Blog

5 Go-To Tips To Control Your Appetite

Being stuck in your house all day can definitely cause an increase in appetite. However, appetite and hunger are two different things. Hunger is the physical need to eat, whereas appetite is the desire to eat. But having an increase in appetite can turn into a physiological response. So it may be from boredom, stress, or even fear, but you feel like you are hungry even though you probably do not physically need any food. Read on to learn our favorite tips to control your appetite so you’re not rummaging the fridge all day!

Protein

1. Make sure you’re eating enough protein! Protein is the most satiating of the three macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats). So load up on your lean meats, greek yogurt, protein powders, fish, etc. Make sure each of your meals and snacks contain a lean protein to avoid needing to return to the kitchen half an hour later for more food.

Fiber

2. Eat fibrous fruits and vegetables (ie blueberries, raspberries, broccoli, spinach, etc). Fiber is extremely satiating and will fill you up. *You can use frozen as well…they are just as nutritious! Read our blog about how important fiber is for your diet.

Hydration

3. Drink more water/stay hydrated, especially if you’re increasing that fiber intake.  Fiber absorbs water to slow down the rate at which food leaves your stomach. Consequently you’ll be full for hours!

Sleep

4. Sleep! When we don’t get enough sleep, ghrelin (the hunger hormone) is increased, and leptin (the hormone that tells you that you’re full) is decreased. Therefore you will feel more hungry even if you have enough food coming in if you are sleep deprived.

Coffee!

5. Drink coffee 🙂 Yep, you heard that right. And this can be both caffeinated and decaf! Caffeine is a well known appetite suppressant but recent studies have actually found that decaf coffee suppresses hunger even more! So go ahead and have a cup of regular coffee in the morning to get you going and a cup of decaf in the afternoon so you don’t have a problem getting to sleep at night from the caffeine. Best of both worlds 😉

We all have succumbed to eating out of boredom or stress at times. And it makes it even more likely if we’re stuck in the house. But you can use these tools to control your appetite so you can stay on track with your nutrition during these times.