One of the biggest reasons that people struggle to lose weight on a diet, is that they’re always hungry. It makes the dieting process that much more difficult when all the foods around you become far more tempting than they usually are. Whereas if you can learn how to satiate yourself (without going overboard on calories) and keep yourself satiated for far longer, you’re so much closer to achieving your dream physique. Here’s five mega strategies you can use to keep hunger at bay:
Chew your calories
The most important element of this, is that you’re not drinking hundreds upon hundreds of calories every single day. The problem with drinking your calories is that they just won’t fill you up very much.
There’s no ‘jaw movement’ involved (and your brain does realise this), the liquid doesn’t take much space in your stomach, and it’s digested very quickly. This all means that you don’t stay very full for very long. Bad news.
You’d be far better of eating fruits, vegetables like onion, broccoli or asparagus, and meats like chicken, steak, or fish. Chicken breast and steak are probably the chewiest of the lot, and you DO get fuller from fewer calories with these foods as a result.
Drink coffee (in the morning)
People can occasionally have issues with stomach acid when having coffee on an empty stomach, so it may be advisable to have some food first.
But there is absolutely no doubt that coffee will curb your appetite, especially if you don’t put any sugar or sweetener in there. A lot of it is due to the caffeine content. But it’s also due to the antioxidants in there as well. Even just one cup of coffee in the morning will make a huge difference if you’re currently trying to lose fat, but struggling with your appetite. Two or three cups will be better, but only if you don’t have any acidity or anxiety issues. My advice would be to have your coffee in the morning and definitely not in the afternoon, if you value your sleep and your muscle gains. Caffeine has a half life of 6 hours, so it would be a smart move to keep consumption to pre-12pm only. For best coffee reviews, you can check the CoffeeHow.
Drink sparkling water
Some of the best advice I ever received was to have plenty of sparkling water stocked up in my fridge every evening, ready to do for when the hunger/cravings hit. It works. By filling your stomach up far more than tap water will do, it keeps you fuller when your willpower starts to decline. What I personally like to do is put plenty of ice in my glass, with a slice of lemon and lime, then add the sparkling water. It works a treat for appetite suppression, and has really helped me to cut down to 10% body fat, and on one occasion 8% body fat. Another little side benefit of this, is that if you’re around friends or family who are drinking alcohol and you don’t want to (because you’re losing body fat and improving your life), then you at least look like you’re drinking alcohol if you’ve got some lemon and lime in there, and it will make people less ‘uncomfortable’ with you not drinking. It’s more pro-social. You even feel like you are drinking – a lot of it is psychological.
Add food volume to each meal
This one is huge. The problem with most people’s meals when they’re dieting, is that they’re never really substantial. They don’t really go 100% in on their main meals, and then they end up snacking throughout the day to compensate. The unfortunate reality of this is that they end up eating more calories, while being less satiated. Unplanned snacking is a symptom of insubstantial meals. So if you’re looking to really reduce your appetite and your desire to snack in the first place, the best thing to do is to add more food volume to each meal. This means; food that will take up lots of space in your stomach, and will take time for you to digest, leading to you feeling full for a long time. If you do this two to three times per day, you will be miles fuller than before.
It’s as easy as throwing a bunch of easy-to-prepare veggies into your pan and adding them to your meat and olive oil. Peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli. Throw them all into the pan on top of your main protein source, and your calories will go that much further on a diet. This is one of the biggest pieces of advice I give to guys following omad (Read More).
Avoid doing hours of liss cardio
This one may be controversial. But in my experience, doing hours of low intensity steady state cardio tends to really ramp up your hunger levels, even if you diet is on point. It does burn the calories, and it does burn the body fat if you ignore the hunger and refuse to eat. But it does seem to make it harder. You’d be better off sticking to an exercise routine that is exciting (rather than boring), and one that doesn’t necessarily make you ravenous – HIIT may well be better in this regard.
Summary
Following these appetite control strategies will make a huge difference in your fat loss journey. They won’t guarantee fat loss, but they will make it that much easier, and therefore that much more likely to occur over the long-term. It also becomes easier to sustain too.
My overall philosophy when it comes to fat loss diets is “when you eat you eat, when you don’t eat, you don’t eat” – meaning large meals, zero snacking, and when you’re not eating, make use of things like coffee and sparkling water. Good luck!
