How to stop feeling hungry all the time

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I was raised in a household where fast foods and junk foods were more commonly consumed than home cooked meals, and it felt as if we were eating constantly. My childhood life seemed to revolve around food. I would be thinking about my next meal while I was already having one, and I would NEVER feel full. 

As a result, I got addicted to sugar, and I quickly developed hormonal imbalances that led to prediabetes, infertility, nutritional deficiencies, including anemia, and I gained a lot of weight.

Now all of that is in the past. I eat one meal a day, and I’m full. I haven’t touched (nor missed) anything with processed sugar in several years, and I can fast for 24 hours straight every day without thinking about food nor feeling hungry.

So in this article I will go through exactly what I did to overcome my obsession with food and how I cured my constant hunger.

What are the reasons for feeling constantly hungry?

First let me just list most of  the possible reasons you could be feeling hungry all the time, and I assure you, none of it has anything to do with willpower. These are:
  • Nutritional deficiencies (malnutrition)
  • Malabsorption of nutrients
  • Medication (such as birth control pills or antidepressants). I certainly went through both of those and they seemed to have that side effect on me.
  • Hormonal imbalances
  • Gut dysbiosis
  • Eating foods that cause a blood sugar spike or increase appetite
  • Bad sleep quality
  • Stress or depression
  • Overeating (weird, I know!)
  • Mindless munching or snacking
  • Seeing food as something more than fuel (like a reward, comfort, or something to have when we’re bored)
  • Dehydration
  • Not eating enough to sustain one’s physical exertion (for example, when I see women starting something like Crossfit for the first time, but still eat like only 1200 calories a day)
  • Living in an obesogenic environment (peer pressure, food advertisements, social gatherings and celebrations with a lot of food involved etc)

Step 1 - Treat underlying conditions

A lot of people have this misconception that it’s all about calories in, calories out, and willpower, so they don’t bother looking for any chronic illness that may be the cause for this feeling of constant hunger. Another misconception, one that even doctors mistakenly advise, is that you need to lose weight in order to treat the condition. 

But what if that condition is the cause for that excess weight? Then it won’t matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to lose that weight, or if you do, you won’t be able to keep it off. 

What you really need to do is get a proper diagnosis, find out what the real problem is, and fix it, preferably through your diet. 

If, while having a chronic condition, you focus only on losing weight (such as with a calorie deficit approach), then you’re gonna have a hard time. You’re gonna be constantly feeling hungry, irritated, weak and frustrated for not getting results.

However,  if you focus your diet into curing your underlying issue instead, the weight loss will happen as a side benefit almost automatically and effortlessly.  And that was definitely the case for me. 

Step 2 - Treat gut dysbiosis

One of the underlying issues I had was gut dysbiosis. Most of us have walked on this planet at some point in time with a gut dysbiosis. That’s because in these modern times, we are living in an obesogenic and highly sanitized environment, with easy access to an enormous amount and variety of ultra-processed foods, and also due to medication such as antibiotics.

I will go into further details on what gut dysbiosis is, and how to treat it in a later post, but in a nutshell, gut dysbiosis is when there’s an imbalance in the gut microbiota, meaning there are more pathogenic bacteria populated in your gut than healthy ones. 

This in turn can cause many problems, including inflammation in the body, weakened immune system, neurological conditions, malabsorption of nutrients, gastrointestinal diseases and digestive issues, type 2 diabetes and obesity just to name a few.

In upcoming videos, I will tell you exactly what you need to do to restore balance to your gut’s microbiome. This is one of the most important factors for losing fat, building muscle and staying healthy, and you won’t even have to count any calories, nor stay hungry.

Step 3 - Nutritionally balanced diet

Certain foods can increase your appetite, and other foods can help diminish it. Abstaining from certain foods through restrictive diets will also cause nutrient deficiencies, and therefore an increase in cravings and appetite as well.

A nutritionally balanced diet that focuses on gut health has been the most important factor for me to be able to lose weight after surgical menopause, treat my diseases and finally stop feeling hungry.

If you’re interested in knowing exactly what a nutritionally balanced diet really looks like, stay tuned, I will cover all of that and more in future articles. For now, here’s a few tips on how you can stop feeling hungry all the time:
  • Avoid junk foods and processed foods
  • Increase lean protein and healthy fats for satiety
  • Avoid low-fat products. Low-fat processed foods are the scam of the century. A lot of the nutrients in certain foods, such as in dairy, eggs or nuts are in their fat. In low fat or nonfat processed products these important nutrients get replaced by harmful ingredients, such as excess sodium or processed sugar etc. The only dietary fats that are unhealthy are those in red meat and refined oils.
  • Stop counting your calories. Your body does not know numbers, and the calorie calculators don’t know what’s going on in your body. 
  • In contrast, you should also avoid overeating. I always felt more hungry when I ate more than I should have. It sounds illogical, but it’s true. How to avoid overeating without counting calories, will be explained in another article.
  • Do not restrict your macros.
  • Avoid restrictive diets. 
  • Choose organic, unprocessed foods as they are more nutrient dense. (And seriously, when was the last time you overindulged in lentils or salmon?)

