Catch up:
22) THE REASON: You sit all day.
Check this out: burning some calories may actually make you less hungry. Really?
According to research published in the journals Diabetes Care and BMJ Open, when middle-aged overweight and obese adults interrupted long periods of sitting time with 30-minute walks, they were able to both lower spikes in blood sugar and lower insulin levels after eating meals.
Both of those processes control how soon after eating you start to feel hungry. If you sit all day and don’t get up to walk, you may not manage your glucose sensitivity well, which can lead you to feel hungry soon after you’ve already eaten. Cue the unnecessary weight gain!
THE TIP
Set a timer to go off every 30-40 minutes during the work day to remind yourself to get up and take a walk. Even if you’re just going to the break room to grab a cup of water.
THE TAKEAWAY
Another reason why sitting all day has negative effects on your body: it may cause you to feel hungry soon after you’ve already eaten.
23) THE REASON: Your gut health is off.
Things that contribute to gut imbalances:
- Antibiotic use
- Eating processed foods, especially those with trans fats and sugar
- “Bad” bacteria such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) or candida
- Drinking too much alcohol – hey, this ties in with Reason #9!
- Lack of regular physical activity
- Smoking cigarettes
- Not getting enough sleep – see Reason #4
- Being super stressed
These conditions strengthen the harmful bacteria that live in your gut while weakening the beneficial bacteria. As a result, the good guys can’t effectively do their job: part of which is regulating your hunger hormones.
THE TIPS
- Cut out refined sugar and refined carbs (see Reason #2).
- Eat a variety of prebiotics (onions, artichokes, spinach, etc.).
- Eat a variety of probiotics (fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, plain yogurt, etc.) – unless of course you have histamine issues!
- Get some sleep (see Reason #4).
- Reduce your stress (see Reason #11).
- Move your body every day.
THE TAKEAWAY
The health of your microbiome is the center of your entire body’s health. So work on healing your gut! If that seems overwhelming to you, or you don’t know where to start, let me know and we can work together to get you on the right track.
24) THE REASON: You’re really overweight.
Some people with severe obesity may have an underlying drive to continuously eat despite not feeling hungry.
According to research published in the journal Obesity, a group of severely obese women continued to respond to food cues even after they ate and were no longer physically hungry, compared to a group of average weight women.
Using MRI technology, the researchers discovered that the brains of the obese women showed excitement about the idea of eating even though they reported feeling satiated due to having just consumed a meal.
THE TIP
You know what this tip is going to say, right? You’re going to need to lose weight. Cutting calories, however, is not the way to go and it will make hunger pangs worse. Cutting calories makes your body think it’s starving and will amp up production of hunger hormones while slowing metabolism.
The best chance of losing weight if you’re severely overweight is to seek the help of an understanding coach who knows the importance of eating healthy fats and who also does not believe in cutting calories to lose weight.
Nutritional Therapy Practitioners definitely fit this criteria. If you’re severely overweight and would like some help, I can put you in touch with an NTP who works with people in your situation. Just click here, answer a few questions, and send me a message.
THE TAKEAWAY
If you’re really overweight, your brain may be telling you to continue to eat even if you just ate.
Did one (or more) of these stand out to you? Which one?
Have you used some of these tips, or do you have another idea for how to cope?
Leave me a comment below!
Catch up:
Up next: Reasons #25-#27.
If you’re always tired and hungry, and would love some one-on-one nutritional coaching from yours truly, click here.