Loss of appetite affecting training

Training
1

Weird question, and I feel like I know what answer is going to be. Or at least what the advice will be. But I was curious if anybody experienced something similar.

I’ve lost my appetite. And it’s starting to affect my training negatively because I’m under-fueling. The bad part is that I don’t know if I’m losing weight. Which would probably be really helpful. But I’ve had a bad relationship with weighing myself and my weight, so I haven’t actually weighed myself in over a year.

But here’s what’s happening. And it was actually my wife who noticed. I used to eat a lot. Like, a lot. Hence the rocky relationship with weight mentioned above. But I got into cycling and suddenly I could afford to eat a lot because I was training hard. I lost weight because I ate about the same but was exercising. Anyways, I could go for a ride and kill a 3,000 cal meal after no problem. When my wife and I moved in, she said our grocery bill was 5x what she was paying because I just ate so much. But in the last month or so, I just haven’t felt like eating. I’m not hungry. And I’m eating smaller meals. Like I said, my wife started noticing it and asking if I was still hungry or being surprised by how much leftovers we had. She looked over our grocery bill and it was the lowest it’s been in 5 years. And I don’t think groceries are getting cheaper.

So the question is, what could explain a loss of appetite? I don’t think my metabolism would shut down that fast I’m still riding 10-12 hours a week mostly Z2 right now, just having fun my TSS is down slightly but maybe 10%. My biggest fear is something sinister which is why I think a doctors appointment is in order and I’m going to start weighing myself to see if I’m losing I was thinking about a food diary but I don’t really have a comparison any other ideas?

Some really thought about it and I for sure am eating less. I had half a sandwich for lunch today (normally I’d finish it) and my wife asked what our plans were for dinner and I said I’m not hungry at all. Actually I still feel satisfied from lunch. A few days ago I ate a small salad for dinner and she thought I was having a stroke. All of this to say I don’t know why my appetite has gone down.

2

Go see your doc and get some routine tests.

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3

Good advice to start with a visit to your GP. Not dismissing you but nudging you to the most important resource first.

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4

That could be a lot of things, maybe simply over training or under fueling the carbs. Training can mess up with neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, that can both suppress hunger. But it could be something else, so better to check with the doc that everything is ok.

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5

You say you’re riding 10-12 hours of mostly Z2, but what’s your normal schedule? Obviously it’s still a decent volume but if you came from 15+ hours with a fair amount of intensity then I can see that affecting your appetite.

I sometimes find that if I drop the hours a little and drop the intensity (like a midseason break say) then I don’t eat as much. I think part of it is because I don’t have super long hard workouts that I’m prepping for so I don’t have the feeling that I need to be eating.

Also, how do you feel? You don’t mention feeling tired, it affecting your mood, sex drive, etc etc.

6

I’ve been right around 12 hours a week all year.

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The recent drop was 3+ weeks in Europe on vacation. Maybe my body is responding to that? I was doing a lot of walking but no riding so CTL dropped quite a bit. Since then I’ve been doing mostly Z2, but 1 SweetSpot workout per week.

Hmm. Maybe a slight drop in motivation but that’s fairly normal for end of season. I did a ton or racing this year so I figured it was just me getting to the end of my season. I don’t think my mood has changed much, nor has my sex drive which is why I didn’t think it was overtraining or accumulated fatigue.

7

See your doctor. It may be nothing, but there are a myriad of medical conditions that could cause this, some need diagnosing as early as possible.

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