Why does eating after a long workout make me want to puke?

[Syringer]

Just did a 50 mile bike ride and I know I need to replenish the lost calories somehow..but whenever I try to eat a big meal after I take 2/3 bites of something and I just can't anymore and would probably puke if I did. Why does this happen?

 

[MJinZ]

Dunno, never did 50 miles of anything. I can feast on a banquet after a good weight workout.

 

[Red Dawn]

Dunno, never did 50 miles of anything. I can feast on a banquet after a good weight workout.

Your pics verify that.

 

[Syringer]

Yeah weight workouts affect me differently than cardio ones..probably in large part because the cardio ones are 5-6 times longer.

 

[MJinZ]

Your pics verify that.

I'll be sure to post a pic when I lose a few lbs just so you can't keep holding that over me

 

[Red Dawn]

Yeah weight workouts affect me differently than cardio ones..probably in large part because the cardio ones are 5-6 times longer.

Well you burn up a lot more calories.

 

[Syringer]

So..what makes me not want to eat after then?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

So..what makes me not want to eat after then?

As you start to work out, epinephrine and norepinephrine get secreted into the bloodstream, accommodating for the stress. This has system wide effects that range from increased mental acuity to increased heart rate. Other effects involve the blood vessels in the body. Those blood vessels not contained within active muscle constrict to divert blood to working muscle. The metabolites that working muscle creates allows for the blood vessels within to dilate significantly. Your gut is not very useful in exercise and the blood supply there gets cut off to a very high degree. As you try to eat after a long workout, your gut's blood supply is still very, very limited. Because of this, the gut cannot do much with the incoming food and the resulting feeling of stagnant food is nausea. On top of this, hunger signaling is inhibited during exercise. Hope this helps.

 

[edcarman]

I don't know the exact reason for it, though SC's explanation matches everythings I've heard about the blood leaving your digestive system and going elsewhere (this is also why it's not such a great idea to eat a large meal immediately before you start riding).

I also find that I don't want to eat anything solid after a long, hard ride. I have some flavoured milk (carbs, protein, fluid and electrolytes) as soon as I finish the ride. Then, by the time I've stretched and showered, I'm usually ready to eat a proper meal.

You could also drink a commercial recovery drink or a sports drink.

 

[Megatomic]

I guess I must have started off like this, but due to the exercise and competitions I do I have trained myself to eat during workouts. I have eaten sandwiches, fruit, cookies, muffins, wraps, candy, veggies, and more. I drink water, electrolyte, and soda. Nothing really goes down wrong. And 99% of the time I am ravenous when I'm done, even after running for more than 8 hours.

You just have to train yourself.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I don't know the exact reason for it, though SC's explanation matches everythings I've heard about the blood leaving your digestive system and going elsewhere (this is also why it's not such a great idea to eat a large meal immediately before you start riding).

I also find that I don't want to eat anything solid after a long, hard ride. I have some flavoured milk (carbs, protein, fluid and electrolytes) as soon as I finish the ride. Then, by the time I've stretched and showered, I'm usually ready to eat a proper meal.

You could also drink a commercial recovery drink or a sports drink.

Yep, there's also another big reason why you don't want to eat directly before max effort exercise: insulin. As you eat a meal, your insulin spikes to allow the glucose to enter your cells. The problem is that as soon as you start exercising insulin-independent glucose transporters allow glucose into the cell as well. Because the insulin-independent glucose transporters allow for sufficient glucose transport by themselves, the added glucose transporters enabled by insulin create too much influx of glucose. This results in very low glucose levels in the bloodstream and is really one of the very few cases in which healthy individuals can become hypoglycemic. When this happens, your brain and other non-exercising organs don't get enough glucose and you get very, very dumb and almost always pass out. If you're going to eat before a long workout, just wait until you're 10-15min into your actual workout to eat. Insulin response is severely blunted when exercise has already begun and the insulin-independent glucose transporters do the job.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I guess I must have started off like this, but due to the exercise and competitions I do I have trained myself to eat during workouts. I have eaten sandwiches, fruit, cookies, muffins, wraps, candy, veggies, and more. I drink water, electrolyte, and soda. Nothing really goes down wrong. And 99% of the time I am ravenous when I'm done, even after running for more than 8 hours.

You just have to train yourself.

You've trained yourself mentally and physically. As you get in better shape, you have less epinephrine/norepinephrine flowing through your blood at any relative intensity. Because of that, you get better blood flow to your skin and digestive system. With that better blood flow, you can cool yourself more effectively and you can digest food better during exercise. If you work at max effort and then try to eat something afterward, you'd still have a problem probably

 

[Megatomic]

I don't really work at 100 percent - effort, more like 80 percent. The thought of doing what I do at 100 percent is insane and I'd guess that the OP doesn't bike at max effort either. But you're probably right. As it is though I have a hard time eating/drinking when I am dehydrated. I've been caught dehydrated twice this summer, tough times.

My experience in endurance activities would have me tell the OP to do what I do. If long distance biking is his thing he needs to learn to fuel on the go. 50 miles of biking should take about 2.5 hours, he should be using GU or some kind of gel. Solid food would be overkill. But if he's gonna do century (or longer) rides he may want to consider flirting with something easy to eat like fig newtons or bananas.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I don't really work at 100 percent - effort, more like 80 percent. The thought of doing what I do at 100 percent is insane and I'd guess that the OP doesn't bike at max effort either. But you're probably right. As it is though I have a hard time eating/drinking when I am dehydrated. I've been caught dehydrated twice this summer, tough times.

My experience in endurance activities would have me tell the OP to do what I do. If long distance biking is his thing he needs to learn to fuel on the go. 50 miles of biking should take about 2.5 hours, he should be using GU or some kind of gel. Solid food would be overkill. But if he's gonna do century (or longer) rides he may want to consider flirting with something easy to eat like fig newtons or bananas.

Yeah, endurance exercises lasting more than one hour definitely require energy intake. The experienced triathletes I know really dig on juices and gels. Some of them, however, stop at the major snack stations and eat a whole meal. To each his own. But OP, definitely take heed to Megatomic's advice. Start taking in some nutrition during your rides if they're gonna last more than an hour.