When you head off to the gym to complete your workout, you are likely going so that you’ll be able to improve your overall physical and mental health and either lose or maintain weight. However, if you’re like most people, it won’t be long after your workout that your appetite will kick in and you’ll start craving foods that will work against everything that you just tried so hard to accomplish. Hunger after workouts can completely negate the work you put in at the gym.
A workout is great for you, except when it is followed by an ice cream cone and half a bag of chips! Fortunately, there are some very effective things that you can do to help you to make sure that you can keep going to the gym without eating back all of the calories that you just finished burning due to hunger after workouts!
The next time you hit the gym, banish your food cravings and eliminate hunger after workouts by using the following tips:
1. Love your workout – the less it feels like you’re pushing your way through a punishment, the less you will feel a though you want (or are entitled to) a reward afterward. If you’re having fun, then you’re less likely to feel that you deserve something special – often in the form of junk food – after you complete your exercises. Try lots of different kinds of workout until you find a few that you like the most.
2. Use interval training – instead of going at your workout full-tilt for as long as you can, or choosing a slow and steady path, mix them up. Some research from the University of Western Australia has shown that interval training makes people crave fewer calories after they’re done workouts than steady lower or higher intensity workouts.
3. Hydrate! – one of the most common causes of the feeling of hunger is actually dehydration. Therefore, throughout your workout, make sure that you are keeping your fluid levels up. You’ll discover that when you’ve had enough water during the length of your workout, you’ll crave food less afterward.
4. Wait ten minutes – sometimes these food cravings will come in bursts that will pass as long as you can wait them out. If you’re craving something sweet or fatty, wait for ten minutes. Keep yourself busy with a few yoga poses or do something else that will distract your mind. You’ll likely find that after ten minutes have passed, the craving will have eased to the point that you will be able to make some far more rational eating choices.
5. Eat before your workout – Have a healthy snack that includes carbs before your workout. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, as long as you have recently had something. Exercising on an empty stomach is one of the fastest ways to make sure that you end up in the drive-thru ordering a burger and fries on your way home from the gym.