masteredog

Hi

I have a problem where I keep waking up hungry in the middle of the night and cannot get back to sleep unless I eat something. This seems to happen the more cycling I do, my stomach feels like it is burning!!

It happened a few years ago too when I was weightlifting a lot in the gym and doing cardio also.

This is unbelievably annoying and frustrating as I would really like to get trimmer! I am currently 5'10" and weigh about 13.5 stone.

I am generally not that great at cycling as I find if I try to regularly train I get tired and burnt out.

My friends tell me I need to eat more despite the fact I feel I already have quite a big appetite and eat quite a bit. If I am underfed then why is the weight not falling off??

I sometimes feel also just when I feel I am starting to get fit I'll go on a not particularly strenuous ride but I'll be doing it regularly and then boom I'll crash.

My friends who are super fit at cycling eat loads of chocolate and stuff but they are stick thin. They say they need to replace what they burn and can't get the calories otherwise.

I am wondering if I am underestimating how much I need (I don't feel like I am doing that much to warrant stuffing my face!) and becoming glycogen depleted. If anyone has seen what Michael Phelps eats it quite astonishing!

I tried low/carb caveman diet a few years ago and it knocked me on my arse for about 18 months I had chronic fatigue. This was coupled with a fatty liver, probably from getting all my calories from fat and protein. So I am not trying low carb again before it gets suggested. My liver is fine now.

Is it that glycogen depletion can happen in a matter of days yet weight loss is a long term thing??

If I cycle regularly do I need to be absolutely smashing the pasta every evening, drinking juice etc. to make sure I have enough carbs??

Machka 

You might try one of these calorie tracking websites to see how much you are currently consuming.

https://www.bikeforums.net/training-n...-websites.html

Just take the calories burned from exercise part with a grain of salt. Currently I count my calories burned by cycling as 100 for every 5 km. That seems to be working for me as I lose weight. And then I usually eat approx. half of my calories from cycling back.

10 Wheels

"If I cycle regularly do I need to be absolutely smashing the pasta every evening, drinking juice etc. to make sure I have enough carbs??"

You need to eat more to maintain the weight you now have.

JerrySTL

The burning feeling has me thinking that maybe you need a antacid tablet. Have you ever felt burning in your throat when sleeping? That could be acid reflux which is a somewhat serious medical condition. I have it.

If you are riding under 2 hours, you really shouldn't need anything but water unless you are severely restricting calorie intake or doing things like skipping breakfast before a ride.

Over 2 hours you need some carbs. I use diluted sports drinks as full strength often causes burning in me. Well over 2 hours, such as a century ride, you really need to up your calorie intake.

curlyque

Sorry about the fatty liver problem you had, but there is no proven correlation between that condition and a low carb diet.

chronic fatigue is often a symptom of fatty liver disease. Insulin resistance is associated with other medical conditions, including fatty liver

This information is readily available from any number of trusted medical sources such as the Mayo clinic.

I aint no Doc, but could be that you are developing insulin related issues?

I think a few basic blood test might be in order

Wishing you the best

masteredog

Thanks , ye I wondered if perhaps diabetes or something but had loads of tests all came back fine. As for the acid in the stomach i'm not sure, I don't normally get problems with with that during the day. This gets worse the more I train not if I go for curry! Ha and eating settles my stomach again, normally eating aggravates acid reflux.

Carbonfiberboy 

You're too heavy now - you should lose ~15 lbs. No, you don't need to eat more. You probably need to eat differently. If you drink alcohol, stop. No more than one beer or drink per week. Try eating smaller portions more frequently. Work on decreasing your portion sizes over a period of a month or so. Gradually cut back on your meals. Only eat until you don't feel starving hungry anymore, not until you're full. You want to have the feeling that you could have eaten a lot more. Don't.

Wait for 1/2 hour after a meal before you decide you really didn't get enough food. You'll probably need to have a small meal in the middle of the afternoon. That's what tea is for. We take tea at 3, though sometimes not 'till 4.

You might need to increase your protein intake a little. Eat lots of vegetables. For lunch and dinner, 1/2 your plate should be vegetables. Cutting down meal sizes will usually have the opposite effect of what you expect - you'll get less hungry, not more. If you feel hungry at bedtime, have a little protein. A glass of milk might be all it takes. I always have about 15g of whey protein in water at bedtime. Keeps me from getting hungry at night.

Go out on your bike and ride at a moderate pace for a couple hours as many times per week at you can. Do not work hard at it! Take a bottle of sports drink and a bottle of water with you. Try not to drink the sports drink, only the water. You might feel hungry after maybe 45 minutes, but try to break through that and don't eat. If you start to get really weak and dizzy, go ahead and have a few swallows of sports drink. When you get back, don't eat any carbs for a couple of hours. If you absolutely have to have something immediately, have a chicken back or some tuna. Doing this will also make you less hungry at night.

What you're trying to do is to increase you body's ability to burn fat for fuel. Once you convince it to do that, you've won the battle. It's absolutely not necessary to go on any restricted diet to do this. It's just a matter of eating a little less. Make that your lifestyle, a forever choice.

Once you can do this and feel good, you can go on longer/harder rides. With these, it's fine to eat carbs before, during, and after, pretty much all you want. However this isn't your lifestyle, it's only for longer rides.

