INCREASED APPETITE!!! ANYONE?

Hello Sally

I am not surprised if you are hungry. It seems you are doing a LOT of exercise. I do need to ask you: How many times per week are you going to the gym?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Sally

Your nourishment choices are completely up to you. If you’re listening to what you need then that is the best thing you can do. Raw, cooked, combination, veg, vegan, paleo, whatever labels you want or even types of eating you adopt, it really doesn’t matter. It’s completely up to you. I do recommend incorporating lots of salads! But right at the moment I don’t think that’s the issue for you. It’s just filling that hole and feeling satisfied. Many people have issues in their first weeks of practice and they do settle down in a short time. So don’t be too concerned.

Doing 5-7 classes of hot yoga per week is really a lot. If you’re also going to gym then you really are doing a lot of exercise. (Well done!)

You seem to indicate that you are not worn out but just hungry. That’s really a great sign. There are a number of things I can think of to suggest. One of those is to manage hunger with some small amount of snack (fresh fruit or vegies or nuts or something similar). I would probably choose one type of food to keep it simple. Perhaps a bag of almonds or other type of nuts with no dried fruit. Or an apple or 2. Or some carrots or something like that. If it has to be cooked food for you, then choose something completely uncomplicated that fills the space! The simpler the better. If you are at home, you could make yourself a green smoothie. Or a vegie juice.

The other thing I am thinking is this: During the first 2-3 weeks of a hot yoga practice people’s systems – in the course of heat acclimatisation – adapt to the new conditions physiologically. In the course of those first few weeks they do in fact
lose more salt than regular yogis who have been practising for longer. So what I am saying is that your systems are upset more now than they will be over the next few weeks.

Keep up the sea salt intake (even put a pinch in your water in class and your bottle during the day, with or without a drop or 2 of lemon juice if you need the flavour). The effect on your whole system may make a significant difference.

If you find that the sea salt (or commercial – aka expensive – electrolyte) that you add is not helping, then consider just for a week, give up the gym and do just the daily hot yoga. See if that makes a difference. If that doesn’t make a difference, then give up the yoga for a few days while only doing the gym and see if that does it.

Your caloric intake really does need to match your increased exercise habit. In summary: Try the simple snacks, the sea salt in the water, and if you need to, drop one of the exercise routines for a few days to see if your hunger goes back to normal. If it does, you probably are not eating enough. So add something in the interim rather than getting used to enormous meals. Large meals could be a habit that challenges your body shaping goals long term.

Some teachers are bigger than others. That’s how the world is! :cheese: It’s hard to imagine that someone doing this for ever would be overweight, but imagine we do. Some teachers teach more than they practise. It is intriguing how we can sometimes wonder about the whys and whats of so many things! We can never know anybody’s ‘story’. Heck, sometimes we don’t even know our own! Don’t be concerned. Enjoy the yoga and the way you feel more and more comfortable in your own skin, whatever shape it’s in!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