Why You Are Hungrier On Rest Days

I have so many clients that ask me this, and I experience it myself! Here are 4 reasons why you might be hungrier on your rest days:

1: Working out can suppress your appetite

If you’re working out, it’s a physical stressor on your body. When you’re working out/after a workout, your body actually suppresses the ghrelin hormone which is the hunger hormone. Levels of the hunger-suppressing hormone (peptide YY) spike. Therefore, if you're not working out that day you might give your body more time to actually feel hungry due to not experiencing those hormonal changes.

2: You have more time in the day (due to not being at the gym for 1-2+ hours)

Again, there's more time to think about food and possibly be hungry. If you’re in the gym for 1-2 hours and the commute is 30 minutes, that’s at least 2-3 hours that you’re in a position where you can’t eat. Add that back into your day and you’re likely going to feel more inclined to eat something during those few hours.

3: You might be under-eating on your training days

This catches up to you on your rest days. If you’re working out everyday and consistently not eating enough, it’s going to catch up to you at some point during the week or in general. You’ll probably feel an insatiable hunger that won’t go away until you stuff your face with so much food that you end up feeling sick. This is why it’s important to make sure you’re eating enough calories (unless you’re in an intentional fat loss phase) so that you don’t run your body into the ground.

4: Rest days from the gym are when your body recovers/repairs/rebuilds

It's natural to feel more hungry when you're not actively using/breaking down those muscles. Your body is trying to repair itself, which requires energy from food! Muscle is an energetically expensive tissue, meaning it’s easy to lose it if you’re 1) not using it/working it often and 2) not eating enough. You’ll notice quickly if you under-eat for a while, you’ll lose muscle mass. It’s because your body doesn’t need it in the same way that it would need to store body fat. All in all, fuel up!

Do you experience this and have you always wondered why it happened? I know it can be an annoying feeling, mostly because people associate rest days with needing to eat less (BIG NO-NO).. but it's normal, don't fret. :)

I'm taking clients for 1:1 coaching as well as one-time nutrition consultations! I would love to chat with you to see if we're a good fit.