One of the biggest complaints that I hear from people when trying to lose weight is that they are always hungry. No matter what diet they try, they always fail as they give into their cravings.
How much weight do you think you could lose if you had no cravings at all? I bet you could lose all the weight you wanted. So what is it that interferes with appetite and food cravings?
You must control and optimize levels of 2 important hormones:
- insulin
- leptin
Both of these hormones play an instrumental part in controlling hunger and cravings.
First of all to keeplevels in check and help reset leptin levels it is important to not eat more than 30 g of carbs from fibrous vegetables every day. Vegetables will be your only source of carbs for the beginning of the diet. Adding in healthy fats such as fish oil, butter, coconut oil, and olive oil with your meals will also help mitigate yourresponse.
Start off the day with a high protein/fat breakfast. This is critical. I recommend either the meat and nuts breakfast or whole eggs by themselves or with meat. You should be eating a large breakfast. How do you know if you have eaten enough? Well if you do breakfast right you should not be hungry for at least 5-6 hours later. If you are hungry 3-4 hours after breakfast then you know that you need to eat more next time. Keep playing around with the amount you eat until you find the right amount. If you arn’t hungry until supper then chances are you over did it a little bit at breakfast and scale back. You will notice almost instantly how following this method keeps your cravings at bay and destroys hunger. What you put first in your mouth every morning also sets up your neurotransmitter production for the day. This is also why we want to avoid any type of carbohydrate for breakfast. It should be noted that this breakfast should be eaten within 30 minutes of awakening.
It is a myth that carbs should be had in the morning. In fact, they should be eaten closer to bed as they will help with sleep, thus making your weight loss program more effective.
This is why I get so mad at clients when they skip breakfast or eat the wrong things for breakfast. They might not think it is a big deal but there is so many ways that it affects your weight loss program. Also, it is the one meal that you are guaranteed to be at home and be able to prepare yourself, so literally there should be no excuses. Thats why when a client tries to give me excuses like they had no time or whatever, I simply call them on their B.S. Last time I checked you can make eggs in a couple of minutes. If you plan ahead you should know what time you have to get up and plan accordingly.
Also, you will not want to eat anything 4-5 hours before going to bed. This is critical for helping to reset your leptin levels. Also it should be followed that breakfast is your biggest meal, followed by lunch, then with dinner finally being your smallest meal.
It is also important for leptin levels to get adequate sleep. The experts highly stress to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day.
By following these simple rules consistantly day in a day out, you will eventually reset the body and your hormones, to get rid of those cravings once and for all!
