10 Ways To Stop Feeling Hungry and Get Lean

Summary

In this fitness-focused video, the speaker outlines ten effective strategies for managing hunger while aiming for a leaner physique. Key tips include accepting hunger as a natural response, avoiding extreme dieting, optimizing diet quality with nutrient-dense foods, adjusting meal patterns to regulate hunger hormones, practicing mindful eating, moderating cardio to prevent increased hunger, cutting out alcohol, using distractions wisely, reducing stress through life organization, and reframing hunger as a positive sign of progress towards fitness goals.

Takeaways

• 😀 **Hunger Acceptance**: Understand that some hunger is inevitable and learning to accept it can reduce its psychological impact.
• 🏋️‍♂️ **Avoid Aggressive Dieting**: Setting a sustainable calorie deficit and considering regular diet maintenance phases can prevent excessive hunger and diet fatigue.
• 🍽️ **Optimize Diet Quality**: Focus on consuming healthy foods that are low in calorie density and high in satiety to manage hunger while losing fat.
• 🌊 **Meal Patterns**: Adjusting meal frequency and timing based on ghrelin release patterns can help control hunger.
• 🍲 **Mindful Eating**: Slowing down and being present during meals can improve satiety and reduce overeating.
• 🏃‍♂️ **Moderate Cardio**: Excessive cardio can increase hunger; find a balance that supports fat loss without compromising diet consistency.
• 🍺 **Cut Out Alcohol**: Alcohol is calorie-dense and can stimulate appetite; consider reducing or eliminating it to manage hunger and improve overall health.
• 🎮 **Effective Distractions**: Engage in activities that can distract from hunger and help time pass until the next meal.
• 🧘‍♂️ **Reduce Stress**: Organize life to decrease stress, which can negatively impact diet and increase hunger.
• 🔄 **Reframe Hunger**: Mentally associate hunger with positive outcomes like fat loss and personal growth to change its perception from negative to motivational.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video script?

The main focus of the video script is to provide tips for reducing hunger while trying to get lean and reduce body fat.

What is the first tip mentioned in the script for managing hunger?

The first tip mentioned for managing hunger is practicing hunger acceptance, which involves understanding the biological reasons behind hunger and not fearing it.

Why does the script suggest avoiding aggressive calorie deficits?

The script suggests avoiding aggressive calorie deficits because they can lead to increased hunger and make the weight loss journey unsustainable, often causing people to fail in their goals.

What is the recommended rate of weight loss according to the script?

The script recommends a sustainable rate of weight loss, which is losing half a percent to 1% of body weight per week.

How does the script suggest balancing a healthy diet with indulgences?

The script suggests investing 90% of food and calorie intake in healthy foods and reserving 10% for indulgences, such as treats and eating out.

What role does the hunger hormone ghrelin play according to the script?

According to the script, ghrelin is released when you're used to eating, and its levels come in waves, peaking and then decreasing, which can be managed through understanding and timing of meals.

Why is mindful eating recommended in the script?

Mindful eating is recommended because it helps improve the relationship with food, slows down eating, and increases satiety levels, which can contribute to better weight management.

What is the script's stance on the amount of cardio for weight loss?

The script advises against excessive amounts of cardio as it can increase hunger levels and make it difficult to maintain a consistent diet, suggesting a more moderate approach.

Why does the script recommend cutting out alcohol for getting lean?

The script recommends cutting out alcohol because it is calorie-dense, stimulates appetite, and lowers inhibition, which can lead to overeating and hinder weight loss goals.

What strategies does the script suggest for effective distractions from hunger?

The script suggests scheduling creative work, phone calls, gaming, sports, or any activities that can induce a flow state as effective distractions from hunger.

How does the script propose reframing hunger to make the weight loss journey easier?

The script proposes reframing hunger as a positive sign of the body losing fat and a necessary part of growing and pushing beyond comfort zones, which can help in accepting hunger as part of the process.

Outlines

00:00

🍽️ Embracing Hunger for Lean Goals

The paragraph emphasizes the reality of hunger when trying to get lean and suggests accepting hunger as a natural response to food scarcity, which is no longer a concern in modern times. It encourages understanding the body's automated response to motivate food seeking and recommends not overreacting to hunger signals. The speaker shares personal tips, starting with hunger acceptance, to help manage hunger while aiming for lower body fat percentages. The goal is to make the process of getting lean more sustainable and less stressful by applying these tips, including practicing hunger acceptance and avoiding aggressive dieting.

