16 reasons to you are always hungry
You seem to eat normally, but are you constantly hungry? (not when you force yourself to starve yourself or someone else’s will!)
It actually happens a lot. There is an easy explanation. But it is very harmful: hunger is extremely demotivating, regardless of the goal we are pursuing.
There can be many reasons for this happening. The solution is usually easy. Just share with your coach right away. Frankly. Then it’s easily fixable.
But let’s take a quick look at some of the likely reasons.
- A sharp reduction in usual portions
In the pursuit of quick results, a person almost instinctively reduces his usual portions significantly. Usually, the trainer’s recommendation was not exactly like that, but the desire to lose weight quickly prevails and it is easy to take self-initiatives.
Most likely, the trainer has recommended to reduce foods with more simple carbohydrates, but in no case those with protein and fiber. For quick and accurate analysis – keep a personal report.
- Abrupt change in lifestyle
Sometimes the client in the first consultation has stated that he leads a sedentary life. Sitting, all day in front of a computer. The trainer has calculated the calories for this lifestyle.
But the client decides to go to the gym, do active sports, walk at every opportunity.
That’s great, but he should immediately share it with the coach, who can make adjustments and recommend nutrition and hydration before, during, and after workouts. Otherwise, hunger and rapid demotivation follow.
- Protein deficiency
It can be the result of the first two reasons, but it can also occur completely independently of them. Usually, no one gets enough protein before they worry about their nutrition. The shortage is often significant.
Trainers “feel sorry” for their clients at the beginning in order to make the transition gradual or for purely financial reasons – so that their food prices do not rise sharply.
But if they’re starving because of a lack of protein, it’s more important to stop starving! They’ll have to reach into their pocket for a package of Custom Protein Powder or Protein Drink Mix. Or just increase the shake. Or to take more protein with their usual food, but in that case they must be careful not to overdo it with calories, fat and various harmful additives that are found in all types of meat that are sold in stores.
- Lack of fat
In their quest to lose weight, some clients go completely fat-free. Error. Fats are just as necessary. For each person and for each lifestyle – in different amounts. This is one of the important roles of the trainer – to determine how much and what kind of fats you need in your diet and which ones you need to get rid of. That without the necessary fats, you will face a number of other side effects along with hunger.
- Lack of water (thirst)
The human body has a hard time distinguishing between hunger and thirst. Roughly speaking, his “sensor” is the same – the instinct for self-preservation. On the other hand, food itself often contains water, so our needs are partially met without drinking water. Sometimes a good solution when hungry is to drink water first and eat later. It could be that we weren’t hungry. Or at least we will eat less, without overeating.
- Lack of fiber
Fiber plays an important role in controlling hunger and satiety. You can learn about them in detail in our online courses-challenges or read other articles on the site on this subject.
- Improper nutrition
People often decide they are more competent than their coach. Good self-esteem is useful and we respect it. But the coach has touched on various details that they may not have thought of, and it is not useful for him to overwhelm you with a lot of information at once.
Improper nutrition in this case means not following your trainer’s recommendations.
Errors can be many and different, I will give only a few examples.
- You decide that you will not eat 5-6 times a day, no matter the reason. Three times is enough for you. Or even two to eat fewer calories. Yes, but you don’t know that at one meal, even if you take 200 g of protein, your body will absorb a maximum of 30-40 of them. After all three meals, you end up with 120g of protein, and maybe you needed 190-200. You can’t help but feel hungry.
- The trainer has explained to you how and how much shake (and protein powder, protein drink mix) to use per meal. But you have decided that it is too much for you, that you want to save it so that it will last you longer, that one day you will drink a shake and the next day a protein drink mix, or instead of the biggest measuring spoon you use the smallest one for the shake (we have had such a case). So how will you not be hungry?
- You eat a pie for breakfast, because Aunt Penka makes them very nice and they are “bio”, and you will have a shake for lunch and dinner. As nice as they are, patties are mostly simple carbohydrates, and even before that first snack, you’ll be reaching for something else sweet because you’re hungry. The reason is a not so complicated insulin reaction, about which you can ask your trainer in detail.
- Foods prepared from the same product but in different ways can have different effects on satiety. For example, a portion of boiled potatoes will fill you up for a long time, but a portion of fries will not. Both you will swallow a larger amount, and you will be “clogged” with fat, and the hunger after the fried potatoes will come on faster.
- While eating – read, watch TV, play on the computer or do something else other than eating. A number of clinical studies have been done on this issue and it has been shown that those who do other things while eating also suffer from constant hunger.
And I can give many other examples. Just trust your trainer and follow his recommendations.
- Fast food
This reason can also be attributed to poor nutrition, but since it was my personal problem and is a current problem for many people in today’s fast-paced world, I will take the liberty of singling it out. Because it’s important.
The explanation is simple. The feeling of satiety reaches our consciousness about 20 minutes after we are actually full. On the one hand, his body needs time – to change the sugar level, to have a full stomach, to regulate the functions of various glands. On the other hand, all these signals must reach the brain and it must analyze them and make a final decision.
