Do you feel legit hungry, even shortly after you’ve eaten? Are you frustrated because your fullness signals seem to be on permanent vacation?
If you’re always feeling hungry, there are many possible reasons. And solutions that work to tame chronic hunger.
You may feel hungry after eating due to a lack of protein, fat or fiber in your diet. Not eating enough high volume foods. Dehydration. Hormone disregulation like leptin resistance.
Behavioral and lifestyle choices, including excessive stress, can cause excessive hunger too.
Hunger can be physical, psychological or even a combination of the two. Unfortunately, it can often be difficult to differentiate between physical hunger sensations and an emotional craving for food.
Physical hunger: Physical hunger happens when your body needs nourishment. When you’re hungry, your stomach may “growl” and feel empty, or you may get a headache, feel irritable, or be unable to concentrate. Your blood sugar levels dip, your stomach produces a hormone called ghrelin, prompting you to eat.
Most people can go several hours, and even longer once the body fully adjusts to an intermittent fasting life style, between meals before feeling hungry again.
Since your stomach is a muscular organ that expands and contracts, when it stretches after you eat food and drink liquid, you begin to feel full.
Then the hormone called leptin signals your body to stop eating.
Emotional hunger: Psychological or emotional hunger is not caused by the need for nutrition. It happens when you have an emotional connection to or yearning for a certain food due to habit, stress or environmental cues. Unlike physical hunger, emotional hunger triggers cravings for specific foods — usually a sweet treat, comfort foods, or salty or crunchy snack foods.
You know, it’s that feeling when a chicken breast is just a meh and only chocolate will do.
Some medical conditions can cause excessive hunger.
Your body relies on food for energy. Unless you’ve introduced intermittent fasting into your food protocol and have become metabolically flexible, it’s predictable that you’ll feel hungry if you don’t eat for a few hours.
However, if you’re plagued by constant hunger, even after eating, something more could be going on with your health.
Let’s take a closer look at a few possible medical explanations before delving into lifestyle factors.
If you think a medical concern is behind an “always hungry” feeling, be sure to consult a medical professional.
Diabetes.
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- Extreme thirst
- The need to pee more often
- Weight loss you can’t explain
- Blurry vision
- Cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal
- Tingling or pain in your hands or feet
- Fatigue
Low blood sugar.
- Anxiety
- Feeling like your heart is skipping a beat
- Pale skin
- Shaking
- Sweating
- Tingling around the mouth
- A hard time staying alert
- Change in mood
- Clumsiness
- More accidents
- Trouble staying awake during the day
- Weight gain
Stress.
- Angry outbursts
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Sleep problems
- Upset stomach
Food choices.
Not all foods fill you up the same way.
The ones that curb hunger best are high in protein — like meats, fish, or dairy products — or high in fiber.
Good sources of fiber are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans.
Diet soda, highly processed foods and artificial sweeteners.
Many people drink sugar-free soda to cut back on calories and lose weight. But the artificial sweetener in these drinks tells your brain to expect calories it can use for fuel.
Lacking nutrients, your body keeps pumping out insulin stimulated by the sweetness. If diet soda, processed and artificially sweetened foods are making you hungry, you may also notice:
- Headaches
- Sugar cravings
- Weight gain
Dehydration.
- Dizziness
- Feeling tired
- Urinating less often or having dark-colored urine
Some research shows that if you have a glass of water before or during a meal, you might feel full on fewer calories.
Exercise.
Are you eating enough?
It’s actually possible that your hunger could also be a sign that you are not eating enough. Yes, I know you probably think that’s the last possible reason, but we need to look closely at your food choices.
Are you distracted when you eat?
In case you’re eating too quickly or distracted at mealtimes, you can also practice mindful eating. Minimizing distractions increases your focus and slows your chewing to help your brain realize when you’re full.
It takes your brain about 20 minutes to register satiety.
If you’re feeling hungry all the time, it’s time to assess your diet and lifestyle choices.
My It’s Never Too Late Weight Loss program will help you determine the changes you can make to put a stop to always feeling hungry and thinking about food.
Whether your hunger and cravings are physiological or emotional, I can help you decide your next best steps to manage chronic hunger.
Isn’t it time to take me up on my offer for your FREE Strategy Call so you can begin to gain peace and freedom around food?
Make 2022 your year to shed the extra weight you’ve been carrying and fretting about for so long.
It’s Never Too Late to make your weight loss journey easier. A year from now, you will thank yourself you started today.
I’m looking forward to meeting you soon.
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