We are into the New Year and many people are on a new food regime or fitness plan that has them feeling hungry. Outside of powering through with willpower and motivation what can you do to beat it? The following should be of help –
Check Overall Intake – Before look at tricks and techniques it is wise to take a look at if you are simply eating way too little food. If your body is changing quickly, your clothes getting looser fast then it may be that your super focused, healthy plan is way too low in food overall. In this case, very few tricks will work because your body is too far under what it needs. This is fine for short periods of focus, but if you goal requires longer you need to adapt. I have seen plenty of people get to this stage by mistake from eating lots of veg and cutting the junk out really well.
Missing Macro nutrients – Hunger can be massively increased if you are eating too little of any one particular macro nutrient (protein, carbs or fat). It is common for most people’s diets to be too low in protein in general which makes you hungrier. However, you will often find people in a new year craze accidently or on purpose cut out all carbs, or have no fat in their nutrition. The body will give you feedback on how well this works for you, some people can do well on removing a macronutrient, but the vast majority of people need all three, protein, carbs and fat.
Macro Nutrient Ratios – Assuming you are someone who does best with all three macros within your diet you need to look at the ratio of them within the foods you are eating. You can have greatly different hunger responses to the same sized meal (calorie content) based on how much protein to carbs to fat it contains. This ideal ratio varies between people. You can find your one out by simply changing an element of a meal you are already eating and seeing how it affects hunger.
Pick Foods That Fill You Up – Certain foods have been shown to be more fulfilling. This works on two levels, a physical and a behavioural. We have spoken before on which foods are the most physically satiating, while other foods start a behaviour chain reaction of wanting to eat more. You do not need to study a textbook to know what is best, simply look at your own reactions to see what helps you to hinders you.
Ideal Meal Frequency – The same amount of food can generate different hunger levels based on when and how often you eat it. This one can go both depending on you and your body. Some do better putting their food into a more limited amount of meals, e.g 2 meals and a snack, while others do better the other way round, e.g. 6 meals a day of bodybuilders. Find the rhythm that serves you best.
Taste & Satisfaction – A cause of hunger, especially eating if you know you have already had enough, is a lack of taste, satisfaction and enjoyment. You need to respect this area and find ways to meet this need without massively increasing the amount of food you are consuming energy wise.
Sleep – Many studies have shown, if you are tired from a lack of sleep then your hunger goes up while your ability to resist cravings goes down. Sleep deprivation can also lower your metabolic rate by up to 10%.
10 Minute Delay – If facing cravings or hunger, a proven method is to commit to waiting 10 minutes, then if you still want to eat, either eat again or commit to just one more 10 minutes and wait. This will often be long enough for fake hunger to pass, the craving to disappear. If it does not, then go ahead and eat the food.
Hunger Re-training – Talking of fake hunger, most people would do well to retrain their brains around hunger. Much of our hunger is habitual and nothing to do with genuine needs to eat. If you eat many times a day, the brain learns to send hunger signals many times a day. Likewise, unpredictable food intake (you are not sure when you will next eat) creates more hunger through the anticipation of eating. If your brain knows no food until 5pm it will think of it much less until nearing 5pm, therefore sending out less hunger signals and / or paying less attention to the signals you do get.e are ba.
What Does This Mean For You
Feeling hungry in January is not about using willpower or discipline to fight it. Most of the time it is a signal that something is slightly off. Before you try to grind through it, use the points above to troubleshoot properly. If hunger is still high after these adjustments then it may simply mean the plan you are on is too aggressive. Sustainable progress comes from finding a level of effort you can repeat, not from suffering for two weeks then quitting.
My book covers much more on the process around changing your body, hunger and the mechanics of making this happen. – The Grand Unified Theory of Weight Loss>>.
Photo – Moxi and Barley both begging for food and not controlling their hunger as well as me having some Georgian food while in Poland to do a Hyrox:
Need Support Getting In Shape?
Changing your body on your own without support or an effective system usually ends in failure sadly. To avoid this outcome you can become one of my coaching clients either online or in person. I provide Holistic, Healthy & Sustainable Body Transformations. Contact me to discuss your goals further or see below for more details and the options available to you based on your location / preferences:
Worldwide (Online) –
For transformations, coaching and support wherever you are in the world read more here>>>>
London (Battersea) – If looking for Personal Training Battersea please contact me. I am available for sessions in homes, private gyms or Personal Training Battersea Park. To see my locations please visit my Battersea Personal Trainer page>>
London (Oval / Kennington) – For Personal Training in Oval & Kennington please contact me. I am available for sessions in homes, private gyms or parks.
**************
Read My Book – The Grand Unified Theory of Weight Loss – My latest book is available in print, kindle/ebook and audio formats. You can read more about it and see where it is available here>>>
Follow Me – You can get more great advice, tips, hacks and more by following me on one of my social media channels. Follow Me>>>
Instagram>> You Tube>> Facebook>> Twitter>> Tik Tok>> My Weekly Newsletter>>
**************