In simple words, if we eat quickly, we may take in food that is superfluous for our body during those 20 minutes.
The solution is also simple – chew slowly, try to eat with pleasure, do not engage in other things while eating.
- Manipulation through ads, smells and pictures
The feeling of hunger is not always due to the needs of the body. Sometimes we succumb to manipulations and deceptions: we see something tasty, smell something tempting, so that we can’t hold back and get a dose of pleasure from food as soon as possible.
Have you ever smelled fresh-baked bread at the supermarket, but it doesn’t actually have an oven? It’s happened to me. It’s just a special scent and a marketing gimmick.
And the colorful pictures on the counters? Have you noticed that the most tempting packages are located there? You need to know that this is so and not to succumb to the manipulation and buy unnecessary things.
If you are hungry all the time, maybe you should go to the supermarket less often, to the kitchen or kill hours on culinary sites and shows? Think about it.
- Stress, depression or other emotions
Of course, there is a scientific explanation for this too.
When I was little, depression tormented me until the first, at most the second slap.
But let’s not joke about it, for some people it is a serious illness. And yet, today the GP will probably send you to a psychologist, doctor or pharmacy and not explain to you what you have done wrong in your diet and lifestyle.
Every case is different and no general rule can be given, but generally hormones are the main culprits. Adrenaline, which is released into the blood during severe stress, dulls hunger. But cortisol, which also always accompanies stress, especially prolonged stress, blocks the dulling of hunger by adrenaline, and we’re ready to munch on whatever comes our way. When cortisol decreases, so does our feeling of hunger.
It’s not just stress that makes your feet go to the fridge on their own. Sometimes we eat out of apathy, boredom, sadness, depression.
Maybe we are constantly in a bad mood?
Let’s do something else that gives us pleasure. It can’t be! It doesn’t take a psychologist to figure out what it is, or a drug to do it.
Hormones mess with our nutrition, but to mess up their levels, it’s nutrition that’s the root cause. Eat right and after a while everything will be back to normal.
- Disease Condition
Unfortunately, there are also cases when a doctor or medicine is really needed. Although in most cases the diseases are again due to improper nutrition, when they are already a fact and you have to react quickly, there is no way. However, treatment should not prevent us from switching to a properly balanced diet! Which should also be tailored to the respective disease.
I can think of several such diseases:
- diabetes – this is a disease related to insulin levels. With it, even if you eat enough, our body does not convert food into energy, because it does not have enough insulin in this process. Various side symptoms also appear, such as thirst, fatigue, frequent visits to the toilet.
- hypoglycemia or low blood sugar – a condition in which the body does not have enough “fuel”. It can appear due to improper intake of diabetes medications or improper and irregular nutrition. It can also appear in the absence of carbohydrates, combined with high workloads.
- overactive thyroid gland – this is the most common cause of hunger when there seems to be no reason at all. This can be the cause not only of hunger, but also of constant nervousness and bad mood.
These are serious illnesses and you should definitely seek medical help. We are not doctors, our products are not medicines, although they are extremely effective, with them we only manage to help the body cope with its problems.
- Pregnancy
Pregnancy is not a disease, but to a lesser or greater extent it also “mixes up the hormones”. It still only affects women. Often in the early stages of pregnancy, the appetite is increased. This can happen even before the woman knows she is pregnant. If you suspect that you are pregnant, just take a test or go to a proper doctor. And how to adjust your nutrition to pregnancy, consult with our trainer.
- Medications
Drug hunger is a consequence of taking them for some disease, so I deliberately separated it from disease states.
Some drugs change appetite. Often these side effects come from antidepressants, but sometimes hunger is affected by antihistamines, antipsychotics, and corticosteroid-based medications. If you feel hungry after taking medication, inform your doctor about it and do not resort to self-medication.
- Alcohol
It is common knowledge that alcohol is a strong appetite stimulant. But that’s not the only effect – alcohol disrupts the activity of the brain, which deals with self-control of the body, which, combined with the hormonal disorder, can totally confuse you when you’re hungry and when you’re not. A trite recommendation, but… if you can, limit or stop drinking alcohol altogether.
- Lack of sleep
Lack of sleep alters the balance of leptin and ghrelin. These are hormones responsible for the feeling of hunger. As a consequence of this change, you crave something fattier or sweeter.
But both are not the most suitable food before or during sleep. The solution can be different, for example, to install an alarm system in the refrigerator that is triggered after a certain time.
I would advise you to make a portion of a shake that will fill you up, is low in calories and will favor your healthy sleep.
- Storage of “wrong” products at home
We offer in our challenges a list of products that are good to shop and also recommend what to part with forever.
And the faster this separation, the faster the exciting results come.
Because if you store something harmful in the kitchen or the refrigerator, there is no way that one night or after a certain emotional upheaval you will not be tempted and eat it.
And if it’s not there, the likelihood of you going out to buy it in the middle of the night is unlikely.
Therefore, keep at home a minimum quantity and only useful products.
For more information, contact our trainer or directly enroll in our challenge and you will be assigned one for it.
