Have you ever found it almost impossible to eat after a workout?
It may seem counterintuitive, because we would expect the body to ask for fuel after burning a decent amount of calories. However, just the smell of food or the thought of eating may make you want to throw up.
Why?
Meet the “hunger hormones”
Hormones are an extremely important part of the human body and they affect all its processes.
That includes appetite.
There are several hormones that are related to appetite and when we are working out, their levels fluctuate. Exercise can suppress the level of the appetite increasing hormone, ghrelin. When the ghrelin level is low, it simply won't send the message “It's time to eat!” to your brain.
Also another appetite-related hormone, peptide YY, is affected by working out. Peptide YY's job is to decrease appetite. When working out, peptide levels will increase and as a result, your appetite will drop.
So, the combination of decreased levels of ghrelin and increased levels of peptide YY is the reason why you may not feel like eating after a workout, even if you have just burnt a ton of energy.
Type of workout and fluctuation of hunger levels
Different types of exercises have different effects on our hormonal levels, including hunger hormones. It has been shown that vigorous workouts like sprinting, HIIT and other high intensity workouts suppress appetite more than moderate or gentle exercise.
Even though slow and steady exercising like walking or bike riding may suppress appetite, they don't do it as much as high intensity workouts do.
Also, weight training, like working out with kettlebells, sandbags, medicine balls or any other free weights or weight machines tends to suppress appetite more than weight-free workouts, like running or walking. Remember that bodyweight training is also weight training!
Does exercise-induced loss of appetite help with fat loss?
The loss of appetite usually appears right after working out. But most of us are usually able to eat after a little while. So, the short hunger suppression period is not a reason why working out helps to lose fat – we are not creating a huge caloric deficit just because of that.
The hunger comes later.
I have noticed it in myself, especially after a long (1,5+ hours) run, how the hunger can show up even way later than couple of hours. My hunger is nothing particularly unusual right after I run, but if I don't eat enough, it will catch up by the evening or by the next day – in a bad way!
Then I want to eat everything and anything in sight, and I especially crave salty foods. I have learned from my experience and in order avoid the cravings later, I usually have at least some sort of protein dense food or drink soon after my run.
Do you have to eat after a workout, even if you don't want to?
There is so much controversial information out there about the importance of eating right after working out.
In my opinion, it's absolutely individual and depends on many things: your personal preferences, what was your workout like and on when was the last time you ate before working out.
For example, if you worked out in the morning on an empty stomach, after not having eaten anything for the past 12 hours or so, it's good to get some fuel into your system as soon as you can. By the time you finish your workout, your fuel storage is pretty empty.
At least eat a high quality snack about 30 minutes after finishing your workout. Eat as soon as you can to help with muscle recovery.
But if you worked out later in the afternoon, after having had at least one or two meals earlier, I don't think that forcing yourself to eat as soon as you are finished is that important. There is still some food in your body and it's not going to go to starve immediately.
So, if you don't feel like eating immediately, that shouldn't be a problem, as long as you are having a proper meal a little later.
Also, what kind of workout did you do? If it was a high intensity workout that made you burn a ton of energy, you want to help with the muscle recovery pretty soon. Also a long run leaves you pretty depleted, so eat as soon as you can.
But if you did something fairly moderate, like walked or rode your bike for 30 minutes or did some stretching and yoga, your energy expenditure wasn't all that big and nothing bad will happen if you don't eat immediately.
What to eat post workout?
What to eat post-workout is another question that everybody seems to have their own answer for. That, too, depends on the type of workout that you did.
My workouts are mainly a good mix of cardio and strength. To build muscle, I need protein, and to recover from high intensity cardio workout, carbs. I try to incorporate both of them into my post workout meals and / or snacks.
If you don't want to eat a full meal after working out, here are some examples of smaller snacks that you could have after a workout and before eating a full meal later.
You can easily combine them and increase or decrease the amounts according to your needs.
