Being hungry is the main problem with dietary programs. It’s as if the food we eat doesn’t matter, just the calories. As a result, too many of us worry about squeezing in a cookie for dessert, completely ignoring all the bad food we just ate.
In Day 1 of the 12 Days of The Academy, we are going to talk about hunger – specifically, HOW you get hungry. Think of this as the physical part of getting hungry. Tomorrow I’ll cover WHY you get hungry – think food cravings.
Note: Hunger is a VERY complex thing. I’m breaking it down here to an easily understandable message.
Your Body Gets Hungry in 2 Ways
Those two ways are: 1) Nutritional quality of food you eat (on a consistent basis) and 2) Access to energy.
These are two separate, but related, things.
1. Nutritional Quality of Food
Inherently, this should make sense to you. I mean, no one in their right mind would argue that 500 calories of Oreo cookies is the same as 500 calories from chicken breast and broccoli. But this is where we run into problems with our hyper focus on calories.
This hyper-focus on calories makes it easier to overlook how important the QUALITY of the foods we eat is compared to the QUANTITY. But your body will not let you overlook it for long!
Every cell in your body needs a constant supply of vitamins, minerals, energy and other nutrients. It gets these things from the foods you eat. Your body is also a repository for storing some of the things it needs, like energy – think fat tissue. So…if you’re not getting enough of what your body needs through diet and the repository is low (or it may not be low – see below), you are going to get hungry.
Now think for a minute about the standard diet.
Breakfast is a bowl of cereal or a bagel or something similar. Or even worse, donuts! Lunch isn’t much different, with a trip to the sandwich shop, fast food place or a quick lunch special. By the time you get home and are ready for dinner, you’re tired. You’ve already eaten two meals but you’re hungry again and likely too tired to cook. If you cook, it will be something quick – like spaghetti.
When you consider this day of food (and every other one just like it), you’ve consumed a whole bunch of calories but little nutrition. What is the nutritional value of a bowl of cereal or bagel? Or fast food? Or spaghetti for dinner? The answer: It’s terrible!
Obviously, this is a problem. Most of us think that calories are all that matter. But when we consistently follow this type of meal plan, we put very little nutrition in our body. And since these nutrients are essential to health, vital resources start getting depleted. Our body recognizes this, sends a signal to your brain and you get hungry.
It’s a cycle that too many people repeat over and over and over again.
This leads to another problem – a somewhat huge problem. Most of these calories end up in your fat tissue. This is one of the repositories I mentioned above. While your fat tissue may not be depleted, your metabolism is acting as if it is.
So how do you fix this problem?
It’s pretty simple – avoid foods low in nutritional quality and eat foods high in nutritional quality. Easier said than done, given the environment of caloric focus.
You can generally say that foods low in nutritional quality are processed and can be purchased at the store in a plastic bag or cardboard box. Conversely, foods high in nutritional quality are protein, naturally occurring fats, most vegetables and a few fruits.
At the bottom of this post there are some rules to follow regarding food selection and meal planning.
2. Access to Energy
This is another way we get hungry and it refers to the repository of fat tissue I mentioned above.
Imagine this is you. You get up, eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then head out the door for work. By 10:00 am, you’re hungry again.
Why?
Well, reason #1 above says cereal provides no real nutritional value. This means you aren’t feeding your body. It also means you will be hungry again – sooner than you think. What could make this problem even worse is access to energy (or more appropriately, a “lack” of access to energy). Let’s say you’re 30 or more pounds overweight. That’s a lot of fat tissue your body could burn to supplement its energy needs (Remember, earlier in this post I said your body needs a constant supply of energy). But what if it can’t burn it efficiently? What if your body struggles to access that fat tissue? What do you think happens when this is the case?
If your body needs energy and cannot access your fat tissue, in spite of having 30 (or more) pounds of fat, you will get hungry. It’s the repository. It’s there. Your body just can’t access it and burn it. This makes weight loss VERY DIFFICULT for people that are overweight. They are stuck in a vicious cycle. They have fat tissue to lose but can’t burn it. They eat fewer calories of the same foods, but since they can’t access the fat tissue and are eating poor quality nutrition, they get hungry faster than before. This cycle just repeats itself.
Consider the standard calorie-focused dietary plan: Eat less food. Without changing the quality of food you eat, you are going to struggle. And you are going to struggle big time. By continuing to consume foods of low quality nutrition, you continue to deprive your body of the nutrition it needs. Further, because you are eating less, you are putting less energy into your body. This will make the “access to energy” problem even worse. You will end up getting hungry sooner and the hunger pangs will be stronger.
Your metabolic flexibility determines how easily (or not) your body can switch between burning fat tissue or glucose (or glycogen) to provide the energy it needs. In Day 3 of this series, we’ll discuss metabolic flexibility in more detail.
But it is clear you need to improve metabolic flexibility, so you can alleviate this “access to energy” problem!
As mentioned, HOW you get hungry is dependent upon two related factors. So there is a single solution.
Eating to be LESS Hungry
When you eat food that feeds your body, you start eliminating the access to energy problem. So in the end, you are really helping your body deal with hunger from two important aspects. When you are less hungry, you consume fewer calories. When you consume fewer calories, you lose weight.
