5 Ways to Conquer Hunger While Dieting

 

“What’s the biggest road block to success for someone who’s trying to lose body fat?”

 

Man…what a good question.

A client asked me this during one of her training sessions.

There are a ton of possible answers.

But, I keep coming back to the same one:

Being hungry.

 

Hunger is Overeating’s Best Friend

Have you ever noticed that when you’re hungry, you tend to eat faster?

And eat more?

And use two utensils instead of one so you can double the amount of food you’re taking in with each bite (maybe that’s just me)?

In most cases, you do these things without even realizing you’re doing them.

You don’t think, “Man, I’m shoveling down food at the speed of light.”

You just do it.

And then when you’re finished – and you’re trying to keep the food baby in your stomach from having a premature birth – you’re hit with the gravity of what you’ve just done.

In most cases, the problem with hunger isn’t that it makes you feel miserable (although it does).

It’s that it makes you mindless.

It makes you lose control.

And, when you’re dieting, losing control is the last thing you want to happen.

 

But Fear Not, for Hunger Can Be Vanquished

The key to successful dieting is consistency.

And since being hungry all the time is the arch villain of consistency, the key to successful dieting is staying full.

So, how do you do it?

It’s really not that hard.

Just implement one – or all five – of the following strategies:

 

1. Eat Plenty of Protein

Protein is hunger’s kryptonite.

Aside from it being the building block of muscle tissue (i.e. your physique), it’s also the most satiating macronutrient.

In other words, it keeps you fuller, longer.

In my words, it gives hunger a roundhouse kick to the face.

Now, for most people, I’d recommend aiming for about .8g of protein per pound of body weight (or 1-2 palmfuls of meat per meal if you don’t track macros).

You can eat a little more if you like.

But, although protein is important, you don’t want to go overboard or you’ll start taking away from other nutrients (carbs and fats).

 

2. Aim for Volume

There’s a reason pro bodybuilders eat a ton of chicken breast, sweet potato, and steamed broccoli, and it’s not because they’re the best tasting foods on the planet (far from it).

It’s because they – and other nutrient dense, “healthy” foods – provide a lot of volume for a small number of calories.

More volume?

Less hunger.

Eating junk food from time to time is certainly important (mental health matters too).

But, if you want to keep hunger at bay, you should get the foundation of your diet from nutrient dense, minimally processed sources.

 

3. Drink Plenty of Water

You already know you should be doing this.

Water makes up, what…70% of your body?

It’s pretty important.

Not just for helping your entire system function smoothly.

But for combating hunger, and making sure you’re not tricked by the “I think I’m hungry but I’m really just thirsty” facade.

I’d recommend drinking a glass of water at each meal, and 1-2 glasses of water in between meals.

But, as long as you’re peeing close to clear, you’re probably fairly hydrated.

 

4. Stay busy

We’ve talked about one of hunger’s best friends – overeating.

You know what hunger’s other best friend is?

Boredom.

When we’re bored, we love to eat.

I’m not really sure why.

But when I’m all out of stuff to do, instead of finding something else to do, I just find the box of Fruity Pebbles.

Doing stuff keeps your mind off of food, and therefore keeps your hunger levels in check.

In the words (slightly altered) of that cool guy on television – “Stay busy my friends.”

 

5. Don’t diet too hard.

Lastly, when you’re eating less food – which is required to lose body fat – you’re going to get hungry from time to time.

It’s just part of the process.

But, you can greatly limit how hungry you get by limiting how large of a deficit you’re in.

If you lose weight slowly by making small adjustments to your food intake over time, you won’t ever feel that hungry (heck, you might not even feel hungry until the tail end of your diet).

If you try to crash diet – and go from eating a whole bunch of food to eating nothing but chicken breast and garden salads – you’ll probably feel like you’re starving yourself (because you are).

 

Wrapping Up

Despite what many people may tell you, dieting doesn’t have to be an exceptionally miserable experience.

In fact, I would argue that it can’t be, because the more miserable the diet, the less chance you have of sticking to that diet in the long run.

Now, this doesn’t mean you won’t have to work hard.

And it doesn’t mean you won’t ever have to deal with a hunger pain (you will).

But, your success at any fat loss goal is dependent upon how easy you can make the process.

Learn to manage hunger, and the chance of you reaching your ideal physique skyrockets.