05:01

🥗 Balancing Diet Quality for Sustainable Fat Loss

This section discusses the importance of diet quality in reducing hunger and achieving fat loss goals. It suggests a balance where 90% of the diet consists of healthy foods and 10% allows for indulgences. The speaker highlights the benefits of choosing foods that are low in calorie density and naturally satiating, such as Greek yogurt, quarks, strawberries, oats, and potatoes. Additionally, it touches on the role of hunger hormone ghrelin, recommending understanding its patterns to manage hunger effectively. The paragraph also advises on mindful eating to improve satiety and suggests reducing excessive cardio exercises that might increase hunger levels.

10:02

🚫 Cutting Out Alcohol and Managing Stress for Lean Living

The final paragraph focuses on the impact of alcohol on calorie intake and hunger levels, recommending its reduction or elimination for better fat loss results. It also emphasizes the role of effective distractions in managing hunger, especially when approaching lower body fat levels. The speaker shares personal experiences and suggests activities that can help distract from hunger cues. Additionally, it discusses the importance of reducing stress through life organization, recommending books and systems like 'Essentialism' by Greg McKeown and 'Getting Things Done' by David Allen. The paragraph concludes with the mental aspect of reframing hunger as a positive sign of progress towards fitness goals, encouraging a mindset shift to view hunger as a part of the lean journey.

Keywords

💡Hunger Acceptance

Hunger acceptance refers to the mental approach of acknowledging and accepting the presence of hunger without fear or panic. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that some level of hunger is inevitable when trying to get lean, and instead of avoiding it, one should understand that it is a natural bodily response to motivate food seeking. Accepting hunger can reduce its psychological impact and make the process of getting lean more manageable. The speaker suggests that by internalizing the biology of hunger, individuals can become less stressed about it and continue with their fitness goals.

💡Calorie Deficit

A calorie deficit is a condition where an individual consumes fewer calories than they burn, leading to weight loss. The video discusses the importance of not setting an aggressive calorie deficit, such as less than 10 calories per pound of body weight, as it can lead to increased hunger and difficulty in sustaining the weight loss journey. The speaker recommends a sustainable rate of losing body fat, which is a half percent to 1% of body weight per week, to avoid constant hunger and make the process more consistent.

💡Diet Maintenance Phase

Diet maintenance phase is a period during weight loss where an individual increases their calorie intake to stabilize at a certain weight after a period of calorie restriction. The video script mentions that for every 10 to 15% of body weight lost, one should consider a diet maintenance phase. This phase helps reduce diet fatigue, makes the weight loss journey more sustainable, and teaches individuals how to maintain their weight, which is crucial for long-term success.

💡Diet Quality

Diet quality refers to the nutritional value and healthfulness of the food consumed. In the context of the video, the speaker advises optimizing diet quality to reduce hunger and align with long-term health goals. They suggest a balance where 90% of the diet consists of healthy foods and 10% allows for indulgences. This approach not only helps in reducing hunger but also ensures that the diet supports overall health, unlike a diet high in processed foods which might lead to health issues despite weight loss.

💡Ghrelin

Ghrelin is a hunger hormone that stimulates appetite. The video explains how understanding ghrelin's role can help in managing hunger. It is released when an individual is used to eating, and its levels can be managed by adjusting meal patterns, such as adopting intermittent fasting. The speaker also notes that ghrelin levels fluctuate, peaking and then declining, which can be used to one's advantage by waiting out hunger spikes with effective distractions.

💡Mindful Eating

Mindful eating is the practice of eating with full attention and without distraction, which can lead to better satiety and reduced overeating. The video script highlights the importance of eating slowly, chewing food properly, and being present during meals to improve the relationship with food and reduce hunger. The speaker shares personal experience of how mindful eating has helped in achieving satiety and reaching lower body fat percentages.

💡Cardio

Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, is any activity that raises heart rate and helps improve heart health. In the video, the speaker advises against excessive amounts of cardio as it can increase hunger levels, making it difficult to maintain a calorie deficit and stay consistent with the diet. They suggest finding a balance where diet is the primary method for creating a caloric deficit, rather than relying heavily on cardio.

