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.

Winning the Morning

Today we’re talking about the power of being a morning person.  You may be thinking- “maybe you like mornings Sarah, but I just can’t.”  Well let me tell you something…I hate mornings.  I don’t like getting up early either and I can easily be queen of the snooze button.  I used to have multiple alarms on my phone- one for when I need to get up if I exercise, one for if I get up and don’t exercise but shower, and one for better get up or you aren’t making it.   But there is some powerful evidence that getting up early can help with so many things.

It’s true that the early bird gets the worm.  Studies show that people who get up earlier are more productive through the whole day compared to their snooze button friends.    It also has strong evidence for reducing stress and anxiety because you start earlier and have more control over your day! 

So how to make the switch from night owl to early bird?  It takes time, frustration and new habit setting but ANYONE can do it if they want to!  Here’s some tips that may help you make the transition!

1-     Put your alarm across the room.   If you must physically get up to turn it off, you’re more likely to stay up.  Don’t keep your alarm on your bedside!

2-     Go to the bathroom and wash your face or brush your teeth as soon as you turn off your alarm.  Once again, keep moving so you don’t go lay back down!

3-     Drink a big glass or bottle of water.  This helps recover from dehydration state and once again is movement that will wake you fully up. 

4-     Shower or go exercise- this depends on your morning schedule.  Both will get you fully awake and far from being able to crawl back to bed where you want to.

The first week you’ll have to make yourself do this.  The next week it will be a little easier but don’t fall into temptation to award yourself to sleep in quite yet- your body can easily switch back to old habits still.  After 30 days it should basically be routine and unless you start adding back in bad habits- you are officially a morning person!  Now it’s time to tackle the day more productively!  Use the extra time for reading, exercise, gratitude and journaling, personal growth time.  All the things you “don’t have time for”- this is the time to do it!

Blessings in Health and Happiness!