Hunger is a great sign your metabolism is in healthy working order. In fact, a lack of hunger is a red flag. At one of my past nutrition seminars I had a middle aged women raise her hand during the question/answer part of the presentation and ask,
“What if I’m not hungry until about 1pm? I wake up and I’m just not hungry, so I don’t eat.”
Your body should be hungry for food when you wake up in the morning as well as hungry for your next meal. Most Americans go from HANGRY to uncomfortably full, neither of which we want for our clients. Your metabolism adjusts to how you feed it. When you starve your body your metabolism slows to preserve your life. Putting your body through drastic swings of depravation and then binge mode doesn’t allow your body to build muscle and burn fat the way it should. It also can do damage to your hormones which in turn can have negative effects on your metabolism. It’s a vicious cycle, but the good news is it can be corrected with macro counting when done properly! Read more about the process HERE.
The best way to avoid these drastic swings in hunger is to plan ahead. The more planning the better. Overtime what may feel like lots of planning and preparation become habitual, in fact second nature.
Bring snacks for the road, anticipate what your next meal will be, and keep food prepped in the fridge. The drive thru is never quite as tempting when you have a plan in place and a refrigerator loaded with food.
Self reflecting on your hunger levels throughout the day can help tremendously. Are you noticing yourself getting HANGRY between meals? Fill in that time a snack or increase your portion sizes a bit.
Here’s a quick list of some of our favorite macro friendly go-to snacks that keeps HANGER at bay.
- Beef Jerky
- Apples
- String Cheese
- Protein shake
- Greek Yogurt
- Bananas w/ peanut butter
- Deli Meat
- Protein bars
- Cottage Cheese
- Nuts
Remember that healthy hunger is a great thing. That’s your metabolism burning! Starving your body, on the other hand, can cause your metabolism to slow. Trade depravation and restriction for fueling your body for muscle building and you’ll see fat loss and body composition change like never before!
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