Can we explain that ravenous hunger we experience post diet? You’ve just finished your competition prep. For some that was an intense 12 weeks, for some a gruelling 25 week slog. Regardless, fat levels were dropping because calories were in a deficit and activity was high. You were hungry, yes, but were you this hungry? Post show hunger is something else right!? You’re eating more food now than you were before, yet you never feel full or satisfied. This can be a recipe for disaster when you no longer have the threat of stage over your head. I’m hungry, I’m not on prep anymore, I’ll eat. Eat, still hungry, in fact, eating has made you feel even hungrier! So you eat some more, and so on. Why does this occur? There are lots of psychological factors of course. With prep over, the will power may simply have lapsed. During prep you don’t “listen to your body” as you are following a plan, if you’re hungry then so what? If you’ve eaten your set food and done your set exercise then you get on and deal. Post show this can be different as we allow ourselves to be a bit more relaxed and try to tune back into our bodies. However, there is also a biochemical explanation why this is not as easy as it sounds. Meet Leptin and Ghrelin. In simple terms, Leptin is the hormone that tells you that you are full. It is produced by adipose (fat) cells and increases in line with insulin, usually after a meal. It is suppressed on a chronic level by physical exercise and intake of triglycerides and glucose can dampen its action. Thus, when you’ve eaten, it’s this guy that tells you to stop. You’re full thank you very much.
In contrast, Ghrelin is the hunger hormone. Ghrelin is produced in the stomach and the less you eat, the more you produce. Studies have shown that patients with Anorexia have higher baseline levels of Ghrelin. So what does this mean post show? Basically, you have less Leptin going around with lower fat levels and high levels of exercise so the “you’re full” signal is somewhat poor. Couple this with raised Ghrelin from weeks of deficit and you’re fighting a losing battle.
The risk here is rapid fat gain. Return of Leptin with the return of the fat will sort it out right? Wrong. Your body becomes overwhelmed with the Leptin produced and becomes resistant, switching off. Again, unopposed hunger! This little nugget of science here is the reason you can’t just abandon your coach post show. I’m a huge advocate for listening to your body but unfortunately in this case, you can’t.
What can we do then? Set goals, recognise the hunger, accept that no amount of food (“clean” or “unclean”) may satiate you until they dust settles. If you’ve had a coach for your prep, I can’t emphasise enough the importance of staying with them if you can. A lot of people will agree that actually this phase is more difficult than contest prep as you don’t have those clear parameters and the freedom can be daunting. Although autonomy is important, full autonomy may lead to trouble as it can be very conflicting when you feel like you should be able to be more relaxed but also want to eat the world!
The time it takes to re-establish these hormones will vary from person to person and it will also depend on your approach post show. If you get back to maintenance quickly, this may help to reset faster, otherwise you are prolonging the diet and the hormonal axis remains offset. However, listen to your coach, they know you and they can work with you knowing what you will and won’t find acceptable in this fragile phase.
I hope that further understanding of why you feel as you do may help acceptance and to aid in making more informed choices regarding your hunger.
Dr Stephanie Hill BSc MBBS
