How to not be hungry

Okay, so this is a compilation of several ideas, tips and maybe crap advice about what you can try to do to reduce hunger.  Bullet points seem to make the most sense to me- so here we go.

• Protein and good fat with meals.  You need fat and protein with your meals or else your meals are crap.  They won’t keep you full any decent amount of time and you’ll be hungry a lot. 
•  Pick up Kelly Leveque’s book Body Love and read about hunger hormones.  She goes through all the science of which hormones keep you hungry and which keep you full and how to turn them off and on.  If you want your body to help you through this, you’ll want to use science to your advantage. 
• Drink water.  Keep your stomach full of water and don’t be dehydrated.  Your body can often confuse dehydration with hunger.  Stay hydrated my friends and you won’t need to snack so much. 
• Some appetite suppressants work, and some are crap.  Some are prescription, some are supplemental.  You need to research side effects, how they work, and if it’s right for you.  I personally like Plexus’ Boost- it really decreases my hunger. 
• Stop thinking about food.  Really.  Stop stressing about it, obsessing over it, thinking about it nonstop and it won’t be such a big deal that your life revolves around.  I seriously cut my cravings just by not worrying about it. 
• Say no.  Okay, this is more of it you AREN’T hungry.  Say no.  I often would say yes just because it sounds good.  You know what this does? Turns on my appetite and then I want to eat even more or yell at myself for my choices.  Say no when you aren’t hungry.  The only person who it matters whether you partake is the one who will hate themselves later for the extra food.
•  Exercise.  Now this can be a double-edged sword but hang with me.  I know if I’ve done a hard work out several days in a row or a long run I’ll be more hungry and that’s understandable, but if you aren’t brand new to this activity you shouldn’t be starving and definitely don’t need to eat ALL the calories.  In general, when I get hungry when I shouldn’t be, I often will move if I’m hungry.  Take a walk, take a run, do some squats, anything.  This has two benefits.  Sometimes the hunger goes away- much like drinking extra water can make it go away.  Then if the hunger is still there, I have burnt a few extra calories to make up for it.  If I’m really that hungry, I’ll pick a healthy snack plus the exercise, so I’m balanced out. 

I can’t think of any more ideas now, but these are some tips that have worked for me and others (because I have seen most of them before from other sources).   Hope this helps someone!

Blessings in Health and happiness.