How to Prevent Hunger During Weight Loss: 5 Science-Backed Strategies

Do you like being hungry all the time?  Neither do I. It's a common pitfall with weight loss, and one of the biggest reasons why "diets" fail: no one wants to be constantly hungry for an extended amount of time. But if you want to lose fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit. Fortunately, there are ways to work with your body so that you won't feel super hungry when losing fat.

Am I going to tell you that you are never going to be hungry?

No, because being a tiny bit hungry (especially at bedtime) is a good sign that your metabolism is working well, and that you are in a slight calorie deficit. And a slight calorie deficit is going to promote weight loss. 

 But you absolutely do not have to be constantly hungry, cranky, or fatigued when you are trying to lose weight.

Here are 4 science-backed strategies for improving your weight loss results without making yourself miserable with hunger pangs:

1. Drastically decrease the amount of packaged foods, highly processed carbohydrates, and added sugars in your diet.

These tasty foods are designed to keep you eating more of them. You will probably notice that they don't "fill you up" for very long, because they don't contain a lot of nutrients, fiber, or protein.

That means your body doesn't get the fullness signal to stop eating. And that means you'll feel much hungrier a few hours after eating a 200 calorie bag of pretzels than you would if you had eaten 200 calories' worth of cottage cheese or eggs, instead.

Unfortunately, even "healthier" foods like baked chips, pretzels, whole grain cereals, bagels, and flavored yogurts can have this effect. Just because something is marketed as being healthy for you, does not mean it is always the best choice if you're trying to lose fat. 

Does that mean you have to give these foods up for good? Definitely not. But try to plan ahead for a  portion-controlled "treat" that you have each day, and try to eat it at a time when you're not really super hungry, otherwise you'll probably keep reaching for more. Practically speaking, this might mean that you plan for your carby treat right after a workout (paired with a protein drink) since you're often not super hungry immediately after you work out. Or, right after dinner, as a finale to your day and signal to yourself that the eating hours are over for the day.

Play around with what works for you, but in general, you'll want to make sure that about 80% of your calories are "good-for-you" foods, and 20% come from "want-to-have" foods. That will keep your body more satiated while still allowing you mentally the freedom to have some treats.

2. Make sure you're well hydrated.

In some studies, drinking more water can decrease hunger signals in women. Though the research is not clear cut on whether it actually leads to long term weight loss, decreasing hunger by (reasonably) increasing water intake is a low-cost strategy to try, especially if you sometimes tend to confuse hunger with thirst, as many people do. 

A good rule of thumb is to aim for approximately half your body weight in ounces per day. So if you're 140 pounds, aim for 70 ounces, give or take. If you are sweating a lot, make sure to drink more water that day.

You can keep an eye on hydration by checking the color of your urine-- if it's consistently light yellow, you're likely drinking enough.

3. Increase your protein from whole, natural foods. 

While the overall amount of protein intake is very important, the SOURCES you get that protein from also matter.

If you tend towards being hungry, and you'd like to lose weight, make sure you're getting plenty of your protein from whole, natural foods, such as shrimp, fish, chicken, lean beef, tofu, tempeh, edamame, beans, eggs, and turkey.

 Slightly processed foods are fine in moderation as well: Unsweetened Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and low-fat cheese can also be very filling.

Just be cognizant of how many calories your protein sources contain, since many of the higher-fat protein sources (cheese and steak come to mind) can add up quickly if you start consuming a lot of them.

These are fine in moderation but if your goal is to lose weight, it may be a bit difficult to incorporate a lot of them and still remain in a calorie deficit.

4. Increase your veggies, high-fiber fruits, legumes, and ancient grains.

Not only is fiber (the common ingredient in all of the above) good for your gut health and overall health, it is very filling, especially when paired with hydration (see Tip 2).

Fiber is not used as energy by our body, which means it does not get stored as fat.

So basically, fiber bulks up a food and makes it feel more filling (since our body processes fullness partially based on the volume of food, not just calorie density) without adding significant calories. That makes it the perfect complement to a nutrition plan designed to help you lose fat.

While I have nothing against fiber supplements per se, your results will likely be best when you get most of your fiber from whole, natural foods. Veggies are a great source, as are ancient grains and seeds (such as quinoa, teff, spelt, barley, farro, etc). You can buy these on Amazon or sometimes even at the regular grocery store, and use them wherever you would normally use rice or pasta. 

Beans/lentils/legumes are also very high fiber, and have beneficial compounds for improving gut health. Just make sure to rinse them well so they don't cause digestive distress.

And certain fruits are top-notch for adding fiber to your diet. Berries are a great way to get a delicious hit of fiber. Pears, apples, passionfruit, and avocado have a lot of fiber as well. Just make sure to eat the skin of the apple and pear, and the seeds of the passion fruit, where most of the fiber is stored.

AND ONE FINAL BONUS TIP: For those of you who have read this far, a bonus tip for losing weight without being too hungry is to increase your step count.

You can take short, frequent walks throughout the day (they don't have to be formal exercise time, you can just park your car farther away, take the stairs instead of an elevator, or just push the vacuum around the house for a couple extra loops). 

This will allow you to eat more calories while still staying in a calorie deficit, since you are burning extra energy through movement. I find that walking does not seem to increase my clients' hunger levels as much as running, swimming, or more intense forms of cardio do.

So for people who want to avoid feeling super hungry, frequent daily sessions of walking tend to be better.

(NOTE: I am talking about exercise in the context of weight loss here, not for general health. for general health, doing high intensity work sometimes is a great idea!).

So if you're already doing 1-4 above, and still finding yourself constantly hungry, you could consider increasing your calories a little bit and also increasing steps. 

Hope that is a helpful start as you are planning your fat loss strategy. The less hunger you experience, the more likely you will be able to stick with a particular plan. If you want help implementing these strategies as well as an exercise and lifestyle plan for achieving your weight loss goals, let me know and I'd love to tell you more about my coaching program.