Protein-rich snacks (calories/protein)
- 2 hard boiled eggs (140/12.5)
- Protein shake or smoothie, made of protein powder, on average (150/26)
- Half can of tuna (100/22)
- 1 slice of homemade banana bread (111/10.4)
- 1/2 cup of sliced chicken breast (105/20)
Carb-rich snacks (calories/carbs)
- 1 banana (105/27)
- 1 tbsp honey (64/17)
- 1 medium sweet potato (103/24)
- 2 tbsp raisins (66/16)
- 1/2 cup blueberries (42/11)
Exercising helps to keep the lost weight off
It's not the appetite suppressing effect of working out that helps to lose fat. The appetite will usually catch up later and we need to give our bodies back what we used through working out.
A lot of times, the fat loss is easier because of the mental shift it causes. Have you noticed that when you get on a good workout routine, you also eat better?
The opposite is true as well: When you feel lazy, sluggish and can't get up from the couch to work out, you will also more likely order pizza and have a pint of ice cream for dessert while catching up on your favorite show.
There are many studies about weight loss, showing that while exercising is not necessary to lose weight (diet matters the most!), people who worked out were more likely to keep the lost weight off than the ones who didn't exercise.
Committing to healthier lifestyle in general, making exercise a crucial part of it, definitely helps to sustain the results.
Conclusion
The main reason that eating after a workout may be hard, is that exercise creates changes in the levels of hunger increasing and hunger decreasing hormones. Loss of appetite is especially usual after doing a high intensity workouts and weight lifting exercises.
If you work out after you fasted, it's good to get some food into your system soon after your workout. If you work out after eating earlier that day and you don't feel extremely hungry, you can wait a bit longer without causing harm to your body.
Questions:
Is it hard for you to eat after a workout?
Do you still eat or wait until later?
Let me know in the comments below…
What if I want to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?
Hi Iswinar! It’s absolutely doable. Make sure you have both carbs and protein in your post-workout meal, not just protein. And be sure to get protein with every meal, because that keeps you full and helps to build muscle.
So I’m doing Brazilian jiu jitsu in the afternoon 5 days a week and 3 days cardio in the morning 15-20 min intense non stop workout. I usually eat after my workout in the morning then once before jiu jitsu for example I ate a grilled chicken salad after my first workout the a grilled chicken sandwich before the gym then after I ate a Dolce Diet BLT and I had to force myself to eat it. My question is with those 3 meals am I getting the protein I need?
Hi Dylan! I’m not exactly sure what Dolce Diet BLT is. Protein wise, you seem to get quite a bit from chicken that you’re eating. But instead of eating sandwiches twice a day, I’d skip the bread and have the same chicken with roasted veggies and some quinoa, rice or potatos.
I do 3 days running-abs and 3 days streangth training alternately.I do it just before dinner.Can you please suggest what should I include in my dinner??
Hey Rushil, thanks for your question! Definitely include both carbohydrates and protein in your post workout meal. For example, for carbs, have some potatoes or rice, and for protein, fish or other seafood, chicken or other meat. Also add some fat, maybe a 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil or 1/4-1/2 of avocado. Always have vegetables with your meal too, like a salad or steamed or roasted veggies.
But yes, in your post workout meal, the main focus should be on protein and carbs–don’t skip them!
Hope this helps! 🙂
Thnks for tips.
And as i said i do workout just before dinner. Generally it takes 9 pm to compelete my workout and i have no other time for it.
I dont feel hungry till 1-1.5 hours after workout.And i cant wait that much to take dinner.
So is it ok to have dinner if i dont feel hungry..??
whn i said i cant wait tht much it meant i shound not wait that much till 10 pm to take dinner.
Hey! Yes, that can get pretty late. But I wouldn’t go to bed without eating anything at all. Have at least a snack with protein and carbs in it. Maybe a bowl of Greek yogurt with a banana, or some hard boiled eggs and fruit, like blueberries or banana?
