Great Tips for Blocking Hunger Pangs

The biggest challenge for people trying to lose weight is fighting hunger pangs. The thing is that most people will eat because they are hungry when in fact they are not hungry but bored, sad, irritated, etc. Therefore, the first is identifying real hunger from eating for the wrong reasons. Hunger is associated with an actual rumbling of the stomach, not a thought in the mind of being hungry. By learning to pay attention to the body, real hunger pangs can be separated from other types of eating.

Now, for people who have hunger pangs, there are a number of things that can be done to block them. This way, if it is only a few hours away from an actual mealtime, the person can choose methods or even foods to curb hunger while not adding on unwanted calories that would cause weight gain. The following are some excellent solutions that will help block real hunger pangs.

• Get Active – One of the best ways to fight off hunger is to get the mind off food. Simply by taking a walk will do wonders. In addition to helping fight off the sensation of being hungry, walking will help to boost the body’s metabolism while giving the individual tons of health benefits.
 
• Snack on the Right Foods – For blocking hunger pangs, sometimes nibbling on small amounts of the right food will help. This will give the body just enough food to feel satisfied until mealtime rolls around. Some of the following include:
o One cup of baked, grilled, or boiled chicken pieces – 180 calories
o One cup of low fat cottage cheese – 168 calories
o Two pieces of string cheese – 160 calories
o One small can of tuna in water – 175 calories
o One-quarter cut of nuts, specifically almonds or walnuts – 136/168 calories
 
• Eat More Often – Eating five to six small meals a day is far more beneficial for losing weight than eating three large meals. This will help cut hunger pangs dramatically by keeping the stomach full but it also helps to increase metabolism so calories and fat are burned quicker.
 
• Eat High Fiber – Because fiber is so filling, it satisfies a person so they are not walking around feeling hungry. Great choices include fresh fruits such as strawberries, apples, and blueberries, vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, asparagus, and broccoli, nuts, specifically walnuts, cashews, and almonds, and even beef, chicken, and fish.

• Avoid Bad Carbohydrates – Instead of loading up on complex carbohydrates, hunger pangs can be blocked by choosing low-glycemic carbohydrates instead, which would include whole wheat foods, vegetables, and even oatmeal.

• Drink more Water – Not only will water help cut back on hunger pangs, water also helps by flushing out dangerous and unhealthy toxins from the body. For people who are not big water drinkers, adding zero calorie flavoring would make this much more enjoyable. The worst thing a person could do is drink soda.

• Choosing Healthy Fats – The feeling of being hungry can be blocked by choosing the right types of fats. For this, an individual needs to get one-third of the daily intake of fat from saturated fat, one-third from monounsaturated fat, and one-third from polyunsaturated fat.

• Journal – Finally, people should begin to write down every morsel of food being put in the mouth, along with how they are feeling at the time. In most cases, the person would quickly identify a pattern of eating not when actually hungry but again, bored, depressed, irritated, and so on.