How to Deal with Hunger When Dieting

by Anna Jones, Chief Editor

One of the main reasons that people cheat on their diets or just give up altogether is
that frankly, they’re hungry. And being hungry all the time is difficult to live with for a
day, much less for weeks on end.

Here are some tips to make sure that hunger pangs don’t derail all of your hard work.
Don’t skip breakfast, or you will starving and cranky by mid-morning. A breakfast with
complex carbs and low fat protein will help stave off snack attacks.

Plan ahead. Make sure that you have low calorie snacks and drinks with you. Drink
plenty of water and eat snacks like celery or apple slices.

Make sure that you have some fat included in your diet - you need some. Choose
healthy fats, like olive oil. Mediterranean people include a lot of olive oil in their cooking
and they have famously low rates of obesity and heart disease.

Take note of what times of day you become hungry and plan your meals and snacks
accordingly. If you always cave in around 4 p.m., schedule a snack for 3:30 and drink a
big glass of water too.

Don’t cut your calories too drastically. It will make your metabolism slow down and
cause you to be plagued with hunger all of the time.

Eat several servings of bulky low calorie foods a day. Broccoli, cauliflower, salads, most
vegetables…these will fill you up and help stave off hunger.

Stay away from sugary snacks and simple carbohydrates like sticky buns, cake and
donuts. If you eat them your blood sugar will soar, and then it will crash and you will find
yourself irritable, jittery and famished.

Eat sufficient protein. Scientific studies show that protein leaves people feeling full
longer than carbohydrates does.

Eat complex carbohydrates half an hour to an hour before exercising to fuel your
workout session and also so you don’t end up feeling absolutely ravenous afterwards.

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