Nauseous with hunger

I've done a few marathons, and when not training for one tend to varying fro 20 miles a week to 35. I've noticed that when I'm running nearer to 30+ miles a week I get really nauseous with hunger throughout the day.

Now I get that my mileage means I need to eat. And eat I do! But before each meal (I tend to have 3 a day, plus a mid morning snack and mid aft fruit) I feel really sick and ill with hunger. Food makes it go away.

Any ideas? Am I just eating the wrong things? Do I need to be filling up on something specific? My diet is fairly healthy. Toast, sandwich, healthy dinner (sitr fry, salad, potatoes).

Any thoughts? 

 

Comments

  • Do you have a healthy weight ? If I'm feeling hungry - I typically eat a bit more.
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    Have you tried adding a bit more protein to your diet?

    If I try to get by on just carbohydrate I get hungrier a lot faster.
  • Nick - I thought I'd get ahead of the game last night - scoffed lots of Xmas chocolate - just in case I was going to be hungry over the next week or so.
  • BookyBooky ✭✭✭

    Are you sure you're hungry? Indigestion symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for hunger - a sort of griping/achy sensation in the upper abdomen (everyone describes it differently!)

  • Sorry if this is a shock, but in my opinion, your diet is nowhere near as good as you probably think it is and a bit the wrong way round.

    General comment

    As Millsy alluded way too many simple carbohydrates, not enough protein. Far too much bread - you don't need it. Trust me that is almost certainly why you are overweight.

    Muesli or a fibrous cereal for breakfast? I also have fat-free natural yoghurt with honey.

    Main meal: middle of the day, not evening (the better supermarkets do good microwaveable ranges with balanced carbs & protein & low sugar/salt). Don't eat anything significant after 8pm if you can, certainly not after 9pm.

    Bought sandwiches from supermarkets are a big no-no. If homemade and made with wholemeal bread, can be OK, although I try and only have a couple per week.

    Fruit good if a little indigestible - cashew nuts are excellent for runners: rich in magnesium and zinc.

  • Why is fruit indigestible and why is his diet the wrong way round?  Not everyone can have their main meal in the middle of the day.

  • can't believe someone is critisise a persons diet and in the same breathe recommending a microwaveable meal....even the best of these are crap as they have added crap that you don't need...........

  • Cinders wrote (see)

    Why is fruit indigestible and why is his diet the wrong way round?

    Why? Because of most fruit's inherent fibrous structure. What I originally wrote (but had to shorten because i could not post in its entirety) is that it's not the best thing to eat before an evening run.

     Not everyone can have their main meal in the middle of the day.

     Why can't they? OK, I'm being deliberately provocative and of course i cannot speak for everyone - but a lot of people simply can't be bothered to go to a canteen and buy a hot meal, or shove a decent prepared meal in a work's kitchen microwave.

     

     

  • Also suggesting nuts without making the comment of "if you can eat nuts" as many can not eat nuts.

    I think that the suggestion to eat more protein as good one.

    I agree with Ultra Bookie as I have had times where I actually have indigestion but it feels like hunger, it is not nice and mine happens when I increase my training.

  • Seren nos

    You have fallen into the trap of lumping all microwaveable meals together. Have you actually checked the nutrition of every range from every supermarket? I assure you there are more useable calories in what I eat than any sandwich from the same store.

    I think the OP asked for advice, which is what I and other posters have provided. I think you'll find you are the one providing criticism - where is your advice to the OP?

     

  • Have you looked at the GI levels of your meals? Toast, sandwich, potatoes, all these can cause blood sugar spikes followed by drops - it might be worth swapping them for lower GI food that releases sugar into the blood steadily over the day. e.g. Oats & yoghurt instead of the toast, basmati rice or boiled pots instead of mashed or baked pots... this has a table http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/gi_diet/glycaemic_index_tables.htm but the thing is to look at the combined GI of the meal.

    +1 for a bit more protein.

    Swerving off into anecdotage - a colleague has taken to snacking on apples/pears/plums/peaches (low gi fruit) and nuts instead of the free office buns & biccies and there's not a spare ounce on him now.

  • SteadyCJ

    Erm, obviously. Maybe we shouldn't write anything, in case someone is allergic to it.

  • I'd like to hear the dietitian's view on having the main meal in the evening, because personally I see nothing wrong with it, especially considering you don't know what time of day the OP does their training.  A light lunch and healthy afternoon snacking (mainly fruit, which I don't seem to have any problem digesting), before evening training, followed immediately by a big evening meal (usually after 8pm but a few hours before I go to bed) does me fine.  Any problem with this?

  • When I was working full-time we had neither a canteen nor a microwave.  I think it's very lazy to just bung a ready meal into a microwave in either case!

    The OP also didn't say he ate fruit before his run, it was a mid aft snack!

  • PP

    Like you, I have evening training 2/3 nights per week. I rehydrate with zero tablets and have a light meal, like you between 8-8:30pm. As you imply, if you are going to have a heavy meal, you will need to be up for 2/3 hours to digest it. If you find that works for you, fine, for me it doesn't.

  • Could you be thirsty?

  • DO 262 wrote (see)
    Cinders wrote (see)

    Why is fruit indigestible and why is his diet the wrong way round?

    Why? Because of most fruit's inherent fibrous structure. What I originally wrote (but had to shorten because i could not post in its entirety) is that it's not the best thing to eat before an evening run.

     Not everyone can have their main meal in the middle of the day.

     Why can't they? OK, I'm being deliberately provocative and of course i cannot speak for everyone - but a lot of people simply can't be bothered to go to a canteen and buy a hot meal, or shove a decent prepared meal in a work's kitchen microwave.

     

     

    Why can't they?

    Because they may work in an an environment where a main meal is not accessible; where they aren't given a long enough break or their breaks fall at awkward times; or they may do shift work.

    That's three reasons right off the top of my head.

  • Another good reason - I'd much rather my main meal was one I had the means and time to prepare myself nice and fresh in my own home, rather than rely on someone else during my lunch break at work.



    DO - with respect, you're talking about your personal preferences as if they're universal laws of nutrition, which they're not.
  • My main meal is always the evening one. Its hard to grab more than a bite of lunch in work- especially when they schedule meetings around that time.
  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    My main meal is always in the evening - after training, and I eat fruit shortly before running, it gives me energy and certainly doesn't seem to interfere with running.

    I don't want to eat my main meal at lunchtime - I prefer to have it with my OH, at home, rather than sitting on my own eating a canteen meal aimed at students.

    To the OP, I'd say if you are hungry, you need to eat a bit more - protein is more 'filling' than carbs, things like canned tuna, or cold cooked chicken maybe.

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