have done to cut back is do most of my cardio after work...that way if something "fun" comes up that becomes my workout instead of doing cardio twice. :) I've been lifting in the mornings which seems to be working out well so far. Some weeks I have to shift things around but I'm trying to keep it fairly consistent.

I wish I could throw out my scale but it's hard for me. :) I did take your advice and mesure though and I've lost inches in all the places I measured since the last time I measured (probably a month or more ago), so that was encouraging! First time I've seen my waist at 29" since I was 20 (I'm 34 next month). :)
 
Keep up the good work, you definitely are going in the right direction! You should be very proud of yourself.
T. :)
 
Hi Venus!
I wanted to share something I've learned about exercise & food that you might find interesting.Also, remember that when we use weights, we are tearing down muscle tissue, so to rebuild it, our bodies require protein. We get increased appetites b/c our bodies need to rebuild that muscle tissue. (I hope you find this information useful!)
_______________

"From an engineering perspective, human beings were designed to be lean, to minimize loads on the body's weight-bearing structures and joints and to minimize circulation restrictions. The fundamental fuel available to humans is designed to ensure that humans remain lean.

Unprocessed human food is mainly high in bulk and low in energy. In addition, it has high ratios of fiber, vitamins, and minerals to energy, thereby satisfying nutritional as well as leanness requirements. The human body has built-in governors to limit the amount of unprocessed food that can be ingested, starting with taste limitations for high volumes of unprocessed food.

All food processing has the effect of artificially stimulating the appetite, allowing more food to be ingested than the body's natural governors would allow, and thereby increasing energy consumption beyond functional requirements. Most low-energy and low-volume processed-food diets do not work in the long term, because the low amounts of processed food lead to a stimulated appetite and unnatural feelings of food deprivation."(Dr. Mercola)
__________________

Deanna
 
RE: Cathy.......

Yes. Intervals are great. I do interval training 2-3 times a week and less intense cardio 2-3 x a week. If I do intervals 3x a week than I do regular crdio only 2x that week so I am doing some form of cardio 5x/week. My total time working out is only about 5.5 -6 hours a week counting lifting but it has worked quite well for me and capacity for cardio has gone up ...I think due to the interval training.:)
 
Thanks for the great information. I know how important protein is for lifting weights, but what can be substituted for red meat, chicken, turkey, etc. I have fibroids and red meat and chicken make fibroids grow. What are some good substitutes for red meat and chicken. I know I will get a lot of responses, because people on this site are very educated.
 
A few suggestions for protein...

eggs (can use only whites)
lentils
dried beans & peas
nuts
fish
dairy products like cheese)
peanut butter


Does that help?
 
Venus, are you taking care of your pre-ride, during ride & post-ride fueling needs? I know from experience that if I don't fuel adequately for endurance work, that the appetite rages later. It's usually less of a question of total calories but timing of calories. I'm sure your mtb club members can be a great resource of information.

Debra
 
Yes, I fuel adequately for the rides, I have to or I bonk. I was fine appetite-wise until I added the weight lifting back in. I had lifted weights for over a year seriously, then had to stop 2-3 months due to tendon injuries and recently added it back. I was doing cardio the entire time and did not notice this hunger. I was suprised since I'm actually burning less calories now than I was doing cardio only. For me cardio seems to supress my appetite to a point and weight lifting seems to stimulate it (or as some have pointed out I wasn't eating the RIGHT things to fuel it). I'll try working more protein back in and see how it goes.
 
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