General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Really really hungry after swimming? Rss Feed  
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2009-08-04 3:08 PM

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Subject: Really really hungry after swimming?

I just got back from swimming and, as always, I'm starving.  It doesn't matter if I go right after I eat, or 5 hours after, I'm always starving.  I can't imagine that I'm working any harder than I would running or biking.  Why does this happen?  Does anyone have any other sports where this happens to them? 



2009-08-04 3:12 PM
in reply to: #2327748

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over a barrier
Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
Yes. Swimming is hard work. I'm always hungry after runs and rides too

In HighSchool after practice, I'd stop at Mickey D's eat a value meal then go home and eat dinner wit the fam. Good times....
2009-08-04 3:17 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
Something about the cooler temperatures of the water makes me hungry, too.  Here's one explanation:

Essentially, your body wants you to eat to help it warm up. By chowing down on food, the body literally burns through energy to digest the intake and metabolize it into a form your body can use or store. And as a result, your body's core temperature naturally increases. Until you reach a nice and comfy body temp, your body will shoot "I'm hungry" messages to your brain which, in turn, will have you reaching for a cinnamon roll. Intellectually, you know you don't need that baked good, but that's not the message your stomach's telling you.  (By Alicia Kendig, CTS Sports Dietitian)

eta: spelling errors



Edited by tmueller 2009-08-04 3:19 PM
2009-08-04 3:21 PM
in reply to: #2327748

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Pro
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
Always starving after swimming...

I can be kinda hungry after a 2 hour run, but RAVENOUS after a 45 min swim !
2009-08-04 3:23 PM
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Champion
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?

Yup, I usually have a breakfast bar or granola bar after swimming even though I eat my regular breakfast (which normally gets me through to lunch) before I swim. 

2009-08-04 3:33 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
Definitely happens to me more so after a swim than either a bike or run.  Half a box of Cheez-It's seems to do the trick. 


2009-08-04 3:57 PM
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Master
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I think swimming is a terrible weight loss / maintenance sport. The hunger it causes is way out of proportion ot the calories burned. That's my experience anyway! Glad I can bike and run, too :-)
2009-08-04 4:09 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
Yeah I usually eat a little something when I get down swimming too.
2009-08-04 4:25 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I was STARVING after swimming yesterday in a lake here. It was 110F at the time. My core was NOT cool. hehe.
2009-08-04 4:29 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I'm a 6 am swimmer three days a week. Usually I start off w/ either a power bar or toast/muffin with pb and hunny before the swim, then destroy a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oat right after. If I had to wait until lunch to eat again my stomach would swallow my head and digest it.
2009-08-04 4:35 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?

jammers - 2009-08-04 3:33 PM Definitely happens to me more so after a swim than either a bike or run.  Half a box of Cheez-It's seems to do the trick. 

X2!!!!!



2009-08-04 5:07 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I wake up in between 12 and 2 every morning, wander downstairs like a zombie - conscious of what I'm doing but completely apathetic - and demolish a lot of food... cheese, chips, lunch meat... anything I can get my hands on.  I notice that my muscles recover faster from it!  And I also notice that there are more wrappers in the morning after swimming days.

I do all of my workouts around 7-8pm at night... still in "college" mode I guess, unable to make my legs work normally at 430AM. 
2009-08-04 5:50 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I've found that if I jump in the hot tub and warm up for a few minutes after my swim, it seems to help with the craving to eat everything in sight!
2009-08-04 6:19 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
PDX_Tri_Girl - 2009-08-04 6:50 PM I've found that if I jump in the hot tub and warm up for a few minutes after my swim, it seems to help with the craving to eat everything in sight!


I find if I jump in to a hot tub after a swim it completely exhausts me.  I love hot tubs, just not after a good work-out.

Many people underestimate a swim.  Unlike running and biking, it's a full body work-out.  I'm not saying you don't use muscles in the other two, but no where near the full body work-out a swim gives you.  In a pool you don't notice sweat.  You keep cooler due to the water.

I too will be completely starved sometimes after a good swim but will rarely be the least bit hungry after a ride or run.
2009-08-04 6:22 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
after high school swim practice my mom would typically have a whole box 'o hamburger helper ready for me when I got home from the late activity bus home.

