Your appetite can be controlled by many things, from how much you are eating, to your hormone levels, physical activity, and so much more. If you find that you are constantly hungry, where after a filling meal, you feel “starving” after an hour or so, it might be time to look at the possible reasons.
You Are Not Getting Enough Protein
While protein alone won’t suppress your appetite, it does have an impact on how hungry you are. If you find that shortly after a meal, you are hungry very soon after, or that you get hungry pretty much all day long, you probably don’t eat enough protein. Look at your meals and figure out how much protein you are consuming. The amount you need is different for everyone, but if you rarely have much protein, and instead eat a lot of refined carbs and sugars, it is time to have more balanced meals.
You Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep
Believe it or not, your sleep doesn’t just affect your energy levels throughout the day, but can actually cause you to have a bigger appetite and gain weight. Sleep also affects your stress levels, which can have an impact on your appetite. When you start struggling to sleep, it is vital that you do everything you can to sleep better. It really does affect everything in your life, including your health and wellness. Try to switch up your diet, go to sleep earlier, take a nap during the day for added rest, or get a new mattress if yours is making it difficult to sleep. Remove distractions, like your cell phone, when you are trying to sleep.
You Are Eating Too Many Refined Carbs
Refined carbohydrates include foods without much nutrients but that are loaded with carbs and sugar, such as cookies and cakes, candy, white pasta or white rice, chips, and sugary breakfast cereals. You aren’t getting many vitamins and minerals with these types of foods. They might fill you up in the short-term, but long-term you are getting hungrier and continuing to crave them the more you eat them. Take a look at your diet if you feel like you are always hungry.
You Are Eating While Distracted
This is a very common pitfall that people don’t realize is a problem. Do you find that whenever you eat, you are in front of a TV or using your cell phone? This is causing a distraction where you are eating mindlessly and not focusing on your food. You turn food into something you do no matter what activity you are doing, which is confusing for your hunger cues. Start eating without watching or listening to anything, preferably at the kitchen table.