Every time I have to stop my exercise routine for a while (e.g. due to an injury/sickness), I get massive cravings. no meal seams to suppress my appetite and crave especially for carbs.

However, when I'm able to continue by exercise routine, I find it easier to eat smaller meals and low-carb food. cravings for carbs are gone. I feel "real" hunger, and I'm satisfied after a meal.

this difference in my appetite between the "exercise mode" and "no exercise mode" is huge! I do eat a lot when exercising, but I eat because I'm hungry. when I'm not exercising, I have more or less constant craving for food, which does not feel like "real hunger".

I find it hard to believe that the way I feel when I don't exercise would be "normal" i.e. that would be the an average, non-exercising person would feel all the time..

Instead, it seems that the intense exercise routine has somehow "modified"my body so that when I stop exercising, the normal appetite/hunger mechanism gets somehow messed up.

What's going on? Has anyone else experienced the same?

will this increased appetite go away after a while? when the body has adjusted to the "no exercise" state? (haven't really tried "no exercise" longer than a month)

my experiences with intense exercise & appetite lead me to thinkin about former athletes:

I've read/heard many stories about former athletes who have gained weight after their athlete career is over.

The traditional explanation seems to be that these guys just keep eating the same way they used to eat when they were exercising and get fat because of the excess calories. or that the former athletes use food for comfort because they are depressed because their career is over.

(these are the explanations given by various doctors or experts. the attitude seems to be that its the athletes own fault that they get fat..)

I wonder if that's the whole truth... for example, why do they keep eating so much? what makes them hungry? In the light of what my experiences, I can't help thinking that perhaps their appetite mechanism is also somehow "broken"..

so here's my grim hypothesis: could it be that the intense exercise alters your body so that you have to keep exercising forever, otherwise you'll have trouble keeping thin?

and I'd be glad if the hypothesis would be proven wrong..

(about my exercise: martial arts, wrestling, gym, 3-5 times / week)

I think the athletes you are referring to just get used to eating a certain way. Of course if you continue to eat the same amount of food you ate when you were doing intense exercise, yet not exercising, you're going to gain weight.

Me personally--exercise tends to suppress my appetite.
Barring a disease state, nothing is permanent in the body. If you decrease the amount of exercise you do, you also have to take into consideration your new (lower) maintenance needs. The converse is true as well--if you increase exercise, your maintenance needs will rise.

Of course, why would you want to stop exercising? It's good for you!

Now, all joking aside, appetite regulation is still not fully understood. Google and read up on leptin, ghrelin, and some of the hormones produced by your fat tissue--it's a bodily conspiracy to keep us fat for lean times.