I could mostly finish it all off.
2009-08-04 6:26 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
yep, I'm ALWAYS hungry after doing a cold swim


2009-08-04 6:31 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
STARVING after any kind of swim. Even when I was a kid, there's hungry and then there's swimming hungry. After swimming in salt water, food really seems to taste better for some reason.
2009-08-04 7:06 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I'm hungry after a swim, too.  But then again, I'm also hungry before a swim.  And during a swim.  And when I wake up in the morning.  And when I go to bed at night, or walk through an open door, or walk the dog, or play my guitar...  In fact, the only time I'm not hungry is after a meal.  No, scratch that.  I just ate dinner and I'm still hungry.
2009-08-04 7:19 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
As long as I am doing a good job with a balanced diet and eating the right carbs at the right time I do good. I mean I will be hungry after traininig but rarely starving.

You need to do a better job with your calorie intake and fuel sources (food) management; figure out how much and when to eat simple/complex carbs plus protein and fat and also take care of your fueling whiel training. Good luck.
2009-08-04 9:00 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
Kind of related but in this months Triathlete magazine (p140) it says that whilst intense exercise normally suppresses your appetite because the higher the body temp, the higher the appetite suppression.  Also affected by environmental heat. So, it says this helps explain why you may be starving after swimming, where body has been in cooler water and heart rate not so elevated

So I reckon the above, combined with the fact that you have depleted yourself of calories is why.
If you are worried about eating so much after swimming, find something with some carbs and protein and have it immediately after you get out/ home.   For me what works is a glass of chocolate milk or a yogurt (chocolate of course )

2009-08-04 10:04 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?

I  recall from back in my life guard training days that the body loses heat 25 times faster in water than in air.  Which is why we were taught to get as much of the body out of the water if you were ever shipwrecked or whatever.  Even if the air is colder than the water,  the body heat loss is much greater in water.

So it is no surprise that, after spending an hour or an hour and a half in the water that we are short of energy.  You've burned a lot of energy just to stay warm.  Amounts well above and beyond that used to propell you through the water.

At the olympics, Michael Phelps reportedly was eating 10,000 calories a day.  You sure can't burn that many exercising for 6 hours, the amount he also reporrtedly swam per day.  He had to eat that much because he was burning so much staying warm.



2009-08-04 10:25 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I am hungry, but I have a Z-bar, which is the kids version of a Cliff Bar.  I eat this in the locker room as I am changing into my run kit.  The Z-bars are 120 cals and are just enough from me.  On the way home I get a C-Milk and onion Bagel from Tim Hortons.  Before hand I have a light snack around 4am.  I usally have some fruit like berrys or vegies about a cups worth.

If I have accomplished nothing else this summer I have tried different foods and kept track of how they react and fuel me during swim/bike /run sessions.   I even kept times before started, to estimate digest time.

One thing is for sure, Lasagna and running do not mix Tongue out
2009-08-05 9:20 AM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?

Very true, particularly after a run, I am usually disinterested in eating for at least and hour or so.  Also, I have to run on pretty much an empty stomach or I feel terrible while running (been working on gels, though, and that is going well), so there is usually a period of a few hours during the middle of which I run that I'm not hungry. 

After a swim, I get quite hungry.  Last week I got home from a swim, got dinner (my husband had cooked and already eaten) and started eating.  I looked up and he was staring at me with what I call his "look of disgust".  I asked "what?"  He said, "Could you sit down and maybe use a fork and plate?"  I was standing at the kitchen counter eating a grilled zuchinni and grilled piece of marinated chicken breast off the cutting board he had used to get the food off the grill...with my hands.  Ooops! 

Slightly off subject, but even worse, I always have to pee really badly as soon as I get out of the pool.  It is immediate, as soon as I stand up and everything settles back into place after being horizontal in the water.  I must swallow a lot of water when I swim!

2009-08-05 9:29 AM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
normally my swim routines are 2000+ yrds to 3000+, after 40-60 min in the pool when i get home i am ready to devour anything.

i don't talk to anyone i don't smile, i have one thing on my mind food.  running DEFINITELY has the opposite affect on me.  biking is wierd.  1 hr ride no impact, 2 hr + ride i get hungry, but mainly on the bike i just get EXTREMELY dehydrated.  where most people diring 1 bottle for 30 miles, i will drink 2. 
2010-01-22 8:01 PM
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Subject: RE: Really really hungry after swimming?
I'm in my third week of training and so happy I found this thread. After a year on WW, I am so worried that I will start gaining weight again. I've been swimming 25 minutes or so 4-5x week and when I come home I am ravenous. I eat while I am cooking dinner! Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Bike and run do not have the same effect on me.
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