Despite all the goodwill in the world, we are motivated, we control ourselves, we eat … but we always HUNGER. So where does the problem come from? Is it possible that our body rebels against the diet? Unless hunger is first and foremost in our head? We have collected your questions in the forums and are answering them. Our mission, get rid of you – finally! -this feeling of hunger. Let's go !
We have all gone through the phase "I want to lose weight", wrongly or not elsewhere. And very often then, we feel a sensation that turns into obsession: hunger. And then an irrepressible desire arises to empty the fridge … We may be aware of the crime, nothing helps.
The urge to eat takes over!
Suddenly, then these 3 kg lost after a -th- slimming diet, bing, we recover 4 two weeks later.
Now we know that diets don't make you lose weight in the long term. They worsen overweight, cause medical complications, eating disorders and psychological difficulties. Better to eat a balanced diet *, a more valid principle – and not just for morale! – than to follow an eternal diet.
Am I hungry … or not?
Oddly enough, it is often enough to open the refrigerator or the cupboard to feel hunger rising. But be careful not to confuse hunger and gluttony. Indeed, it is good to remember that it is necessary to wait 2 hours after the meal to know if one is really hungry again. Sometimes hunger can be a kind of emotional reaction to a psychological shock.
Biblio recipes: To eat healthier, these recipe books will help you:
Getting to know your hunger from childhood
It starts from childhood, and even from early childhood, where we learn what hunger and the feeling of satiety. It is therefore important to emphasize learning from parents.
All of life, we carry the unconscious after-effects of early eating experiences: excessive rations, fear of missing, forcing, compulsion to eat at full speed, no longer knowing how to stop, accepting to undergo the food beyond the sensations of the body , are traces of the experiences of the first two or three years of life.
The right attitude for parents
– Do not use food to console or distract a child.
– Do not restrict his menus according to YOUR preferences, give him the choice to like all foods!
– Do not insist that he finish his plate at all costs. And conversely, do not stop it if it has not finished.
– Do not praise him for eating such and such a dish. He would risk eating it to please you and not according to his hunger.
Never forget that you are the model, but that the control of hunger must be that of the child.
To go further, consult the Nutrition guide for children and adolescents for parents, published by INPES.
Hunger in the head
- When stress disrupts hunger
When a person is on a diet, they tend to expend a lot of energy to control their hunger. In times of stress, she can no longer struggle and feels a feeling of hunger so great that she must eat. To avoid this kind of reaction, try to relax by going for a walk or dancing, by taking a musical break; it's up to you to find the parade. Basically, lose calories instead of taking them!
In the same fault as stress, other emotions can turn out to be real enemies such as anxiety, sadness and boredom.
The only way to fight them: relax, go out, air your head if you can't go out. Any activity that stimulates and allows you to escape mentally and / or physically.
When we eat because we are tired, it comes either from previous reasons that put us in a state of (mental) fatigue, or from the fact that we lack sleep (physically).
One solution: do everything to relieve pressure and encourage sleep to be able to sleep. No exciting past 2 p.m., no sports late at night, no screens after 9:30 p.m. for example (yes)! If nothing helps, consult a doctor, better an effective well-framed health check than a loss of sleep and extra pounds that settle.
Also read our article on the sleep routine to install in the evening, a super useful back-planning.
Eating at fixed times to control hunger
It would seem, according to a study published in March 2019 by the US National Libray of Medicine, it is shown that eating between meals (or eating too often during the day) makes you fat. In particular, the scientists looked at the number of meals in a day and the times at which they were ingested. Conclusion: people who eat up to 6 times a day, including quite late at night, disrupt their circadian cycles and promote weight gain, with a real impact on overall health, brain function and also on the gut microbiota.
How can I no longer be hungry? Also take the time to eat. Experts recommend spending at least 30 minutes on your meal. And to respect a 4 hour break between each meal, and ideally 12 hours between the evening meal and the next day's breakfast.
Learn to identify the quantities needed
Despite all the previous advice, why am I still hungry? In fact, rather than deprive yourself in spite of common sense, you must above all learn to eat a balanced diet. An important nuance in its eating behavior.
> To find out more about nutritional balance, see our articles here.
So you have to eat your fill but in an intelligent way. We can limit snacking linked to the pseudo-feeling of hunger thanks to larger meals and better suited to everyone's needs.
Eating at meal times does not mean that we have to devour everything around us during our breaks, but rather identify the quantity suited to our satiety. And before choosing the right foods that contribute to satiety without making you fat, it is above all necessary to listen to your body …
Know how to listen to your body so that you are never hungry
Do not follow any diet to lose weight! To properly control your hunger, you have to learn to listen to your body, and it's not that simple! How often to eat, in what quantities, and also how to recognize the food that we need (or not)?
First, avoid products that our body does not support. What is not always obvious … Intolerances and allergies increase, moreover, we are not equal in front of the digestion and the assimilation of food. Some people forget it but we are all different, and not only externally!
The morphology as well as the genetic and medical history of each condition the impact that certain foods will have on weight loss. This is why we do not hesitate to make an appointment with a dietitian or nutritionist who can provide us with information. So the professional, after having identified our physiological weaknesses, our crunches, our deficiencies … we will advise an adapted diet taking into account all your parameters facing the diet.
Sport, the antidote to hunger
How do you stop being hungry all the time? A remedy to no longer feel hungry (whether physical or psychological)? The sport ! Because playing sports when dieting does not necessarily increase appetite. Indeed, neurotransmitters (dopamine, adrenaline or noradrenaline) prevent the brain from receiving the hunger signal.
- When sport stirs your appetite …
However, some would say that sport digs! Intense training causes the body to expend maximum energy in order to compensate. And the brain sends a signal to the stomach asking it to store as much as it will have to spend during a session. So what do we do ?
If you want to lose weight, do not starve yourself before your session. At the risk of throwing yourself on the fridge when you get home!
However, be careful respect a digestion time reasonable: wait approximately 2 hours before moving. At the beginning of the regular practice of a sport, if you gain weight, it is normal. How? 'Or' What ? Simply because we gain muscle, always heavier than fat!
Read also on aufeminin
> 10 anti-food cravings tips
> 8 "myths" on diets: do not swallow anything to really lose weight
> Why are these famous diets not keeping their promise?