Finish your calories for the day, but still hungry??
For the first time in a long time, I’ve set a strict 1,500 calorie ceiling on my daily diet (Well it’s not that strict, but more often than not I’m aiming for 1,500) For years I’ve taken a much more flexible approach, allowing my daily calories to fluctuate between 1,400 - 1,800, with the goal being to keep my weekly calories below 12,500. I’d recommend a similar flexible approach to anyone new to calorie tracking, or if you have a lot of weight to lose (I’ll go into the ‘why’s for this in another blog post), but, currently I’m being more strict and embracing the challenge.
This shift has left me with some days where I finish my calories a bit earlier than I’d like, and I’m left with what feels like an empty belly right before bed. Or naturally, even if I time out my meals perfectly…some days I’m just hungrier than others *kanye shrug* and here are some of the things I like to do:
Drink tea, or hot chocolate! This is probably my go to because it never fails me and it also helps me to get more water in, so win win!
Choose healthy snacks like an apple, carrots, cucumbers or 100g of berries. Maybe a low calorie snack like string cheese and tuna, pickles or a boiled egg. This is when I’d also grab my favorite frozen grapes with lime.
I embrace the feeling and realize that it won’t kill me to feel “a little hungry”. Im re-teaching and re-training my body and brain, and it’s a process that will be a little uncomfortable at times. Now if I'm light headed and actually hungry, then I eat food, but I’ve found that sometimes I think I am hungry when I’m actually not. As someone whose lived their life battling obesity, I’ve grown used to feeling full. I’ve grown used to having something to snack on, and there are times when I think I'm hungry, but what’s really happening is that I'm not full, and I could eat. So there is room in my belly for food…but this doesn’t mean that I need to fill it with food.
Everyone’s experience is different, but as I lost weight and got used to smaller portion sizes, I realized that for so long I was mistaking hunger cues for feelings like: "I’m bored and am looking for something to do / there’s room in my belly for food, so why not just eat”. Not being “full”, is a feeling I’ve had to grow accustomed to, and I had to recognize thats it’s a normal thing to feel. There is a whole spectrum between Full and Hungry, and I needed to get used to the feeling of being in the middle of that spectrum.
Making sure I drank enough water that day, and that I’m drinking water before bed. So often we mistake being thirsty for being hungry.
Be smarter about it. If for example, you’re routinely craving a snack while driving in your car on the way home from work, instead of trying to ignore it and power through, just plan for it. Add that snack into your daily calorie plan, maybe that’s the time your body needs those calories. So keep a protein bar in your car, have a bag of nuts or beef jerky ready to go. Do things that make living a healthy lifestyle easier for you and that work with your life and schedule.
Pay attention to what I'm eating. Some foods naturally help keep us fuller for longer and are more satiating (like protein), while others actually make us crash, or make us hungrier. So If I'm struggling with feeling hungry on a daily basis, it might be time to rethink and replan what I'm eating.
Start my first meal of the day, later in the day. I find that I don’t have to eat first thing in the morning and in fact, it’s much easier to extend my fast til around 11am - 1pm, and then eat my first meal. This makes it much easier to time out my meals and make sure I have a meal before bed so I can sleep soundly.
And honestly, if I'm truly hungry, then I eat! One day will not ruin my progress and it’s better to eat outside my plan for one special day, then to stick to a diet that isn’t working for me and results in me binging and giving up entirely.