I usually do my workout an hour + before dinner. I do about half hour of HIIT daily 6 days a week and I usually feel dehydrated and not hungry at all. I dont even want to look at food.
Hey Leen! It’s totally normal that you don’t want to eat right after workout, because HIIT suppresses appetite for some time. As long as you have your food later, you’re good. It doesn’t have to be right after finishing your workout.
Hi Kersten!
I have just discovered your website and I’m fascinated. I am a collegiate rower and we have practice 1-2 times a day 6 days a week for about 2hrs each…a lot of work. While there are some days I am craving a meal after practice, more often than not I am not hungry at all because of a high intensity cardio or lifting, as your description supports. There are also times where I think I am just so hungry that I feel sick and don’t want to eat anything for a while after practice. It isn’t until lunch or dinner where I feel the need to refuel. I also have struggled with my weight my whole life ad now that I;m seeing huge differences in my body and my strength I think part of me is worried I won’t continue to get fitter by eating. I know this is not true but, it is for sure mental. Any advice for going about keeping my nutrition at its best during training season (All year round basically)?
Thank you!
Hey Meghan! Your workouts are really intense, so it’s a good idea to eat as soon as you’re able to. Don’t force a large meal if you can’t right away, but maybe just a snack or smoothie right after your practice and then something more substantial an hour or so later?
You know, I wouldn’t be afraid to lose your fitness by eating more. If you want stronger body, more muscle and most importantly improve your performance, you need to eat quite a bit! Mostly whole foods, of course, but some treats don’t hurt, especially with all the activity you’re doing.
I hope this helps! Let me know if I can help you 🙂
This is a great article, I’ll do a hard Crossfit workout 4 times a week and I sit down about 30 min to an hour later to eat and i’m not hungry at all, I figured it was because my core was so tight from the workout, so I force feed myself, and most of the time feel sick doing it, I see lots of people recommend a liquid meal because its easier to digest because after I have no issue drinking a post workout supplement but yeah your article was eye opening.
Hey Kelly! Thanks, I’m glad it was helpful! I think if you feel absolutely sick after a hard CF workout, there’s no need to force food down that hard. Sounds like liquid calories work for you, so do that as soon as your body feels it can take it.
I work out in the morning as soon as I get up. then by the time I am done working out and get to work, I am not hungry. I get up about 5:30, get to the gym by 6:20. off to work and it is close to 9:00 AM and I still have not eaten anything since I woke up. I do make a cup of coffee once I am at work, but then that’s eat. I usually will eat something by 9:30. but I have lunch at 11:00, snack all day, and by the time I get home, I want to eat everything, but I do not know how to make myself eat something in the morning if I am just not hungry.
Hi April! It sounds way too long without food to me… I would try to eat something about an hour after you finish working out. You didn’t mention anything about your workouts or recovery and maybe they are okay, but I believe they would be better if you didn’t wait so long after finishing your workout.
I have been working out consistently for 2 decades. Now that I am in my mid-40s, I’m finding it really hard to eat after workouts, especially after long runs – so much so that I feel sick. How can I change this? I ran 13 miles this morning and am trying to force down eggs and toast for lunch (breakfast was yogurt and granola, also a struggle) while fighting a huge headache.
Hi Michelle!
How is your daily calorie intake? Are you eating enough to support your long runs? Many women tend to eat way too little which is causing them fatigue and headaches when working out (and other times too).
I don’t know how frequently you train, but if you do this long runs often, are you getting enough recovery time between them? That means some full days off and really good sleep, 7.5-8 hours per night.
Of course, hydration is also important but I do believe that you already do that.
You cannot lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Anyone who tells you that you can is full of it.
To get rid of things you need to be in a caloric deficit, to build something you need to be in a surplus.
That is why you are either gaining, maintaining, or cutting. You cannot mix any of the two. To grow size, you will get fat… To get rid of fat you will lose muscle.