This is an interesting one. I was recently talking to a client and it became apparent that they do not remember the last time when they felt hungry. This is not necessarily a good thing.
A well nourished organism is pretty much a necessity for healthy living. Prolonged feelings of hunger should be avoided where possible. When the body is lacking energy and there is no food available, that energy comes from the body instead. Primarily from the breakdown of body’s own tissue to release energy from proteins and fats – Catabolism. For this reason it is advisable to avoid waiting for too long once the hunger starts kicking in.
However forgetting what hunger feels like is not advisable. The feeling of hunger is a natural cue. Shutting down this response by continuously ingesting food could result in the loss of awareness of when it is a good time to eat. This in turn may result in continuous over eating at meal times and during snacks.
In short, if it has been a while since you felt hungry during your days check that this is not due to over consumption of food. Experiment with how long it takes for your body to trigger the natural hunger response after your meal. Then you will get a rough idea of the length of time it takes your body to digest a quantity of food.
If you feel hungry soon after a main meal avoid loading up on carbohydrates and stick to lean protein sources. This will minimise the breakdown of muscle protein and shift the equilibrium in favour of burning fat as the reserve energy source.
Best wishes,
Dmitri Tkatchev
Read on:
Introduction to the 31 Day Fitness Kickstart
Day 1 – Water
Day 2 – Protein at breakfast
Day 3 – Meal frequency
Day 4 – Sugar
Day 5 – Lifestyle
Day 6 – Carbohydrates
Day 7 – Sleep
Day 8 – Start easy with Cardio – frequency not the quantity.
Day 9 – Get clever with your fats!
Day 10 – Find or become a role model
Day 11 – Coffee
Day 12 – Exercise improves your appetite response.
Day 13 – Consistency over intensity
Day 14 – Add cinnamon to your diet
Day 15 – Energising morning fix
Day 16 – Active rest
Day 17 – Holistic fitness.
Day 18 – Minimise muscle loss.
Day 19 – Don’t forget steady paced cardio
Day 20 – Eat plenty of fibre
Day 21 – Take up a physically demanding hobby.
Day 22 – Hire a qualified and an experienced Personal Trainer
Day 23 – Eat Cake
Day 25 – Tune in to your training
Day 26 – Sort out the calorie density of your meals.
Day 27 – Eat more grapefruit
Day 28 – Eat within an hour after your workout!
Day 29 – Stay in the low range of Glycaemic Index and Glycaemic Load
Day 30 – Cycle crunches.
Day 31 – Learn to listen to your body