Is being hungry healthy for weight loss? - MyFoxOrlando.com

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SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Ever think about your hunger? I bet you do every time it happens! As soon as you feel those hunger pains you are going to start thinking about food, food, food!

So the questions is...are these hunger feelings good, bad, or neutral for weight loss?

Hunger Rules For Healthy Weight Loss.
1. You should get hungry within 4-5 hours of your last meal.
I'm not saying you should be so hungry that you want to eat everything in sight but you should start feeling some signs of hunger.
When your stomach starts rumbling and you begin to feel hunger within 4-5 hours of your last meal that's a great! This means you're not overeating and your metabolism is doing its job. If you're not getting hungry within this time frame try pulling back a bit on the portion sizes of your meals and pay attention to how many hours go by before you start to feel a little hungry again.
Hunger is our body's way of telling us it's time to refuel because you used the last meal as fuel already. Hunger is like "E" on the gas gauge in the car...time to fill up the tank again and is a sign that your burning fuel efficiently every 4-5 hours.
2. Controlling hunger
When you sit down to eat you should eat until you're satisfied but never full when you're trying to lose weight. Eat just enough to re-energize your body and curb those hunger pains but don't eat to the point of saying "I'm full".
If you eat too much on a consistent basis you will grow your internal stomach and increase your appetite. Then you'll consume more calories and gain weight.
If you eat a little less at each meal eventually your internal stomach will shrink and you will be satisfied much faster with much less food leading to weight loss.
There are a bunch of variables that control hunger. A few of them are:
- Just as we just discussed portion size is important.
- The type of food you eat will help control hunger. For example proteins, healthy fats, and fiber will hold you longer then empty calories like chips or sugar.
- How active you are will determine how fast you use the food you consumed for fuel. The more active you are the more calories you burn the more hungry you get or you get hungry faster or both.
- Also, your personal metabolism will affect how hungry and how often you get hungry.
3. Never get too hungry?
Never let yourself get too hungry. You should eat as soon as you feel those hunger signs coming on. If you put if off your energy will crash and you could also binge eat and end up consuming way too many calories. Never skip a meal.
So keys to remember are:
Hunger is good every 4-5 hours if not cut back a bit.
Control your hunger by eating till you're satisfied, not full! This will shrink your stomach leading to weight loss.
Don't skip meals when you're hungry so you don't binge eat or slow your metabolism down.

Nick Parker, CPT (Certified Personal Trainer)
Lean Body Fitness Boot Camp - Owner
Locations in Longwood and Oviedo
Phone: 407-803-6360
www.LeanBodyFitnessBootCamp.com