When you are trying to lose weight, there is nothing worse than insatiable hunger! Here are some tips to try and keep your appetite at bay.
- Eat regularly and don’t skip meals.
When you leave a long gap between meals, it is easy to overeat at the next meal due to excessive hunger. Eating small, regular meals will allow you to control your portions.
- Are you really hungry?
Do you physically need to eat or is something triggering you to want food? Physical hunger is when your stomach is rumbling or you may feel light feel light-headed or dizzy. There are many eating cues that can influence you to eat when your body does not need sustenance. These can be particular people, places, circumstances as well as thought and emotions. Emotional or psychological cues such as stress, feeling depressed, bored or anxiety are very common and it's important to devise strategies to deal with them in order to maintain your weight. Strategies include going for a walk (get away from the kitchen!), having a relaxing hot bath with a good novel or calling a friend to talk things through. For successful weight loss and weight management, it is important to learn the difference between physical hunger and the psychological inclination to eat and be able to control these urges.
- Let yourself feel a little hunger
It is okay to feel hungry sometimes when you are losing weight. Even after a meal or snack it is okay to not feel completely full. Try to learn to be more comfortable with this feeling. The next meal is always not that far away.
- Eat your vegetables
Vegetables not only are full of nutrients, but they contain high levels of fibre which help keep hunger at bay. Adding plenty of vegetables to your meal also increases your meal size without adding additional calories and makes your stomach feel fuller! If you are feeling hungry between meals or snacks, ‘free vegetables’, such as carrot, celery, beans, capsicum are low in calories and good to nibble on to get you through.
- Keep sipping on water
As the saying goes, “Don’t confuse thirst with hunger”. Are you really hungry or perhaps just thirsty? Water helps control your appetite and help fills you up. Carry a drink bottle with you during the day and have a glass or two of water with every meal.
- Eat slowly
Take the time to sit down and enjoy the flavour and savour the taste of your food. Eat your meal in a similar way a wine taster savours a fine glass of wine. Take a moment to enjoy the foods visual appearance and aroma. When taking a bite, be mindful of the foods taste and texture. Maximise it’s exposure to your taste buds. Eating slowly and mindfully will give you more satisfaction and control over your eating.
- Get enough sleep!
Two particular hormones which control weight and appetite are called ‘Leptin’ and ‘Grehlin’. Research* has shown that these hormones can be disturbed with lack of sleep. Leptin is produced by fat cells and allows us to feel satisfied after a meal. Ghrelin triggers our hunger. Studies have found that sleep deprivation decreases leptin and increases levels of grehlin. This makes us not feel as satisfied after a meal and leads to cravings for carbohydrates and high fat foods. It is recommended we aim to have at least 7 hours of sleep per night to keep your body healthy and help promote healthy eating.
*Chaput JP, Després JP, Bouchard C, Tremblay A. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Jan;15(1):253-61.
Van Cauter, E. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, November 2004; vol 89: pp 5762-5771.
Taheri S, Lin L, Austin D, Young T, Mignot E (2004) Short Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index. PLoS Med 1(3): e62. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0010062
