LESS Hunger (Judgement)

My running nutrition coach told me to eat like a marathoner for a least two days after my race (Moore, n.d.). I guess I thought that meant my hunger would decrease significantly thereafter. That has not been the case. Rather, despite my rapidly reduce mileage, I have been very, very hungry.

I judged my hunger as "too much," which made me feel yucky eating "so much," but then again, I hate being hungry, so I ate to satiation anyway. And so I decided my LESS this month would be to judge my hunger less, to eat intuitively, and see what happened.

My running nutrition coach told me that I needed to fuel better, and I was (Moore, n.d.). I started implementing more of her suggestions post race (to make sure that they did not upset my stomach as I finished training). I expected that increasing my consumption of things like healthy fats and more whole foods would lead to increased satiety. Not so. Even with adding in all these thngs, I still felt very hungry. And so I ate, and ate some more.

My running nutrition coach warned me that I would gain weight as I fueled better. I had already gained a bit of weight by the time of my marathon. What I didn't expect was for it to continue, at a rather rapid pace. It was fine. I could stand to gain weight. It just didn't feel good.

Instead of judging my hunger, I tried to be curious. I played around with timing of my meals, meal composition, etc. A few times, I experienced less hunger, but overall, it was high. Maybe my stomach was just used to being more full, and it needed some time to constrict back to its normal size? (How do you convince your body you no longer need as many calories after the marathon?, 2024). A few times, I tried to eat not quite to satiety, what I "used to" eat when I was running less, but that didn't feel good either. I was pretty terrified of getting an underfueling injury if I ate too little. I wanted to get back to training. So I just ate. 

I researched explanations for my hunger. I heard on a podcast (and then later read) that increased hunger, even when training less can be a result of underfueling (Alm, 2026, Senior-Runner, 2025). My nutrition coach did tell me that she thought I was underfueling, so maybe that was it. (I wasn't losing weight, so I thought I was okay. I guess not.) I read about post-race weight gain due to inflammation, but that didn't explain my hunger, or the fact that I seemed to be continuing to put on weight over a month post race (Krapcha, 2024). I saw on Reddit that weight gain is common in the back half of marathon training, and afterward (Becka_Swan, 2026). I even saw on one forum that it is normal for weight to go up for months post marathon, and then eventually stabilize (JRMischler, 2017). I assume hunger being higher would go along with that. I also saw the hypothesis that longer running efforts just made the body hang onto more to be "safe" (SpinorsSpin4, 2026). That all made sense.

In the end, I wanted to run more than I wanted to be back to my "old self," so I worked on hunger acceptance. This is not my old self. This is a new, two-marathon run body. Maybe I've gained muscle. (I did up my dumbbells to 15 pounds again, but I am still only training strength about twice a week.) (Hnatiuk, 2023; MankyPants, 2025). Maybe I've gained fat. Whichever, whatever the case, I need to honor hunger. While here at the end of the month, it has seemed to abate some, I am also returning to training more, which means I need to eat more. I said I was going to do the work to fuel better, and I guess this is all part of it. So here's not to less hunger, but to less judgement of it; to honoring it and seeing what it feeds.

References:

Alm, M. (Host). (2026, February 13). Q&A with Maddie - 24. (S2 E03) [Audio podcast episode]. Fueling forward. https://rss.com/podcasts/fuelingforwardpodcast/2545725/

[Becka_Swan]. (2026, February 26). Have done 2 marathons now - with both I lost a little bit as I started ramping up, but then when [Comment on the online forum post Have you gained or lost weight when marathon training?] Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/XXRunning/comments/1rf3225/have_you_gained_or_lost_weight_when_marathon/

Hnatiuk, S. (Host). (2023, November 11). Why you're gaining weight (despite so much running!). [Audio podcast episode]. The fuel run recover podcast. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/stephanie-hnatiuk/episodes/Why-Youre-Gaining-Weight-despite-doing-so-much-running-e27kg16

How do you convince your body you no longer need as many calories after the marathon? (2024). [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/comments/1cncxa2/how_do_you_convince_your_body_you_no_longer_need/

[JRMischler]. (2017, February 10).  I normally gain about 5 to 8 lbs in the 3 to 4 months after a marathon.  During that time [Comment on the online forum post Post-Marathon Bloat/Weight Gain]. Running ahead. https://www.runningahead.com/forums/post/1009a4b2c6754233964e5ecc838cff81

Krapcha, K. (2024, February 26). Run tri mag. https://runtrimag.com/weight-gain-after-ultramarathon/

[MankyPants]. (2025). Ha! I gained 10kg, and I’m petite. It happens. On the upside I’ve run multiple PBs during my training and [Comment on the online forum post Feeling lost after my marathon, struggling with binge eating and unsure about London next year]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/comments/1omrj9c/feeling_lost_after_my_marathon_struggling_with/

Moore, E. (n.d.). The Dietitian Runner. https://thedietitianrunner.com/

[Senior-Running]. (2025). My initial reaction here is that you're overthinking this?

You mention a difference in mileage of 25 miles in a [Comment on the online forum post Struggling with hunger after a training block]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/comments/1njbwb6/comment/nep36rs/

[SpinorsSpin4]. (2026, February 16). I gain weight when my volume gets higher too. I think when I'm consistently doing longer efforts, my body just [Comment on the online forum post Does anyone else gain weight when running more?]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultramarathon/comments/1r6fcte/does_anyone_else_gain_weight_when_running_more/