Spld cyclist

+1 on a whey protein shake before bed. I find this blunts hunger any time of day (The same is true of other protein sources, but it's convenient and often has lower calories than the same amount of protein from milk. Calorie content depends on whether they use plain old whey, whey concentrate, or whey isolate as well as whatever else they add to the formulation).

Machka 

This is a common symptom of things like GERD and a hiatal hernia. You might get checked for those things.


But I'm serious about the calorie tracking. Find out how much you are currently eating. Get an idea of how much you are burning. Find out what you are eating and when. Log everything, drinks and all.

Then make adjustments.

BiciMan

Consider, given the workout-association you describe, the possibility that it's a hydration, not a food issue. Experiment with greater water intake throughout the day and into the evening, stopping 2 or so hours before you hit the sack. I'm guessing from all your eating experimentation that you eat well enough. The body, generally speaking, should be able to go even more than a night without food; its need for water, however, is greater. It could indeed be a dietary insufficiency or the opposite, but if you didn't hydrate it sufficiently, the body will announce its need earlier than for food, regardless of the hour. Also, possibly, and if my theory is correct, hydrating at 3:00, may be sufficient if not as gratifying. Good luck getting through and past this.

Disclaimer: not a physician nor nutritionist; simply a cyclist/athlete who's been there...

Snicklefritz

Interesting about the hydration question. I recall reading somewhere that sometimes when people feel hungry they might actually be thirsty instead. So I agree with others who say that making sure you are getting an appropriate amount of water would be a good thing to do.

As far as feeling hungry in the middle of the night, some of that could be psychological depending on whether or not you have made some big changes in your diet recently. When I got on a detox diet about a week or so ago, the first few days sucked big time!
Feeling hungry could be a real thing, but you might need to experiment a bit to figure out what works for you.

I have a smoothie for breakfast most mornings and have discovered that it sticks to my tummy for a long time. In fact I used to be tempted to snack mid morning, but feel no need to do so given how well the smoothie works. The smoothies I make have some carbs and a lot of protein. If I feel hungry in the evening I might have a small snack consisting of 2% greek yogurt, or a small amount of smoothie, say 1/2 cup or so. Or maybe 1/2 apple with some peanut butter.

Something like that might work for you depending on what else you are eating during the day.


If you tried low carb/caveman and it knocked you on your arse, @$$, tuchus, or whatever, then maybe it might help to meet with a nutritionist to get a plan going that will work for your activity level. That way you won't struggle for too long in figuring out what will work for you.

My energy level has been low this last week after starting a new exercise regimen which was way too intense at first (see my thread from last week), plus the fact I started a detox diet. The diet was successful in terms of getting me off snacks, bread, pasta, sugary things and and other stuff that make it easy to pack on weight. However, I don't think it is providing the energy I need to exercise to the extent I'm trying to. So I decided to have a nutritionist help me out. First meeting is in early May so I'll see how that goes.

Snicklefritz

Sometimes this can happen from eating foods that aren't necessarily acidic, but just don't agree with your system for whatever reason. I started having problems with that and as soon as I quit eating in the cafeteria at work, all of a sudden the problem stopped.

longe

This happens to me when I eat a big dinner, paradoxically. It can also be a sign of needing water, not food. Going to bed a little hungry is good, imo, when trying to lose weight. Try water, then if it sticks, a small spoon of peanut butter helps me get back to sleep.

LoriRose

It sounds to me like a blood sugar problem. I suffered from inexplicable hunger (that woke me up in the middle of the night too) such that I would eat and then be hungry half an hour later, like hungry as if I hadn't eaten for days. It got to be that any amount of physical activity (even brisk walking) would cause my blood sugar to drop rapidly and as a reaction (something insulin related) I would be starving. It also caused A LOT of fatigue. At its worst I would have to lie down after even just having a shower. After seeing several DRs. lots of research and multiple tests, essentially I had broken my the parts of hormonal system responsible for regulating my blood sugar by consuming too much of the wrong foods - that is, simple carbs. I went on strict no sugar, no white carb diet (including no sweet fruits or sweet veg, no potatoes, no rice, no wheat, no sweeteners, no honey, no nothing basically), for a year and a half while eating tons of fat and protein. I also had to eat approx every 2 hrs and could not do any even slightly demanding physical activity. I started to feel better after approx 6 months and eventually more and more "normal." It's now 4 years later and I still consume very little white carbs or processed sugar and my system is completely back to normal. I can go 5 hours without eating at work, then bike home 5k without incident. In sum my system is repaired. I'm not sure if this is your problem but maybe it's worth considering.

edit* I do realize that I suggested exactly what you said you would not do (low-carb), but my suggestion is not necessarily low-carb but more replacing simple carbs with complex-carbs.

531Aussie

I wake up most nights hungry, usually ~45 mins after going to sleep, even if I go to bed with food in my belly. I wouldn't say I get starving with hunger pangs, but I have cravings which are usually satisfied with a sandwich. It started about 20 years ago.

It sure makes it harder to lose weight, but it's still possible; I've just gotta plan for the extra few hundred calories that I know I'll most likely be having in the middle of the night.

I tried a few related supplements, but the only thing that works for me is eating more earlier in the day. However, it doesn't suit my cycling routine to eat a big breakfast or lunch, and I just don't like it, so I don't do it. Perhaps paradoxically, I find easier to lose or maintain weight by not eating too much earlier in the day, because I usually crave carbs after my evening ride, anyway.


the "syndrome" is associated with anxiety and depression, but I have a hunch that it's mostly to do with exercise with me