Z2 riding can actually tamp down hunger?

Nutrition
1

Yesterday I was feeling a little hungry before getting on the bike for a Z2 ride, and I found it actually nuked my hunger. I wonder if maybe this isn’t because a bit of relatively light exercise liberates fat stores into the blood stream?

Has anyone else experienced this?

I have heard that high intensity workouts can make you want to not eat for a while, but this is probably a different mechanism entirely.

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2

I’m the opposite. Z2 rides make me want to eat all day long.

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Let me be more specific. Lowish, relatively short Z2 rides.

I had actually just eaten, but was still feeling a bit hungry when I got on the bike.

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4

Same. I always have the biggest appetite after Z2.

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5

Possible explanation…Blood is directed away from the GI tract during exercise.

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So maybe it is actually the same mechanism?

OTOH, after doing a mid-volume SST base block, Z2 now feels almost too easy… Almost wonder how much blood would actually be getting diverted.

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I had actually just eaten, but was still feeling a bit hungry

In my case, this would have just been caused by boredom.

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It was caused by a calorie deficit and a particularly low-volume meal.

I have certainly also had Z2 make me ravenously hungry with enough volume, but I don’t usually get on the bike while hungry.

I welcome everyone to try it as an experiment. Let’s get some data. Ok, anecdotes, really…

9

I am almost never hungry after a ride or training session. The longer/harder the ride, the less I have appetite to eat afterwards. After my long saturday rides, I typically force down a recovery drink, lay down for a bit (sometimes a nap), and then have a meal a couple hours after the ride is over (and that is still a bit forced). The next day, I’m looking to eat everything. After a long endurance race, it can be 4-5 hours before any food is appealing. It makes me the anti-social one on my cycling team since many of my teammates will grab lunch at the end of a long ride. Before a ride/race, I can eat anything and usually not have any stomach issues. Exception - a really hard crit in the heat one time where I got to re-swallow a bit of greasy taco that I wasn’t expecting.

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30893893/

This review explains the hormonal basis for exercise suppressing appetite.

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For me (n=1):

  • Z2 makes me hungry, on the bike and immediately after
  • Higher intensity (intervals/race) supresses my hunger signals on the bike and make me literally sick at the thought of food immediately after the ride. Hunger shows up after a few hours…
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Boredom usually makes me hungry when I’m out on the bike even Z2 it takes my mind of it. If a ride is too long/intense though my body craves stuff on return or the day after :joy:

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For shorter Z2 rides I try and time them so I finish when it time to eat anyway :grin:

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