If you can successfully reduce your appetite and how fast you get hungry, generally reducing your calorie consumption then losing weight is assured.
Although adapting to a fasting or diet lifestyle is not so easy and will increase your hunger, here are certain ways based on scientific knowledge to reduce your appetite;
Fiber-rich foods
Consuming fiber foods provides a feeling of satiety and boosts the production of hormones that make you feel filled up/not hungry. Fiber-rich whole grains, beans, lentils, fruits, and vegetables when incorporated into a meal can increase your satiety by 31%. Foods rich in soluble fiber also contain essential nutrients such as antioxidants, minerals, plant compounds, vitamins, etc
More solid foods
Eating liquid foods, the body system absorbs and digests it faster than solid food, which will make you hungry sooner than if you had solid food. Solid food is required to be chewed, unlike liquid food which is just swallowed. This chewing time is in continuous contact with your taste buds which will make you feel filled at the end of the meal.
Protein foods
Incorporating more protein into your diet helps in reducing your appetite for the next meal and burns fat as an additional benefit.
Coffee
Drinking decaffeinated coffee helps to decrease your appetite. Coffee is known to prompt the production of hormones called peptide YY. It is produced in the stomach when you eat and promotes a feeling of fullness. The effects of coffee can last up to 3 hours after being consumed.
Eat ginger
Ginger has various health benefits, some of these benefits include easing muscle pain, prevents inflammation, reduces nausea and blood sugar levels. Recently ginger has been found to reduce hunger and appetite.
Reducing plate sizes
This will unconsciously help in portion control and reduce how much food you consume because only as much as the plate contains is what you will eat. The size of your kitchenware matters, research shows that plate size can unconsciously lead you to serve a percentage larger than you usually would and most likely eat more than you would without even knowing because the plate is big and vice versa.
Enough sleep
Research shows that people who lack enough sleep tend to have an increased appetite. In other words, to lose weight and effectively change your appetite you need to sleep and for at least 7 hours.
Water
Develop a habit of drinking two full glasses of water before any meal. This will make you feel full and not consume too much food. Drink as close to meal as possible. Because of the high water content in soup, the same effect might be achieved if you start your meal with soup.
Visualize your food cravings
These should be foods you do not have access to easily; this will automatically reduce your appetite for food around you. Also, according to research imagining these foods can play on your mind into feeling like you have eaten them and reduce how much you can eat of them, even when you access it, that’s if you are even still interested in it at all.
Relax
Reduce your stress levels. When the body is stressed, a hormone called cortisol is released and high levels of this hormone can increase food cravings and appetite. That is why some people develop a habit called stress eating, and if this stress is not caused by constantly being active, then can result in obesity.
Bigger forks
According to research, people who use smaller cutleries to eat have their minds deceived into thinking that much progress is not made in their eating, hence they continue to eat. Increasing the size of your cutlery will help to solve this problem.
Spicy foods
The capsaicin content found in hot peppers helps in reducing hunger and like ginger gives the feeling of fullness. The heat generated by the capsaicin compound helps to burn fat and increase metabolic rate.
Conscious eating
The key here is to focus completely on your food and avoid distractions while eating, The brain receives signals when the stomach is full and you are no longer hungry, if you eat in a rush or while doing something else, you will not notice these signals.
Hunger can sometimes be psychological and can be controlled, even if it is physical, eating when you are hungry is not bad but do not lose control. These are just a few tips, pay attention to your body, and try to understand the different signals.
