Four Quick Tips to Curb Hunger
Nobody likes feeling hungry. But who doesn’t love watching the numbers on the scale get smaller and smaller? Follow these four quick tips to keep your healthy eating habits on track without battling a grumbling tummy.
1. Drink More Water. Did you know: sometimes the physical symptoms that our brains interpret as hunger are actually signs of thirst? The next time you get the munchies, try grabbing a tall glass of water instead of a snack. Water is an essential component of your body’s makeup, and your metabolism can’t function without it. It’s critical to make sure you’re drinking enough on a daily basis. That’s about half your body weight, in ounces—even more if you’re exercising a lot.
2. Turn up the Volume. Studies have shown that most people have a specific “set point” for food intake, so simply eating less volume can trigger hunger. That’s where Jenny’s life-changing Volumetrics® approach comes in. By eating a higher volume of foods that are lower in calorie density (non-starchy vegetables, for example), you can reduce your caloric intake while still feeling full and satisfied. Better still: you’ll naturally create meals that are higher in key vitamins and minerals.
3. Get Moving. You already know that exercise is good for you. It releases feel-good endorphins, supports a healthy heart and helps to stave off chronic disease. And even though you might feel a bit hungrier right after beginning a workout program, in the long run, people who exercise on a regular basis not only have better appetite control—they tend to make better nutritional choices and are more successful at maintaining a healthy weight over time.
4. Press Pause. It’s also important to recognize the difference between true hunger and a craving. Hunger is a physiological request from your body for you to give it fuel. If your blood sugar is low, or it’s been more than four hours since your last meal, you probably ARE hungry. But if you’re just hitting a mid-afternoon, mmmm-potato-chips-sound-amazing slump, that’s not hunger—that’s a craving. Studies show that if you don’t cave in, cravings usually pass in about 10-15 minutes.
VOLUMETRICS® is a federally registered trademark of Barbara Rolls, PhD, used under exclusive license by Jenny Craig Operations, Inc.