The Hunger Factor.
How to eat feeling full burning fat.
How many of you guys tried to stay on a weight loss diet just to find out with a lot of frustration, that losing weight, burning fat and changing your eating habits is a lot of work, especially, if you are in it for the long run, you want to get into your best shape and stay there, and you kind of want to live too and not be a hangry (hungry + angry) monster all the time?
Changing your body, changing your fat percentage, changing your eating habits is work, hard work, if it was easy everyone would be the fittest and leanest with six pack abs, wouldn’t we?
But you can manage to make it if, and only if, you do it smart — not going on some crazy calorie restrictive diet, with no science, depriving yourself of essential fats from whole eggs and fish and red meat, depriving yourself of plenty of fresh and cooked vegetables, fresh fruits, eating some diet, that leaves you hungry literally ALL the time. You won’t be able to make it, if you have to do it for a while, if you want to stay sane doing it, if you want to maintain healthy eating habits and your weight after the weight loss phase, not putting yourself into starvation mode consuming everything you see once you did some progress.
So how can you make it?
How do I manage to get to 10–12% body fat and still have energy for life and workouts, still laughing and feeling great, sleeping great, not being hangry all the time?
Satiety Factor.
What does satiety mean?
It’s a feeling of being well-fed, of having enough, of not being hungry, feeling of being well-nourished. Yes, while losing weight you won’t be feeling like you have as much as you want to eat, but you don’t have to be crazy hungry all the time either.
Satiety comes down, as research shows (more about it tomorrow in Hungry Brain book review), satiety comes down to a few very important factors.
It’s not about calories only, far from it actually. For example, junk food leaves you the hungriest, even though per bite it probably has the most calories packed into it. Eating junk food and, refined with loads of sugar and added fat, snacks keeps you hungry for longer, no matter how much you eat (That’s why completely eliminating junk from your diet for a weight loss phase is essential for success!)
Satiety.
What foods keep you the least hungry?
It all comes down to: volume, fiber, protein, fat, calories.
Put it simply, the foods, that keep you “full” and hunger free the longest, are the foods with the most volume, the most fiber, with protein and fat, calorie rich.
But here is one small detail — it matters what kind of volume, what kind of fiber, what kind of fat and protein and what kind of calories.
Volume.
Foods, that occupy the most space in your stomach, will keep you full, but as you lose weight, you want to keep calorie density per volume lower, since we are trying to lose weight, so vegetables and greens are great (They occupy a lot of space, having the least calories), but you won’t feel full eating them. You want some greens, but you got to eat other satiety producing foods richer in proteins, fats, calories.
Fiber.
You want to have fiber with your every meal, coming from vegetables and other whole foods. Fiber slows down your digestion and nutrient absorption, plus it feeds your gut bacteria, that also keeps you fuller longer!
Protein.
Protein itself is the most satiety producing nutrient, that’s why protein-rich diets work, but we are talking about protein from whole foods (not shakes). Eat protein (You don’t need a lot, palm size portion is enough, too much of animal protein can cause problems) with each meal.
Fat.
It should come with your animal protein foods and your plant foods, NOT from oils and butters. And that’s the key factor, if you want to stay lean and lose weight the fastest. Fats, that come from refined sources (no matter what kind of fat) will not only add up and cause energy surplus, not adding much to your satiety in relation to calories, but those refined fats will make you crave more food — and cravings for more food is the last thing you’d want trying to lose weight and get lean.
Conclusion. Calories.
To efficiently cut back the amount of food you eat, to lose weight and create a new set point (new lean state, that your body will comfortably maintain) you got to eat WHOLE FOODS, that have big volume (your non-starchy vegetables and greens), plenty of fiber (again your vegetables, maybe some fruits and nuts, mind sugar content and calories in nuts), good protein count, good fats. All together. As a package. Whole foods ONLY.
Build each meal around this formula:
Plenty (as much as you want) of non-starchy vegetables
Protein (from whole foods)
Fats (from whole foods)
No refined or dehydrated, powdered and liquefied anything.
Some salt and the least amount of spices (Spices make you want to eat more, stimulating your digestion).
That’s how you can feel full and well-fed, losing weight, at the same time taking care of your health.
Watch the video for one food hack I use to keep hunger at bay, while sleeping well and happy, and hunger free, burning more fat and nourishing my brain at the same time. (The only non-whole food I eat during the lean phase)
1. WOD!!! This morning. Beat my time helping to build a school? :)
2. My favorite breakfast. For so many reasons!
You don’t get healthy and stay healthy.
HEALTH is a DAILY PRACTICE. One bite at a time.
Daily Bite of Health
LEARN AND USE LEAN MEAL FORMULA
