Always Hungry? (Part One)

Ann sent me a question the other day which is quite common among many of my newsletter subscribers so I thought I'd answer it here.

The question was "I'm always hungry. How can I stop hunger pangs?"

Though it's perfectly normal to have hunger pangs - you SHOULD be hungry before each meal, it's not helpful for your weight loss efforts to be hungry all the time. Your meals and snacks should keep you satisfied for at least 2 or 3 hours if you are eating to the point you are comfortable (and not until you are stuffed) as I advise.

If that's not the case with you, the main thing to work out is WHY - why are you always hungry? You see you can be hungry for either physical OR emotional reasons.

Physical reasons might be:-

• not eating enough volume of food leaving you with an empty tummy too soon after a meal
• not eating enough calories, leaving you with low blood sugar and a need to eat pretty quickly to correct it
• eating foods which are high in fast-release carbohydrate or sugar (high GI foods) which give a spike to your blood sugar and a (too) rapid decline as your body tries to correct it

or then there are all those emotional reasons

• delicious food all around you making it difficult to resist
• feeling down and eating for comfort
• eating to plug a gap inside (You literally feel "empty")
• eating because you are bored (which is the case with many people who are hungry all the time - eating literally passes the time)

You have to work out why you are hungry all the time before you can tackle the problem. It may be a combination of reasons or it may be only one.

I will tackle each of the reasons over the next few days so that you have something to work with once you know what the reason is.

Comments

[Pille McCoy]

Thanks a lot for answering this question! This is what happens to me all the time I try to loose some weight. I literally feel like I could eat a stake all the time (I'm a vegetarian, though and I'd never ever even touch a steak- but I think you get the point). I just asked myself this question and I guess it's simply because I'm bored that I tend to eat to make the time pass, just like you said.

[Janice]

Hi Pille

Thank you for your comment. Look out for the later parts in this series as we will be looking at all the reasons in detail over a few days.

Janice
editor Think Slim

[Andrea]

Wow Thanks for the info. I've been really indulgent lately and I feel guilt because of that. Is it due to poor self discipline?

[Janice]

You know Andrea, guilt serves no purpose when it comes to overeating. We are all human so we are programmed to eat and not to lose weight. Losing weight is actually against natural instinct. That's why it takes a bit of effort.

The way to reduce that effort is to get into good habits so that eating healthily becomes natural for you. It's not something that will work overnight (but there's nothing on earth that will work overnight either - no pill, patch or potion no matter what the ads try to push)

Janice
editor Think Slim

[Becky]

Well I am hungry all of the time and I think that it is hormonal! I really feel there is something wrong with me I have gained 10.lbs over this year! (FIVE OF THEM IN THE LAST 4 MONTHS) I cant seem to get a hold of myself..its like my appetite has taken over me!!!