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We’ve all had that uncomfortable, hungry craving at one time or another. We start our diet and 8 hours into it, we are suddenly taken over by hunger…That lettuce sandwich that we ate 6 hours ago just was not enough to keep us satisfied and now we are ready to start eating cardboard just to feel better.
Truthfully, most of us can’t take how uncomfortable this is, so we go hunting for whatever food we can find. Maybe it’s chips from the vending machine or a Snickers bar from 7-11. Whatever it is, we find it and we scarf it down like a like a wild animal. In the process we end up breaking our diet – and we feel like a failure because of it. If we do this too many times, we simply give up on the diet and proclaim it too hard to follow.
And why not, it’s much easier to deal with being overweight than it is to deal with the immediate pain of being hungry. Well, fear not, because there are actually some things you can do to tame that ravenous beast inside you.
1. Stay away from high glycemic carbs. One of the worst things you can do is eat carbs that spike your insulin. It’s a recipe for disaster and will only lead to ravenous hunger down the road.
What ends up happening is that when you eat high glycemic carbs, you create a never ending cycle where you body is constantly craving food. Your insulin spikes, it then rushes into action and quickly shuttles the sugars in your bloodstream to storage (probably fat). Then, your body crashes. It needs more glucose, so it sends a signal to your brain that it’s hungry again.
If you reach for more bad carbs, you’ll repeat the cycle again, again, and again.
So, stay away from things like refined white flower, sugar, corn syrup and the like. These will only make you miserable as you try to watch your weight.
2. Eat more protein. Try to eat protein at every meal, even your snacks.
It’s been clinically proven that protein increases satiety…That is to say, that it makes us feel fuller, longer. It’s one of the reasons that very obese people are often prescribed higher protein diets.
(For you geeks who love the science aspect, you can read more about protein and satiety here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18469287)
And, protein has several other benefits. One is that it spares the muscle you would otherwise lose when on a low calorie diet. Often, when people cut their calories for extended periods, their muscles get broken down and used as fuel. It’s one of the reasons why you see people who are “skinny fat”. They look frail and skinny, but they still have layers of fat on their abdomen, cellulite on their legs and arms, and an overall unhealthy look.
3. Eat your vegetables. Most vegetables have very few calories, which makes them perfect for dieting. You can eat pounds of the stuff and still not gain weight.
But, there’s also another reason that vegetables, and many fruits, are important to making us happy dieters. First, they have volume and fiber. This means they take up a lot of room in your stomach and they are slow to digest. Think of broccoli for example. This is a very voluminous food, without a lot of calories. Eat as much as you like, until you are completely full and you won’t have to worry losing weight.
Here’s another thing about fruits and vegetables. They have loads of healthy vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. Your body craves this stuff. And, if you are undernourished you are likely to still have food cravings. By providing your body nourishment, you are more likely to feel full for longer periods of time.
In fact, a recent study in New Zealand showed that rats who ate blueberry extract before their meals ate almost 10% fewer calories than those that didn’t. Scientists believe that this may be due to the powerful antioxidant effect that blueberries have, which might trigger receptors in the small intestine, which notify your brain that you are full.
