Minimize hunger to make your diet as easy as possible

Hunger is inevitable if you’re losing weight.

The very essence of losing weight is a caloric deficit…

AKA taking in less calories than you burn.

Guess what calories are? Energy.

This means you are literally taking in less energy than you burn.

Hunger is going to happen - so do not think that it’s a bad sign.

HOWEVER, there are strategies we can use to MINIMIZE it, ideally keeping it as low as possible as long as possible.

Are you hungry or just bored?

In today’s environment, food is much more than a simple fuel that we eat when hungry.

It relieves boredom, it fills emotional needs, it relieves many things.

Keep that in mind - a good rule I like to use:

If a plain chicken breast doesn’t sound delicious - you probably aren’t biologically hungry.

Let’s get into it.

1. Eat more whole foods

The Food Palatability Reward Hypothesis states:

When food is tasty, we want more.

The more junk you eat, the harder time you’re going to have with hunger. Plain and simple.

Per calorie, whole foods provide more:

• Volume

• Fullness

• Nutrients

Check out this comparison of 100 calories of various foods from Renaissance Periodization:

I’m not saying you can’t eat certain foods - just accept the tradeoff they bring. Aim for 80% or more whole foods to fill you up so you can sustainably eat some of your favorites.

2. Environment

It’s easier to say no to a food once at the grocery store than 10 times per day at home.

Don’t grocery shop hungry. Once it’s in your house it’s only a matter of time.

Keep fruits, vegetables, and lower calorie snacks available and in sight.

Keep high calorie snacks hidden in the cabinets, hard to reach, and ideally out of the house.

Even things as simple as keeping the fruits and vegetables at eye level in the fridge can make the choices as easy as possible.

3. Caffeine

Caffeine is an appetite suppressant.

Coffee is an appetite suppressant by itself - so even if you drink decaf, it will help suppress appetite.

To minimize the impact on sleep:

• Cut off by noon every day

• Limit to 300-400 mg total (2-3 cups of coffee)

Aim not to rely on this too early in your diet - it may be best to slowly titrate up over the course of fat loss when your food is dropping lower.

4. Timing

Stop eating when you aren’t hungry.

If you are more motivated in the mornings, then evenings come around and you can’t control yourself…

Shift the majority of your calories to that time to give you more space.

If you’re eating half your calories before 2pm and you aren’t even hungry those are not helping you out.

Some of my clients will include super high protein meals at breakfast and lunch with minimal calories - providing lots of flexibility going into the evening when they like to eat more.

Just make sure to finish your meals a couple hours before bed for maximum sleep quality.

5. Liquids

Stop drinking your calories!

The equivalent in food is 100x more filling and satisfying.

It’s not worth it.

The only exception here is protein shakes - if you must add shakes to hit your daily goal, that’s better than not getting enough…

But if you’re super hungry and miserable it’s best to eat real protein sources to stay more full than to drink half of it from shakes.

A chicken breast is much more filling than a 12 ounce protein shake.

Add 0 calorie beverages to help you get through the day.

Crystal light, diet soda, sparking water…

These can help give you something to taste between meals, and a study showed diet soda improved adherence among dieters.

Add water or other 0 calorie drinks before meals to help you fill up and stretch your stomach more with food.

6. Protein

A study found a high protein breakfast led to decreased hunger and increased fullness for the entire day compared to no breakfast or a normal protein breakfast. (PMID: 23446906)

This study even showed lower activation in the reward centers of the brain when shown food at dinner time!

In addition to the benefits protein provides for fat loss, there’s a few other cool aspects:

• Per calorie it’s much more filling and satisfying

• Per calorie your body burns more calories to digest it

Yep, that’s right - our bodies burn calories digesting calories, specifically:

• 0-3% of every calorie from fat

• 5-10% of every calorie from carbohydrate

• 20-30% of every calorie from protein!!!

So for every 100 calories you consume of protein, the digestion process burns around 20-30 calories, compared to just 0-3 for fats.

Now this doesn’t mean go eat an entirely protein diet…we need fats and carbs for specific functions.

Aim for 0.8 - 1.0 grams per lb of bodyweight per day, every day.

Spread this out across 4 or more meals.

7. Fiber

Just like protein, fiber is going to keep us fuller for longer.

Aim for 14 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories every day.

The more fiber, the easier your diet will be…

Add fruits, vegetables, whole grains, leafy greens and nuts for more fiber.

8. Meal Hygiene

This warrants an entire article, but for now I’ll summarize:

• Slow down!

• Chew each bite extensively - ideally 20-30 times

• Put away phones and TVs

• Put the fork down between bites

Anything that slows us down and activates our Parasympathetic, Rest & Digest, Nervous System will help you with digestion and keep intake down.

It takes time for your stomach to recognize food and turn off your hunger queues in your brain..

If you’re inhaling your food in 2 minutes before this occurs, you’ll consume way more calories.

Slow down, give it time to recognize, and you’ll end up eating less overall.

9. Pause, Acknowledge, Reflect

The above will all help - but what do you do when the hunger kicks in?

• Identify the craving and hunger.

• Acknowledge it for what it is…your body is fighting you to achieve homeostasis.

• Remind yourself WHY you’re on this journey…and what these results will give you.

• Remind yourself it’s NORMAL to be hungry in an energy deficit.

• Ask yourself if this is worth it?

Sometimes the answer to the last question is YES.

If you’re going to indulge - at least make it worth it!

This process won’t be easy - it comes with time.

Sometimes you won’t even recognize it and just go for the food.

That’s ok.

The key is reflecting afterwards, observing your day, what happened, and the situation.

Then plan better for next time.

And lastly…

10. Move on

You will mess up on your journey. That’s ok.

What’s not ok is throwing your hands in the air and letting one bad day turn into a bad week.

Realistically, a bad day won’t do shit to your progress. So forget about it, accept it, and plan better for next time.

That’s a wrap.

Most of these practices aren’t just for deep into a diet but for life.

Finding practices like these that allow you to live your life and enjoy things in moderation are key.

If you want guidance and accountability along your journey, book a free consultation here.

Brooks