💡Alcohol

Alcohol is a calorie-dense beverage that can contribute to weight gain and increase hunger levels. The video discusses the impact of alcohol on weight loss, noting its high calorie content and its tendency to stimulate appetite and lower inhibition, leading to overeating. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about cutting out alcohol to improve fitness and business success, recommending either reducing alcohol consumption or completely cutting it out as a strategy for getting lean.

💡Effective Distractions

Effective distractions are activities that can draw one's attention away from hunger, making the wait for the next meal more bearable. The video script suggests that as body fat percentage decreases, the mind may focus more on food, and thus, mastering the art of distraction becomes crucial. Examples of effective distractions include engaging in creative work, phone calls, gaming, or sports that can induce a flow state, where time passes quickly and hunger is less of a concern.

💡Stress Management

Stress management refers to the techniques and strategies used to cope with and reduce stress in one's life. In the video, the speaker links high stress levels to poor diet choices and difficulty in maintaining a diet, suggesting that organizing life to reduce stress can help in managing hunger and achieving fitness goals. Strategies mentioned include decluttering the schedule, pre-planning relaxing activities, and studying productivity systems to improve overall life quality and reduce hunger.

💡Reframing Hunger

Reframing hunger is a mental strategy that involves changing one's perspective on hunger to view it as a positive sign of progress rather than a negative experience. The video emphasizes the importance of the mental game in the journey to get lean, suggesting that associating hunger with positive outcomes like body fat loss and personal growth can make the process more bearable and motivating. The speaker encourages viewers to reframe the story they tell themselves about hunger to stay consistent with their fitness goals.

Highlights

The reality of hunger as a barrier to getting lean and its psychological impact.

Top 10 tips for reducing hunger when aiming for a leaner physique.

The importance of accepting hunger as an inevitable part of the process.

Understanding the biological reasons behind hunger and how to manage it.

Avoiding aggressive calorie deficits to prevent excessive hunger.

The benefits of a sustainable weight loss rate of 0.5-1% body weight per week.

Incorporating diet maintenance phases to reduce diet fatigue and teach maintenance.

Optimizing diet quality with a 90/10 rule for healthy and indulgent foods.

The role of low-calorie-density foods in reducing hunger and promoting fullness.

Understanding ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and its patterns to manage hunger.

Practicing mindful eating to improve satiety and reduce overeating.

The impact of excessive cardio on hunger levels and the need for moderation.

Cutting out alcohol to reduce calorie intake and improve self-control.

Using effective distractions to manage hunger and stay focused on goals.

Reducing stress levels through life organization to improve diet adherence.

Reframing hunger as a positive sign of progress towards fitness goals.

Encouragement to subscribe and engage with the content for further support.

Transcripts

- Let's face it, if hunger wasn't an issue,

getting lean would be as simple and straightforward

as you're saying you're gonna do it,

and then you actually go out there and do it.

Unfortunately, hunger does exist in this reality,

and it's a pretty big deal,

especially if your goal is to get to 15% body fat

or get down to 10% body fat.

And this is why, in this video, I'm gonna share with you

my top 10 tips for reducing hunger when getting lean.

And I'm confident that if you apply

all of these steps to your approach,

that you're gonna get your hunger down

to a much more manageable level,

and it will make this whole process of getting lean

a lot easier for you.

So without any further ado,

let's dive into my tip number one,

which is practicing hunger acceptance.

Now I'm not gonna sugar coat this,

some hunger is inevitable

and instead of being afraid of it,

you want to understand how it works and why it happens.

Hunger is an automated response that our bodies have

to motivate us to look for more food.

But it's the 21st century,

we already know where the food is,

and we know how to get more of it.

So there is no famine, but our bodies don't know that.

They're still wired to the same operating system

that they had 10,000 years ago,

and most people don't really understand this.

Most people interpret every bit of hunger

as an emergency signal.

They go into panic mode, and in fact,

most people even carry food with them

to prevent getting hungry to begin with.

They don't want to experience

even the slightest bit of that discomfort.

And we must remember that there is no real danger

of running out of food,

and once you internalize the biology of hunger

and why it happens, you become a lot calmer,

you become a lot less stressed out about it

because the truth is you will experience some of it.

You can reduce hunger, of course,

and we're gonna dive into a lot of tips for that,

but you also have to be able to accept

some of it and move on.

And just that act of acceptance

will lower the power hunger has over you

and will make the process a lot easier.

