Tame the Over-sized Gorilla Operating a Bulldozer (I.E. your appetite)

Top 8 Ways to Naturally Suppress Your Appetite 

If your appetite on a daily basis seems to be that of an over-sized gorilla, operating a bulldozer, demolishing anything in it’s path, I’ve got 8 encouraging ways we can tame the wild beast within. First let us understand what could be the root cause of your need to nosh!

Here are several reasons:

• You are not meeting your caloric needs and eating far too few calories.
• You skip meals or go extremely long bouts without food.
• You consume foods that are processed and the body processes them fast as well, leaving you empty and hungry.
• Your caffeine consumption is causing low blood sugar jitters creating the need to eat.
• You are stressed, not sleeping, or exhausted from too many decisions and brain fatigue
• You are restricting one certain nutrient such as fat or carbs, causing the need (craving) for just that such food.
• Your gut bacteria is out of whack, and harmful yeasty bacteria are screaming loudly for sugar setting you up for the need for it.
• You have low brain chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin that have caused a low feeling, or boredom creating the desire that food/or foods to be the most pleasure-inducing part of your day and temporarily elevating your key brain chemicals.  (The keyword to remember here is “temporarily”)
• You are bombarded with tv, magazines, and social media which is constantly reminding of the food stuff out there that you are not currently eating and should be.

Which leads us now into what you can do in 8 simple ways to remedy the situation of an out of control appetite….let’s start with that whole social media thing…

1. Turn off the TV and put down the magazine.  The more you bombard your thoughts with images of succulent, sugary treats on the Food Network, and food porn magazines, the more your appetite will override you.  Limit your exposure to commercials by watching your favorite shows online or with NetFlix.  Avoid shows on food channels and cooking shows that will actually spike your blood sugar as your brain sees the images and thinks something of food substance is about to be devoured.  Then when no food has come in, your blood sugar will crash leading you to feel hungry and tired and overeat.
2. Just Say No….to processed food.  Ever wonder why little kids can eat 100 goldfish crackers and still never be satisfied or full?  It’s due to the fact that processed factory-made foods are already broken down and easily passed through the body without having to be broken down.  In addition to that, they contain no nutrients that tell the body that nourishment, vitamins, and minerals have been consumed, so the body keeps seeking more.  By saying no to all processed, fast food and eating more real, whole, plant-strong foods from the earth, your body will have to work harder to break down the food, and this will create more satisfaction at meals and a feeling of fullness. And another thing:  just say no to feeding your kids GOLDFISH!
3. Get More Sleep.  Lack of sleep increases Ghrelin, our “hunger” hormone.  Ever noticed how hungry you seem after a night with no sleep? I’d like to introduce you to Ghrelin.  In addition to that, Leptin, our satisfying hormone, is decreased, so even when we eat, we won’t find satisfaction at meals.  Getting sleep is crucial to appetite suppression.
4. Utilize Apple Cider Vinegar.  This is a natural appetite suppressant.  It helps control out-of-control blood sugar and increases stomach acid to make you feel fuller when you do eat, and digest food optimally.  It’s also helpful with digestion and elimination to boot!
5. Avoid too many restrictions and diets.  Every cell of your body has three main nutrients that it cannot adequately function without – protein, carbs, and fat.  Cutting one of those out of your eating plan is called a “diet”.  Low fat, low carb, low protein, restricting certain kinds of food like potatoes or meat can sometimes set you up for nutritional needs not being met. When the body senses that, it sends the signal to search for the missing nutrient, and the body is very persistent.  It won’t stop seeking until it gets what it’s looking for.  For example: let’s say you embark on a low fat diet.  So all week you are able to adhere to low fat foods, non-fat snacks and lean meats.  But yet your hunger is out of control, your cravings for things like cheese, peanut butter, and hot wings are relentless, and upon the weekend’s arrival, you finally cave in and eat your weight in fat…hence the reason you are unable to lose the fat. If you are restricting it and yet your body needs it, you will eventually come to find it, whether you like it or not.
6. Binge on something besides food if you aren’t having hunger pangs – sometimes unregulated appetite is pointing towards a bigger hunger…a hunger for more out of life rather than the same thing, different day.  Perhaps the day-in, day-out grind has grinded you to a mind-numbing halt where the only pleasure you find in your week is your daily binge on whatever seems to be in your co-workers candy dish, or in your pantry after work.  It’s time to look at your life as to what else are you longing for or hungering for apart from food. What relationships do you crave that you don’t currently have, and perhaps binging on ways to acquire that relationship, and go on a journey of self-discovery as to what you want out of life is really going to satisfy you more than another bag of Doritos.  Perhaps that hobby that you love that you have neglected for some time would be a good thing to binge on.  Instead of noshing all evening, what about painting all evening, scrapbooking all evening, dancing all evening, or blogging all evening.
7. Be authentic, not artificial (artificial sweetener). The key thing to remember when someone asks you why you shouldn’t consume artificial sweetener besides the fact that they are deadly chemicals with links to breast cancer and other forms of cancer, is that they have been researched and proven to  cause carb cravings.  These chemicals cause the brain to think that it’s getting something sweet in the form of a sugar.  When it learns the truth that no sugar has come in, it sets the craving for starches and sugars to balance out the release of insulin.  This is also true for caffeine and caffeinated beverages.  Combine caffeine and artificial sweetener like coffee and sweet’n’low and you’ve got a double whammy that will surely send you running for the giant muffin in the bakery case.  Instead switch to natural sweeteners like stevia and limit your consumption of sweets in general.  In our society, they are quite easy to come by, but if we think back to hunter-gatherer days, farming days and the ways our ancestors ate, there was not a lot of sweets in their day.
8. Avoid Starting the Day in a Starchy Way.  Try an experiment for four days:  For four days, eat only 3-4 eggs (or any other form of pure protein and fat) NO STARCH WHATSOEVER.  Then note how you feel and how long you can go before you feel hungry for your next meal.  Make sure it’s not a small amount of protein and fat, so at least 3-4 whole eggs, or at least a palm sized portion of meat cooked in 1 heaping tbsp of coconut oil or butter.)  Also, make sure that all four days is the same meal, and do not deviate.  Then on the fifth day, eat the same thing as the other four days, but this time, add in some starch too (i.e. oatmeal, sweet potato, fruit, or any other starchy “breakfast” food you normally consume”.  Yes you will be eating more calories, and note how you feel just about an hour after you eat it.  YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF HUNGRY IN MOST CASES.   It’s because the body is highly sensitive to insulin in the morning which is produced when you ingest starchy foods and will cause your blood sugar to fluctuate even alongside a good quality protein and fat.  Save your starches in small amounts for later in the day and stick to non-starchy veggies and protein and fat throughout the day to curb that constant need to feed.  By doing so, you may find you can go 4-5, even 6 hours between meals, which allows your body to intermittently fast and burn stored body fat for energy.  That sounds pretty good, eh?

There are many other reasons why appetite can be overstimulated, and many other options for regulating, but I hop you find this as a good jumping-off point towards getting your hunger and satiety (satisfaction at meals) under control.  Want more personalized help? Consider setting up a nutrition phone consult with me where we use real food as medicine to help remedy what ails you.  As a “nutrition detective” I get to the bottom of what’s eating you, before overeating eats you alive, and help you make strategies and smarter food choices towards a healthy, more optimal lifestyle.  No diets here, just an understanding of your body’s unique needs and how to progress towards the best you you’ve ever been!  For more information, email me at getfitwithjodelle@gmail.com.  Or check out my shop page with lots of great pre-made meal plans to help guide you towards healthier habits and a healthier appetite.