Step 4 - Adopt healthy habits

  • Exercise every day. Exercise suppresses appetite by releasing hormones that reduce hunger.
  • Decrease meal frequency and avoid snacking. Studies have shown that a rise in insulin increases hunger. What this basically means, is the more meals you have in the day, the more hungry you will feel.
  • Which is why I recommend intermittent fasting. No adult human being needs to eat every 2 hours. Fasting will decrease ghrelin and increase leptin. This change in hormones will regulate your hunger levels.
  • Eat mindfully. No electronic devices on the table. Be aware of what you are eating and chew slowly. This will send a signal to your brain on what you are eating and how much, and in turn the brain will send you a signal on when to stop. I’ve noticed that when I was going through my emails, or reading a research study or a book while I was having a meal, I would finish that meal and I would still be as hungry as when I started eating. Now that I no longer multitask while I’m eating, I start feeling full before I even finish the meal and don’t get hungry again until the next day.
  • Have a post-meal routine, such as doing the dishes, brushing your teeth, and walking for 15 minutes. That will get your mind off the desire for dessert.
  • Stay busy (learn a new language, take an online course, read a book, start a side hustle or a hobby). Find something that makes you so passionate when working on a project, that you forget to eat.

Step 5 - Fix your relationship with food

And that means not having a relationship at all. From rewarding ourselves by celebrating with food, to seeking comfort in food in tough times, to all these public holidays, religious holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and so forth. These are all bad practices. And just because everyone is doing it, that doesn't mean it's a healthy way to live. We certainly weren’t doing any of this 2 million years ago, or even a few hundred years ago.

I mean, think about birthdays. You’ve got your birthday, your family’s birthdays, relatives, friends, coworkers. I’ve worked in some firms with over 300 people employed. Some of these companies even have a birthday party committee, which basically means that from the managing director all the way down to the janitor, if it’s their birthday, the company will get enough cake for all of us. Do you have any idea what that means in an office of at least 300 people? Cake for everyone, every, single, day! 

Then you have traditions like Valentine’s Day chocolates, Halloween candy etc. And you say to yourself, “I’ll just indulge a bit on Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, whatever, and I’ll get back on the diet on Monday”. But that never sticks to something long term, because there’s always something else to celebrate with food. After overindulging on pizza and ice cream on a regular weekend, Monday comes and now you’re dealing with brain fog, irritability, lethargy, and even more hunger and cravings. 

You try to stay disciplined throughout the day while you’re dealing with all of that, but it’s John’s birthday at the office. So you say, it’s ok, I’ll be back on track on Tuesday. But then you remember that Tuesday is date night, so you overindulge in fast food, then on Wednesday you indulged in ice cream because you broke up with the guy, then on Thursday Stacey brought some homemade muffins which you had to try because you didn’t want to be rude and they looked delicious, and before you know it, you have effectively spent the entire year eating nothing but junk foods.

Research shows that just a single serving of processed foods, junk foods, fast foods, sugars and artificial sweeteners, is enough to disrupt our gut microbiome significantly. And based on how bad it is, it could take 2 months to get your gut back in order, or it could take 2 years! But you’re not reversing the situation at all if you keep allowing yourself to have these so-called treats, because you'll keep feeding the bad bacteria.

I know it’s a tough pill to swallow, but food is not meant to be an all day obsession just to satisfy our taste buds. Our bodies cannot handle the workload trying to process and digest all these unnatural foods and at such a high quantity.

Conclusion

Food can either be your fuel and your medicine, or it can be your poison. You have to decide what is more important to you: your health, or a social life revolving around unhealthy foods that can lead to chronic disease. 

If you just give what your body truly needs and nothing further, then your body won’t pester you with constant hunger, obesity and diseases. On the contrary, you may even find yourself to be more focused, more productive, and a much happier person.


Disclaimer
I am NOT a doctor, personal trainer, registered dietician, nutritionist, athlete, influencer, nor at the end of my fitness journey. The content of this blog is based on what worked for me and is for informational purposes only, not a replacement for medical advice from a professional. Furthermore, we and our bodies are unique, so everybody is different. My results may not reflect your own. Any action you take upon the information provided by ZenGainz is strictly at your own risk.

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