Now that we got that reality check out of the way,

let's talk about tip number two,

which is to avoid dieting too hard and dieting too long.

If you set an aggressive calorie deficit,

which would be let's say

less than 10 calories per pound of your body weight,

or less than 22 calories per kilo of your body weight,

you're gonna have a very hard time on your journey

and this is why most people fail.

They're trying to lose weight too fast.

An example of that I would ask you here is,

would you rather lose one pound per week sustainably

without feeling much hunger

versus losing a pound and a half to two pounds per week,

but while feeling hungry most of the time?

I would personally choose option number one any single day

because I appreciate the consistency of option number one,

because I know that if I'm hungry

all the time in option two,

I'd be falling off track

and hunger is actually just gonna get worse

the leaner I get,

so it is gonna be completely unsustainable for me.

And this is something you got to ask yourself,

is are you cutting too hard?

And in general, my rule here is I try to eat

as many calories as possible while still losing body fat

at that half percent to 1% of my body weight per week,

which would be a more sustainable rate.

And we also have to talk about diet duration here,

because what I do see is most people

trying to get rid of too much weight in one go,

and my recommendation here would be

for every 10 to 15% of body weight that you do lose,

that you consider doing a diet maintenance phase.

This is where you would raise your calories up

to stay at that level for a couple of weeks

up to a month or so.

And this does a couple of things.

Number one, it reduces diet fatigue,

which makes things a lot more sustainable long-term

when you're resuming a calorie deficit again

to go for the next stretch of fat loss.

But it also teaches you how to maintain,

which is also very beneficial

and something that most people don't know how to do,

because it will help you prepare you

for when you reach your ideal body weight,

and you want to maintain, you will know what to do.

Because at the end of the day, what's the rush?

What's the deadline?

Are you trying to be a competitor

or you're trying to be lean and stay lean long-term

and have that lifestyle in place?

If that's your goal, then you definitely want to consider

those regular diet maintenance phases.

Don't go too aggressive at your diet.

It will be a lot more sustainable overall.

Now, speaking of your diet,

now the third tip to reduce your hunger

is to optimize your diet quality.

Could you lose body fat eating only Twinkies?

Of course you could.

If you're in a caloric deficit, calories in, calories out,

you're gonna get leaner.

Is that ideal? No.

On the other hand, is it ideal if you cut out

all forms of processed foods from your diet forever,

never eat out, and prepare all your foods at home

where you can control every single ingredient

that goes into your body?

Well, yeah, you can definitely get leaner like that,

but is that ideal in today's world

with the lifestyles that we live in?

Probably not for most people,

so it's really about finding the right balance.

And what I found works really well for me

is thinking about 90% of my food and my calories

being invested in what I would consider quote unquote

good fuel, healthy foods,

and then 10% of that being invested

in those indulgences, in those treats, in eating out,

so I can enjoy some of those foods as well.

So instead of thinking all the time,

how can I include as much junk food

into my macros and calories as possible?

I'm thinking, how can I extract and squeeze in

as much healthy food out of this limited caloric budget

as I possibly can?

And I'm also now preferring foods

that naturally make me fuller the most

and actually helped me reduce that hunger level.

And these would be low fat, Greek yogurts, for example,

quarks, strawberries, oats, potatoes,

foods that I found work really well for me

and these are things that you should also know for yourself.

Which foods reduce the hunger the most?

Which foods keep you the fullest for the longest time?

And then you can optimize for those foods

and it will make the whole process a lot easier.

And the cool thing about these foods specifically

is that they're also usually lower calorie density.

They are foods that are healthier overall

to have it as a part of your diet,

so you're gonna match your health goals

with your fat loss goals.

Because if your diet is full of processed foods,

even if you magically had all the discipline in the world

and a self control to sustain that fat loss,

you're still sacrificing your health to some extent

by not cleaning up your diet by not eating healthy.

So I'd highly recommend considering

optimize your diet quality as a way to reduce hunger,

but also match that with your long-term health goals.

And this also brings me to tip number four,

which is dialing in your meal patterns

as a way to reduce hunger.

And what's gonna help us do this

is understanding how the hunger hormone,

ghrelin, actually works.

And there are two main things you need to know here.

Number one, ghrelin is released when you're used to eating.

So if you are someone who is snacking a lot,

eating four, five meals per day,

then ghrelin is gonna be released for that many times.

