One of the main reasons fat loss diets fail is because of constant feeling of hunger. Eating small portions is unsatisfying, it leaves you feeling empty, fed up and obsessed with food and eating.
I'm going to share with you how to keep fuller for longer.
How much food can you eat?
It's very important to eat a calorie controlled diet. This will ensure that you don't eat too much to have that filling feeling. The idea is that you eat the right amount of food to reach your goal/s feeling full and satisfied.
Check out my calorie calculator to know exactly how many daily calories you should consume.
What food should I eat?
So now we know how much to eat, lets now consider what you consume. Remember your calories will consist of food and fluids.
Water/Fluid intake
First let's talk about our water/fluid daily intake. Health authorities recommended that we consume at least two litres (8 glasses) per day. But there's no scientific evidence on exactly how much you should drink. This is because how much you drink is dependent on your lifestyle, your body composition, your gender, how much activity you do etc.
So you see there are various factors we need to consider when knowing how much water or fluid you need to drink each day. It's recommended that you drink a glass, 20 to 30 minutes before your meal to trick your tummy in to feeling fuller and to ensure that you get some hydration before eating. Try to avoid a dry mouth, if you have a dry mouth then you're already dehydrated. If you find it difficult to drink water or fluids, then try to eat foods with a high water content. Such as salads or soups but whatever you drink, consider the calorie contents. You don't want to consume more calories than your body needs.
Keep your blood sugars stable
It's important to keep your blood sugars stable. Avoid snacks that contain just fat or simple carbohydrates. If not, your body will use the additional glucose and store it as fat. So choose your snacks wisely.
Try to choose snacks that contain both protein and carbohydrates, this will help you to control your blood sugar levels.
Here are some of my recommended healthy snacks below:
Hummus
Homemade popcorn
Raw nuts
Oat cakes
Berries
Natural yogurt
Snacks less than 150 calories (try to avoid refined sugars)
What should my meals consist of?
Ensure you have enough of the following:
Protein (e.g. meats, greek yogurt, pulses, seeds etc)
Fats (e.g. avocado, fish, nuts etc)
Carbohydrates (Rice,potatoes, bread etc)
Fibre (e.g. fruit & vegetables)
Some foods fit in to more than one of the above categories. Such as nuts, nuts provide a great source of both fat and protein.
How does sleep affect your appetite?
It is really important to sleep, the recommended time for sleep is 8 hours a day. Again, how much sleep your body really needs is dependent on you. We are all different and require more or less sleep.
Lack of sleep can release a hormone that causes you to feel hungry. During your sleep your body repairs itself which in turn will help your body recover as you achieve your goal of being healthy and fit.
Be kind to yourself
Time and time again, I speak about self love. How you feel about yourself truly affects the things you do each day. Having self love helps improve your mental health and self discipline, which is useful if you tend to overeat.
We tend to eat when we're stressed, bored, happy or even as a treat. We might even be an 'emotional eater'. You will know you're an emotional eater if your emotions trigger you to want to eat, regardless of if you're hungry or not and you'll tend to disregard the quantity or the quality of the food.
You need to start to think that you deserve it. You deserve to be healthy and fit and be confident within your skin.
Self care is one of those things that us ladies are too busy to do. We think about our family, our children and even sometimes put our jobs before our own health. This is something we need to stop.
Try to allocate 5 minutes each evening for your skin care. Choose to eat clean nutritious food, look after YOU, be active; maybe start to be active 10 minutes each day. Really have a think and reflect on the triggers that have led you to the point you are at now. Be patient, kind, love yourself, speak kindly to yourself, listen to your inner critic and silence it.
What are your next steps?
Now you have the basic fundamentals of how to keep fuller for longer, but it doesn't stop here. Make a plan, what are you going to do to ensure the following:
You have sufficient daily amounts of water or fluid
You eat foods to keep your blood sugars stable
You sleep at around 8 hours every 24 hours.
You ensure that you continually love yourself
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