Evening all,

I’ve been finding recently that when I get back from a decent ride (3.5-5hrs) I can’t stop eating for about 24 hours afterwards.

I never used to get this hunger to this degree..

I’m conscious I’m trying to get my weight down for improved climbing so trying not to eat the wrong things.

Anyone else find this and more importantly why has this insatiable post ride hunger suddenly started?

mmm pork scratchings.

Yep me too. Major munchies. I try to have a good feed of something healthy but it is hard not to just snack on crap.

are you eating enough on the ride? recovery food meal?

I get this if i under eat on a ride – ravenous the next day.

Fuel the ride properly and it’s fine.

Drink.

IME the body often sends “hungry” signals when it’s thirsty.

Try drinking more water after instead. I read somewhere sometimes your body thinks it’s hungry but really it’s thirsty instead (or did I dream that?!?)

Yeh I think I’m eating enough. I try and get something every 90 mins or so. On a 5 hour ride I’ll usually eat twice.

I’ve lost about a stone in the last 6 months and I’m wandering if reduced body fat might be contributing.

I’ll try more water but I don’t think it’s that. I tend to have a pint of water with an electrolyte tab as soon as I get home then a further pint across the next hour. Always drink plenty throughout the day too and have about 3/4 of a pint of water before bed every night.

I am reading an excellent book on weight loss when endurance training (or doing over 5-7 hours a week exercise). The author presents convincing evidence that, whereas for a couch potato trying to lose weight cutting down on carbs may be the answer due to their significantly reduced carbohydrate need, for people who are doing a high volume of exercise their carb intake should be around 50% of their diet. It’s always about total calories so overeating will still be a problem but you will be so hungry due to the massive calorie deficit you build up and it’s important you take in the right type of nutrition to feed your body. There is a guilt amongst everyone now for eating carbs but this is a false evil. Obviously this doesn’t mean spooning a pot of Ben & Jerries daily but it does mean you should eat to fit your output.

Perfectly normal, and when doing 4-5 sessions a week becomes always hungry.
I wouldn’t let it worry you unless you start getting fat.

I would however say only eating twice on a 5hr ride doesn’t seem enough. Aim for 250-300kcal/hr and a recovery drink/meal asap when finished.

Name the book please.

‘I only smoke after sex. Of course, back home I’m a twenty a day man.’

Juat to put Speedstars comment into perspective after a long ride I can eat up to 3500cals in a day and still be in deficit. If like some people you’re limiting yourself to 1800cals a day you need to take into account the Net average calorie balance.

If it was me I’d try drinking a bit more to see if that helps, and if still hungry I’d probably carry on eating.

When I was always cycling I was always eating, and I wasn’t tubby.

If it bothers you, perhaps try eating more before and after a cycle, and then see if you’re still eating as much during the next 24hrs?

I tend to have a pint of water with an electrolyte tab as soon as I get home then a further pint across the next hour.

I assume you’re also eating when you get home? I make a homemade chocolate milkshake within 20 mins of getting home – just 300ml of semi-skimmed and a couple of dessert spoons of Cadbury’s Chocolate Powder – to get my fill of protein and sugar as immediate post-recovery.

I’ll then do an hour of stretches and then eat – scrambled eggs or something similar. Maybe a bowl of cereal if I’m still hungry. That seems to sort me out.

If I think I’m going to still be hungry at work the next day – if it was a particularly tough ride for e.g. then I’ll make a bag of nuts and raisins to keep hunger at bay.

Name the book please.

Hi Rone. It’s called “Racing Weight” by Matt Fitzgerald. I think I can definitely identify where I have sometimes gone wrong in my nutrition.

To second others, Big rides use huge numbers of calories and you need to be careful you don’t go too low when replacing them as this may lead to poor adaptation. The type of nutrition you eat is very important though and the above book emphasises the need to replace bad habits with good ones. For example i’ve switched to >80% dark chocolate for snacks which is an improvement on buying a toblerone on the way back from Inners and stuffing it down my gob before I get home 😀

Done the my fitness pal and decent exercise hr monitor route? Work out what’s going outnand what’s going in.

Thanks. Looks interesting.

I’m trying a cyclists diet at the moment, finding it quite difficult to hit the macros required.

Myfitnesspal is set to 50% carb, 30%fat, 20% protein.

One thing I have noticed is carbing up before and after a ride/race keeps the hunger at bay. 3 hours before a race, or 1-2 hours before a long ride I’ll have a big bowl of proats (150g oats, 30g protein powder). I have a carb/energy drink on the bike and on returning home I have a protein shake when I get in followed by a couple of potatoes with beans.

I used to get the same thing and found that a recovery drink straight after exercise went a long way to preventing it.

As above, doesn’t need to be fancy. Some chocolate nesquik will have a good protein/carb mix.

Thanks for the input so far folks. Can’t say I’m not doing any of the above though.

I tend to have a fry up before a big ride (I find carb only breakfasts go through me too quick and having some slower release fat and protein with carbs keeps me fuller for longer).

Then about 2 hours into a ride I’ll have a jam and peanut butter sandwich with a tracker bar. Then about 1hr30 after that I’ll have a bar and a banana. Usually gets me through about 5 hours that way.

Then when I get home I have 4 egg whites in a smoothie with banana and almond milk (I can’t do dairy due to gut issues so whey protein is out).

Then a decent meal within an hour of that smoothie usually too.

What I can’t get my head around is why I’m getting it worse than I used to? Could it be to do with my weight loss?