Catch up on Reasons #1-#3 here, and Reasons #4-#6 here.
“Why am I so dang hungry?”
Why you’re hungry is pretty complex. There are both biological and psychological factors that influence hunger (and also the mischievous foods that make you hungrier, too! I’m looking at you, carbs!).
Feeling hungry can cause you to feel sluggish, sleepy, and like you have no energy.
So unless you have a baby on board or are breastfeeding, here are 3 more reasons why you’re always so dang hungry and what to do about them to help keep your energy levels up.
7) THE REASON: Ever heard of distracted eating?
You’re busy, I know. But multitasking while you eat actually can be bad for your health.
Distracted eating can reduce your awareness of how much you’ve actually consumed, which results in greater appetite, increased calorie intake, and weight gain.
This happens because distracted eating reduces your awareness of how much you’re actually consuming. It prevents you from recognizing your body’s fullness signals as efficiently as when you’re not distracted.
Distracted eating doesn’t just include your lack of seeing what you’re eating. It also includes hearing it!
As long as you can hear the food you’re eating, your body will register the fact that you’re eating. When you can’t hear what you’re eating, however, you’re basically forgetting that you’re eating.
And then you feel hungry again quickly!
THE SCIENCE
- In one study, two groups of women (88 total) ate either while distracted or while in silence. Those who were distracted reported feeling less full and wanted to eat more throughout the day, compared to the non-distracted eaters.
- Another study found that subjects who played a computer game during lunch reported feeling less full than those who did not play the game. The game-players also consumed 48% more food when tested later that day.
- Yet another study, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, had two groups of participants eat crunchy foods. One group wore white-noise-producing headphones while they ate, and the other did not. The group that wore the headphones ate more than the group that could hear what they were eating.
THE TIPS
- Turn off the tv or computer.
- Put down your work. It’ll get done, I promise!
- Lower the volume of music during meals so you can hear yourself eat.
- If you’re out to dinner at a busy restaurant, consider ordering something crunchy.
- Enjoy your meal with a loved one face-to-face instead of looking at a screen.
- Practice mindfulness: use all of your senses to experience your meal. Smell the food you’re about to eat. Look at every bite. Taste and savor the bite by chewing 30x or more (this also aids digestion). Is it crunchy, chewy, cold, or hot? If it’s a finger food, note the texture. After about 10-15 minutes, ask yourself whether or not you’re feeling full yet.
THE TAKEAWAY
Distracted eating could be a reason why you’re always feeling hungry because it makes it difficult for you to recognize feelings of fullness.
8) THE REASON: You work out a LOT.
There’s a common misconception that if you work out regularly, you need to increase your food consumption.
Yes it’s true that if you exercise very frequently, participate in high-intensity exercise, or engage in physical activity for long durations (like marathon training or Olympic training), you burn a ton of calories.
And you’d probably call yourself an “avid athlete” in this situation. Because you’re burning all of those calories, you’re eating a lot more than moderate exercisers or people who don’t exercise at all.
But for most of us, we probably fall more into the “moderate exerciser” category rather than the “avid athlete” category. So there’s no need to eat more than we need to.
Also, exercising way too much (such as doing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or cardio more than 5 hours a week) can raise your cortisol. This can leave you feeling hungry, tired, and stressed out.
If you eat right for your exercise situation, you’re less likely to be hungry all the time.
THE SCIENCE
- Research shows that people who exercise hardcore on a regular basis tend to have faster metabolisms, which means they burn more calories at rest than people who are moderate exercisers or don’t work out at all.
- In one study, 10 men who did a vigorous 45-minute workout increased their overall metabolic rate by 37% for the day, compared to another day when they did not exercise.
- Another study found that women who did high-intensity exercises every day for 16 days burned 33% more calories throughout the day than a group that did not exercise, and subsequently ate15% more calories. There were similar results for men in a separate study.
THE TIPS
- Eat to fuel your workouts – don’t just eat to fill up. Carbs help maximize glycogen stores for high-intensity exercise (like training for a marathon or high-intensity interval training). But for longer, less intense workouts, eat healthy fats before your workout. Additionally, eating protein before exercise (either with fats or with carbs) builds muscle and aids recovery.
- After working out, replenish lost glucose stores with protein. It does the same things (builds muscle and aids recovery) as it does when you eat it before a workout.
- Reduce the time and/or intensity of your workouts.
- Limit your HIIT and/or cardio sessions to less than 5 hours per week. Supplement those intense workouts with yoga or pilates.
THE TAKEAWAY
People who regularly exercise at a high intensity or for long durations tend to have greater appetites and faster metabolisms. This means they may experience frequent hunger.
If you’re a moderate exerciser, however, you don’t need to eat as much, but you do need to eat smarter to fuel your workouts! Then you’re less likely to be so hungry all the time.
9) THE REASON: You’re a frequent drinker.
Okay, okay, hear me out!
- Alcohol is well-known as an appetite-stimulator.
- It can impair the part of our brain that controls judgment and self-control, which makes us want to eat regardless of whether or not we’re hungry.
- Alcohol heightens our senses. Food will look and smell more appealing, and may feel more enjoyable upon eating.
- It can be dehydrating. As I stated in Reasons #5, dehydration can lead to feelings of hunger.
If you’re overindulging, you could also be feeling hungry all the time. And possibly overeating!
THE SCIENCE
- Multiple studies (here, here, and here) have shown that alcohol may inhibit hormones (such as leptin) that reduce appetite, especially when it is consumed before or with meals. This is why you feel hungry when you drink.
- In another study, 12 men who drank 1.5 ounces (40 ml) of alcohol before lunch ended up consuming 300 more calories at the meal than a group that drank only 0.3 ounces (10 ml).
- Another study of 26 people who drank one ounce (30 ml) of alcohol with a meal consumed 30% more calories, compared to a group that did not drink.
- This study suggests that the link between alcohol and overeating may be due to the effect that alcohol has on hunger signals in the brain.
- In a study of 35 women, researchers reported that consuming alcohol prior to a meal caused the women to be more sensitive to food smells and caused them to eat more.
THE TIPS
- If you’re going to have a drink, make sure you’ve got healthy foods around to munch on instead of junk. Veggie sticks with full-fat homemade ranch dressing are one of my favorites.
- It’s best to drink alcohol moderately or avoid it completely. “Moderately” means up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men.
- Besides avoiding excessive hunger, other benefits of giving up alcohol can include losing weight and sleeping better. Pssst! For more tips on improving sleep, check out my One-Day Plan for the Best Sleep Ever.
THE TAKEAWAY
Drinking alcohol causes you to feel hungry due to its role in decreasing the production of hormones that promote fullness and inhibiting your brain’s judgement and self-control centers.
Distracted eating is an unusual hunger-creator, so be aware! Also, working out a ton and drinking frequently can make you feel unnecessarily hungry, so be aware of those as well.
Does any of this sound like you? Are you always hungry and tired?
Let me know in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Stay tuned for next week’s post with Reasons #10-#12.
Catch up on Reasons #1-#3 here, and catch up on Reasons #4-#6 here.
If you’re always tired and hungry, and would love some one-on-one nutritional coaching from yours truly, click here.