Here are some rules and guidelines to put it into practice.
Rule #1. Always eat (the right kind of) breakfast.
When you wake up in the morning, your metabolism is just about perfect. Eating the right kind of breakfast will help to keep it that way.
Your metabolism is just about perfect because after a long night of (hopefully restful) sleep, your body is as good as it’s going to get at burning fat. If/When you eat the right breakfast, you can help keep it that way.
The right kind of breakfast has ALMOST ALL of its calories from either protein or fat. In other words, there should be essentially zero carbohydrate calories in your breakfast. Some examples: eggs, beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc…
The calories in meat are essentially protein and fat, with almost zero calories coming from carbohydrates. You can also have some plain Greek yogurt (half-fat or full-fat, not fat free) with some berries mixed in – blueberries, strawberries, etc… This is a good option for mixing it up now and then.
Rule #2. DO NOT SNACK BETWEEN MEALS!!!!
One main objective of a ketogenic or near-ketogenic diet is to help your body get better at burning fat. The more food you put into your system, the less your metabolism has to rely on burning fat tissue. So do your level best not to eat between meals. If you get hungry between meals, do your best to make it to the next meal and use it as a learning experience. It means you didn’t eat enough at your previous meal. So when that meal comes back around, eat a little more so you won’t get so hungry.
While it may not seem possible, this will get easier over time and as your metabolic flexibility improves.
Rule #3. Lunch should be the same as breakfast with some vegetables
When I say the same as breakfast, that means primarily fat and protein. But now you can add some vegetables. Some examples include a grilled beef or chicken with mixed greens salad or a grilled protein with sauteed vegetables. Cafe Express has a grilled chicken breast with a side of vegetables lunch option. This is really good and nearly every restaurant will have an option like this.
Rule #4. Dinner should be the same as lunch with an option!
That option is to add a small serving of starch. In The Academy, the only starch we allow in the beginning is potato – approximately 1/2 pound. We also recommend that it be baked, boiled or cooked in the microwave and not fried in oil like french fries. You can put a little butter (not margarine) on the potato to make it more palatable.
We recommend potato in this amount for a couple of reasons: 1) It tends to be a very satiating starch and 2) This amount of starch is enough to keep most people on the edge of ketosis. This is what makes our diet a near-ketogenic diet. This recommendation is also important for type 2 diabetics that are not yet taking insulin, since insulin acts as a buffer to prevent ketoacidosis.
Some other things to consider:
- Drink lots of water. This approach to eating tends to have a significant diuretic effect, so you’ll want to drink plenty of fluids for replenishment.
- Consider an electrolyte supplement. If you get tired, sluggish or lacking in energy, the diuretic effect may also be depleting your electrolytes. No Salt is a popular one and one teaspoon contains all the potassium you need per day. No Salt can be found in just about any grocery store.
- Monitor your hunger levels – in between meals and when it’s time to eat. Many of us fall into a habit of eating at certain times of the day just because it’s lunch time or whatever. Always think and consider whether or not you are hungry because you may not be. It’s possible you just think you’re hungry because of what time it is.
As we get through these 12 days, I will be covering other topics like exercise, sleep and stress. For now, we are discussing food and hunger.
Wrapping it up
A ketogenic or near-ketogenic diet is a diet that helps your body get better at burning fat. When you eat foods to help feed your body and these foods also eliminate the “access to energy” problem created by a standard diet, you are making significant improvements in your health – and, knocking down that repository of fat tissue!
Many chronic conditions are also accompanied by vascular problems – high blood pressure, high cholesterol and, most prominently, type 2 diabetes. Chronically elevated insulin levels are associated with obesity and obesity is associated with nearly all of these conditions. So in the end, a ketogenic or near-ketogenic diet is healthy for many of these conditions because it has a positive impact on your vascular system and chronically elevated insulin levels.
With a good understanding of HOW your body gets hungry, it’s time for you to start developing and implementing a plan to become a badass! The additional resources in the next section should help you do that!
Additional Resources
If you’d like to do some additional reading or would like access to some tools that might be helpful for you, explore the links below.
This blog post is titled: “Why are you always hungry?” It’s similar to what is contained here but you might want to read for additional aspects.
This is our daily intentions worksheet. Following a ketogenic or near-ketogenic diet is difficult today. There is tremendous pressure on you to “be like” everyone else when it comes to food and dietary choices. So you need all the help and assistance you can get. This daily intention worksheet helps to keep you focused and provide inspiration to keep going.
This is a weekly meal planner worksheet. It comes straight from my book on type 2 diabetes. Use it to write down your meals so you are less likely to “ad-lib” and stray.
And for those interested or wondering who I am, here is my “about-me” page.
Enroll in The Academy
If you’d like to follow a ketogenic or near-ketogenic diet and would like someone to coach you along the way, consider enrolling in The Academy.
By following the link below, there are two options for you to enroll: 1) Enroll with 1-on-1 coaching with me or 2) Enroll and go through online and on your own.
View the enrollment options here
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