How To Feeling Full When Dieting

When going on a long fat loss phase, people often complain of hunger. In fact, this is probably one of the biggest obstacles that must be overcome in any successful diet. The problem encountered when dieting is eating less food than the body requires. Instead, the body forces itself to burn fat for fuel. However, our bodies have many systems in place to fight weight loss as much as possible. When not provided adequate nourishment, the body thinks there is a famine. In truth, dieting is essentially calculated starvation, so the manner that the body reacts is logical. Aside from slightly lowering the number of calories burned, our bodies also release hormones that make us feel hungry. Subconsciously, we begin to seek delicious, calorically dense foods, and eat way more than necessary. There are several tricks that can be used to fight this response and improve your chances at a successful diet.

One method to control hunger most people do daily is to simply drink some coffee. Caffeine is a hunger suppressant, and having a cup or two in the morning can carry an individual to lunchtime at basically zero calories. Just be mindful, if you choose to add sugar, remember that those calories add up quickly, and highly refined carbs generally do not make one feel full.

If one can manage to stick to just a coffee until lunch, then they have basically done trick two known as intermittent fasting. This diet technique involves restricting the hours of the day that one eats. While it will not necessarily make one burn any extra fat, if one only eats in a small window, then they will feel full during the time of day when one has permitted themselves to eat. So, despite feeling hungry during other parts of the day, one avoids cheating by maintaining a blanket ban on all foods during this time.

If intermittent fasting is not up one’s alley, one is only left with preparing to make better meal choices. The magic of salad is that it contains lots of volume for very little calories. Adding chopped lettuce or a bag of mixed greens to some fish or chicken will at least triple the size of the meal, while only adding a handful of calories. Just be careful when adding dressings, oils, croutons, and cheeses as these can quickly turn your salad high calorie.

An additional aid to help with fullness is adding more fiber into the diet. Fiber has been shown to create more of a feeling of fullness than simple carbs. Moreover, fiber will not spike blood sugar. This helps in avoiding a crash later in the day that is often accompanied by extreme cravings. Fruits and vegetables are good choices of fiber that are very high in volume relative to their calorie count. Swapping a bag of pretzels or chips for a peach or celery sticks will save calories and keep one feeling full.

A final tip to avoid hunger pains from messing up a diet is to just accept reality. Even if one intermittent fasts, eats a load of sugar free jello, salad, and drinks a gallon of water each day, chances are that at some point a feeling of hunger will arise while on a diet. So again, I stress that the best one can do is simply accept the hunger pains. Yes, you are hungry; yes, you want to eat. But that is just how life is going to be for a bit. Once one realizes that your hunger is a sign of progress, and that it is a necessary step to reach one’s goals, the pain will not be overwhelming. By initializing hunger as a good feeling, rather than an obstacle to a weight loss goal, then those delicious rugelach at the Shabbos table will not have any hold on the dieter.

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Moshe Orbach was born and bred in Kew Gardens Hills. Moshe is a product of our yeshivah system and yearns to give back to his community. Fitness and health are Moshe's longtime passions. Moshe wants everyone to lead their daily life energized, and aware of their body's potential, no matter their age. Moshe can be reached for personal training, diet plans, and more at (516) 962-1417.