I am still hungry . . .

The reality of weight loss is this…………….. Losing weight requires you to feel hungry from time to time. There is no way to lose weight without feeling some degree of hunger. There is nothing that totally eliminates hunger cravings.

There are many strategies that help reduce hunger: avoiding refined carbohydrates (these are the white foods, sugars), getting plenty of natural sunlight on your skin, drinking large amounts of water on a regular basis, and eating high fiber foods Again…..nothing absolutely eliminates hunger. The bottom line is that if you are going to lose weight, you are going to experience hunger at one time or another.

The key in all this is realizing there's nothing wrong with experiencing hunger from time to time. It's a normal human response to a decrease in your consumption of calories. You are not going to die if you do not eat immediately!!!! Most people think hunger is an emergency. Hunger is the body just signaling that it doesn't have enough calories to add new fat to the fat stores it's already carrying around. The first feelings of hunger are really more of a false alarm than anything to be concerned about. A person who is trying to lose weight has to learn to control their hunger so that it becomes manageable.

Along with an appetite suppressant, such as Z-Slim Appetite Suppressant from www.magna4u.com, there are some realistic ways to help you control your hunger and thus be successful with weight loss. Some foods and drinks are just natural appetite suppressants. They make your stomach feel like it's full of calorie-rich foods when it is not. In truth you are filling your stomach with foods that contain almost no calories or carbohydrates. Eating certain foods, “tricks” your stomach into believing it is full, even though you are not adding calories. Your body is temporarily fooled into thinking you've just eaten a five course meal!

For example, you can eat two cups of nuts with approximately 900 calories or you could eat two cups of a green vegetable such as cabbage with almost no calories (20 to 40) and your body would experience the same sensation of fullness. Your body doesn’t know the difference. Your stomach will then turn off the hunger signals as it believes you are full!

Hunger Fix #1

Drink Water!!!!! You’ve heard it before, but do it. Water is a powerful appetite suppressant and if you drink an 8-ounce glass of water when you first start feeling hungry, you will find that it suppresses your appetite almost every time. If you can drink a full glass of water and discipline yourself to wait 10 minutes before attempting to eat, you will generally find that your appetite is either completely gone or dramatically reduced. Another suggestion is to drink an entire glass of water before every meal. Again, this will help fill you up and you will find that you eat less. Get a to-go box and have the rest tomorrow (after a full glass of water of course)! Water is readily available, inexpensive and you are out of excuses for not drinking it! You can also choose to fill up on other liquids such as organic chicken broth. Make sure you check the labels and get low sodium. How many calories will you have you eaten? Probably around 20 and you will feel full.

Hunger Fix #2

Lower your sodium (salt) intake. Most people realize that eating sugar triggers hunger when you elevated blood sugar from eating a high calorie food drops and then you feel hungry for another high calorie food. It is a vicious cycle. Few people realize that sodium also triggers hunger. If you limit your sodium you will have less hunger cravings. Read labels before you buy processed foods. You may be surprised at how much sodium is added to canned goods. Many processed foods are now sold in a low sodium form.

Hunger Fix #3

Eat Green! Fill up on green vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, bokchoy, and other leafy vegetables. The calories are so few calories that you don’t even have to count them. Allow yourself an unlimited quantity of any green leafy vegetables without even recording the number of calories. Consider them "free" foods.

It takes just as many calories for your body to digest green vegetables as you get out of the foods themselves. You are however, filling your stomach and making yourself feel full, turning off the hunger signals in your brain. If you don’t like raw vegetables, experiment with different ways to eat them. Watch out for high calorie salad dressings!! Stir fry them in a pan with no oils whatsoever. Just use water and flavoring such as onions, garlic and soy sauce. Stir fry all the green vegetables you enjoy, add the spices you want and eat away. It's a great way to curb you appetite without consuming large quantities of calorie rich food.

Hunger Fix #4

Apples. When you feel the hunger pangs coming on, reach for an apple. It does have calories and cabs, however the apple will fill you up quickly and that will stop you from eating far more calorie-dense foods. This is an effective strategy. If you are starving, it is very easy to reach for some processed snack foods (chips, cookies) and start munching away until you've consumed pretty much the whole bag. This can be as much as 1000 calories and really blow your daily meal plan. That is about half the total calories a person needs for the entire day!

In contrast, an apple has 90-100 calories. It would be almost impossible for you to eat 1000 calories worth of apples. You will fill up too soon. Apples are great hunger suppressing food because they fill your stomach with fiber and the sensation of fiber turns off your appetite control hormones (CCK and GLP-1) before you overeat. Plus, apples are inexpensive, easy to carry with you and travel with, and contain nutrients that are good for you.

Other Fixes:

Remember that exercise can also limit your hunger. The very act of exercising releases stored body fat and converts it back into blood sugar, which raises your blood sugar level and suppresses your appetite cravings. Just get moving….increase your activity slowing, do more today then you did yesterday….you don’t have to run a marathon to lose weight. Remember, do not starve yourself. Starvation is the fastest way to train your body to hold on to body fat.

Overall, Remember that weight loss takes effort. It does not happen overnight and there is no magic pill. You will experience moments of intense hunger, and this low-calorie, filling foods along with Z-Slim Appetite Suppressant can help get you through the rough spots.

About the author:

Mary is a registered nurse (RN) receiving her diploma degree in 1981 from East Tennessee Baptist Hospital in Knoxville and her Bachelor of Science, Nursing (BSN) from Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY (1988) and subsequently earned her certification as an Enterostomal Therapist (ET) in 1994.

Mary has over 25 years of experience in healthcare and has served in roles as patient caregiver, marketing, and management. She is an experienced patient educator with years of home health teaching and one year as a diabetic clinician. She has had a strong focus in nutrition and nutritional supplements. Mary is currently the Nurse Clinician at Magna Pharmaceuticals and is involved in product development, patient education, physician education and product marketing. Visit Mary's blog.