Smart Dieting to Prevent Hunger

Dieting can be hell for some people as they find themselves on a never-ending roundabout of feeling cranky, hungry and miserable. As a result, they end up quitting the new diet plan within a few days, or a week if they are lucky. Seriously, this happens quite a lot. Being hungry is one of the main causes for people ditching their diets!

But is there a better way? Is it possible to lose weight without feeling lousy the whole time? The answer is yes, but you have to go about it the right way.

Why Do Diets Leave You Hungry?

The problem with most diet plans is that while they cut calories, they do so by restricting not just calories but also the types of foods you eat. Treating dieting as simply a process of reducing calories at all costs is too simplistic and ignores the fact that certain foods are required by the body for specific functions. Likewise, the foods you eat may have a dramatic effect on your moods.

A smarter way to go about your dieting, is to understand the ways in which certain foods affect your brain chemistry and then take that into account when deciding on which diet will suit you best. Lets look at some smart ways to lose weight without feeling lousy.

Tips on Eating to Stop Hunger

These are only a few of the ways in which you can help yourself.

Eat "Good" carbohydrates

Good carbs come from fruits, vegetables and whole grains and they increase levels of serotonin - a hormone that improves your mood.

By contrast, bad carbs (from sugar, white flour, white rice) cause your energy levels and mood to drop rapidly.

Lose Weight Slowly

Rapid weight loss is ineffective, and leaves you feeling tired and miserable. Aim to lose about one or two pounds per week.

Eat a Variety of Food

Avoid restrictive diets your body is designed to eat a range of different foods, and you need a good variety of different foods to maintain proper chemical balances within the body. This means that each meal should include each of the major groups - proteins, carbohydrates and fats. However, you should be getting your fats from healthy sources such as salmon, nuts, avocado, and olive oil.

Ditch the Junk

As mentioned earlier, foods and drinks that are high in sugar provide a short burst of energy followed by a rapid fall in blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar drops rapidly, you feel cranky and have difficulty focusing. The typical response is to grab more quick sugars to alleviate the symptoms, leading to a vicious cycle of bad moods and weight gain.

Eat Little and Eat Often

When you go for long periods without food, your blood sugar levels will plummet, and your body will go into a starvation mode, hoarding body fat rather than releasing it. If you eat small portions every two to three hours, your mood will improve and your body will release body fat.

Eat Plenty of Fibre

Fibre-rich foods help to fill you up, keep you feeling full longer, and because they slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, they can help prevent mood swings. Fruits, vegetables and whole-grain cereals are packed with fibre.

Why Does This All Help?

By eating using the above tips, you will be manipulating your body's chemistry to help yourself feel better, feel less hungry between meals and therefore improve your overall chances of losing weight. What more could you want?