Hungry when intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is one of the diet trends that has gained massive popularity in recent years. It works by restricting your eating window to a specific period, either daily or weekly. People who follow intermittent fasting are believed to experience various health benefits such as weight loss, improved metabolism and reduced inflammation.

But what happens when you feel hungry while intermittently fasting? In this article, we will discuss several ways to deal with hunger pangs while following an intermittent fasting plan.

Acknowledge Your Hunger

Hunger is natural, and it’s essential to listen to your body signals. Ignoring hunger can lead to overeating later on in the day or bingeing during your feeding period.

If you feel hungry during your fasts, it might be because you’re used to snacking throughout the day. Suddenly cutting down calories can leave a void in your stomach and cause feelings of emptiness.

Don’t worry; there are ways around this! The trick is learning how to curb appetite cravings while maintaining energy levels until the next meal comes along without ruining all efforts altogether.

Drink Water

Drinking water can help suppress appetite and decrease feelings of hunger. Aside from keeping you hydrated during longer fast periods (like Ramadan), drinking water before meals could also reduce calories consumed visibly compared with those who don’t drink regularly beforehand!

Flavoured beverages like coffee, tea or sparkling water count towards hydration too but beware of adding sugar that contains carbohydrates which break a fast state if consumed beyond necessary limits (not ideal if trying out intermittent fasting plans)!

Exploring different types/flavors of tea gives an adequate repertoire for experimentation each time boredom sets in!

Chew Gum

Sometimes chewing gum between meals could temporarily alleviate any tummy grumbles (no pun intended) especially for people working overtime/driving solo shifting their focus away from food rather than consuming unnecessary/unintended calories- but let’s not slip this tongue-in-cheek idea to a religious or political gathering anytime soon!

Incorporate Protein and Fiber

Foods high in protein and fiber help keep hunger at bay for longer (hint: aim for eggs or egg alternatives) while providing essential nutrients needed by the body during challenging lean fast periods or during 2-day fasting, ADF diets.

Adding legumes like beans, lentils (into meals) and healthy fats such as flaxseed oil (in salad dressings) also keeps you feeling fuller for more prolonged time intervals than carb-heavy snacks!

Distract Yourself

When we focus on other things that aren’t about food, our desire to eat tends to decrease. This distraction could take shape in various forms depending on someone’s interests/hobbies. Therefore focusing energy into physical activities e.g bike ride/jogging/painting will leave one less distracted by their hunger cravings & invariably burn some calories as well (Win-win situation here people)!

Watching television or browsing social media won’t be helpful because your mind remains idle while your hunger signals continue going up until they are uncontrollable! So it is better always prioritizing making active good hobbies those distractions from unwanted food cravings with a list close at hand.

Be Mindful of Your Eating Habits

Mindful eating habits help improve digestion plus aid weight loss over long-term gradual changes if done repeatedly over time reducing binge eating incidences where possible hence helping reduce calorie intake fairly enough as advised by many practitioners over the years now recommendations followed widely these days eg WW program

Avoid buying junk/fast foods when shopping preferably staying away from tempting sections within the grocery store (.e.g bakery sweets/biscuits chips etc.) considering choosing whole-foods instead re-decorating your fridge and pantry helps actualize these intentions too affordably managing budgets given keto/low-carb options abound across diverse ethnicities nowadays!.

Also, being aware of portion control goes a long way in managing any meal’s calorie composition while ensuring food satisfies basic needs non-excessively-! keep the carbs as low as possible.

Takeaway

Managing hunger during intermittent fasting depends mainly on consistency and one’s habits. Staving off unwanted snack intake comes by incorporating small but significant changes in daily routines. The longer you do it, the easier the process becomes!

Remember that nutrition is not only about respecting your body by mindful eating habits but also staying disciplined practicing strong will-power consistently!

There are numerous ways to go around dealing with short-term body cravings without smashing down calories/stifling weight loss efforts; experimentation reigns supreme always until discovering tricks maintaining life-balance based specifically on personal preferences rather than following another person’s “well-meaning”fully uninformed advice leading astray (just kidding).

By implementing these methods discussed herein above, individuals achieve long-lasting discipline-centric mindsets still leaving them feeling satisfied both mentally/hunger-wise throughout each fasting-meal period adequately reflecting vital intrinsic values fostered over time (probably three months or more) yielding unintended obvious physical results – plus confidence knowing achieving what was before impossible couldn’t be simpler after all (not rocket-science)!. May the force/determination be with you always (sorry for resorting to Star Wars reference too)

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