5 ways to curb hunger when dieting for fat loss
Hunger is normal, but if you can mitigate, manage, and overcome it you will be more successful.
To lose body fat we need to create an energy deficit. When we create this energy deficit, our body makes up for it by pulling from fat stores as energy to keep us going, thus, losing that fat. Simple (but not easy).
This deficit often leads to hunger physically and emotionally.
In my experience coaching 100s of busy guys, hunger is the top reason men fail to stick with a diet long enough to see personally meaningful results.
Trust me, I get it. Nobody wants to work hard only to hit a seemingly impossible road block 3 weeks in.
Here are 5 strategies we use in all of our builtXyou programs to help guys mitigate, manage, and overcome hunger.
1. High satiety foods.
Choose foods that are high in volume but low in calories.
If you eat a brown rice bowl with veggies and chicken, you’ll get a high volume of food for let's say 500 cals. It’ll look and feel significant.
If you eat a cheeseburger for the same 500 cals, it is easy to consume quickly and within minutes you can still feel hungry.
Eating a diet high in fiber rich fruits and vegetables and lean proteins helps you eat less calories and be more satisfied.
2. Limit liquid calories
Skip the orange juice, soda, and even smoothie when you are hungry. Soda and juice contain high calories but do little to help us feel satisfied.
You can chug a can of Coke in 5 seconds and though it might taste great, you’ll have just consumed 139 cals without it contributing to your hunger.
When hunger is an issue, stick with whole foods that require you to chew, use cutlery, and eat from a plate.
3. Eat evenly spaced out meals
Guys often skip breakfast because they don’t have time. Then by lunch time, they are ready to eat anything and everything.
Avoid getting SUPER hungry by eating evenly spaced out meals throughout the day to limit overeating and poor decision making in the long run.
We find 4 meals per day spaced 3-4 hours apart satisfies hunger and helps avoid low energy at any point.
4. Note when you’re the hungriest
There is no magic timing to eat. If you notice you are hungriest in the evening, but don’t feel hungry at lunch then you could conceivably shift your higher volume of food to dinner time.
With this strategy however, make sure you don’t disrupt your sleep by eating tough to digest foods close to bedtime.
5. Look ahead - should you increase output or reduce input?
A question we ask our builtXyou clients that works incredibly well when planning their weeks training, food prep, and mindsets is “Is this week an increased output week or a decreased input week”. Eating less calories isn't the only way to affect energy balance.
If you have a busy week where getting extra steps or a weekend bike ride isn’t likely, then you might stick with controlling the intake of food/calories.
If you have a lighter work week that would allow for additional walks, workouts, or yard work, then you can create a deficit by increasing output and never having to reduce your food and calorie intake.