And this is where individuals

that have switched to intermittent fasting,

eating two, three meals per day, not snacking,

they've actually found that hunger levels go down

and are only happening in that eating window

for those two, three times.

It just makes a diet a lot easier to sustain,

so that's definitely something to consider doing.

And the second thing you need to know about ghrelin

is that it also comes in waves,

so it doesn't continuously keep going up and up,

making you hungrier and hungrier.

Eventually, it hits a peak and then it starts going down

and in practice, what this means,

that if you're in a situation like the airport

or a place where you don't really have

good nutritious food options,

you can just have some tea or some coffee

or some water and wait it out.

Your hunger levels will start going down.

And while you wait,

you also want to make sure to hit that like button below,

that's gonna make the wait a lot easier,

also reduce hunger and help you get leaner.

Speaking of reduction of hunger,

let's move on to tip number five,

which is practicing mindful eating.

If you're anything like me, you eat very, very fast.

And if you combine that with checking your phone,

your iPad, or your laptop while eating,

you can quickly wolf through an 800 calorie meal

in a few minutes and wonder what happened.

I had to consciously retrain myself

to improve my relationship with food,

to eat slower, chew the food, be mindful while I'm eating,

avoid multitasking and distracted eating,

and this has significantly improved

the satiety levels that I get from my meals,

which has helped me get leaner

and reach those lower body fat percentages,

so I would highly recommend you do so.

And this brings me to tip number six,

which is avoid excessive amounts of cardio,

and this is something that I keep hearing

from a lot of people,

is once they go above a certain threshold of cardio,

this is where they're starting to experience

a lot higher hunger levels.

Typically one or two sessions per week is fine,

but once they go up to four or five

or six sessions per week, this is where problems start.

And you can imagine, it's a much easier thing

to overeat 1,000 calories than it is to burn 1,000 calories.

So if you're in a current situation

where your amount of cardio

is making your hunger levels go up

and it's compromising that consistency,

you only have a couple options.

Option one would be to increase your calories

and see if you can still lose body fat

with this amount of cardio,

or option number two,

which would be to reduce the amount of cardio,

replace it with walking,

and see now if your hunger levels go down.

Overall, diet should be the primary way

you create your caloric deficit

and don't want to over rely on cardio to do that.

And this is gonna be much more sustainable,

especially if you drop those hunger levels

and then you can really have that approach

that works best for you.

Now, moving on to tip number seven,

which is cutting out alcohol.

First off, alcohol is very calorie-dense.

Most people don't realize this.

A single glass of wine has around 120 calories.

An average beer is gonna have 150 calories,

and even up to 200 calories.

And who's gonna have only one?

And then on top of that,

you have an appetite stimulating effect,

and then on top of that,

you also have a lowered inhibition, poor self-control,

which then makes you more likely to overeat,

so this is where all those pizzas

in the middle of the night happen.

One of the best decisions that I ever made in my life

when it comes to fitness and business success,

was to cut out alcohol.

It not only made getting leaner

and staying leaner a lot easier,

but it also improved my productivity

and my overall life quality.

So if you're someone

who is drinking alcohol on a regular basis,

you really want to consider

if it's taking more than it's giving.

Is it really worth having as a part of your routine?

And I would definitely recommend doing either a 30 day

or a 60 day or a 90 day challenge

to see how you feel without alcohol,

and overall, depending on your personality,

maybe you're like me

where you need to completely cut it out,

or you're someone who can moderate it

and you can have only one or two drinks

on very, very special occasions.

So you definitely wanna consider this

because it is making things a lot more difficult for you

if you're drinking on a regular basis,

so I would definitely recommend cutting out

or reducing alcohol.

Now tip number eight is leveraging effective distractions,

and this is something you become a master at,

especially when you're getting down

to that 8% body fat level or a 10% body fat level,

where really you start thinking about food a lot more.

I remember when I was at 7, 8% body fat,

I'd literally be dreaming about food.

So you become a good at distracting yourself

to not think about it as much.

What I found works really well is scheduling creative work,

doing phone calls, gaming, doing sports,

pretty much anything that can put me in that flow state,

where I'm just getting lost in a moment

and just time flies by.

And we've all had that type of experience

where hours just fly by and you lose track of time.

That's exactly the type of activity

that you want to use as your distraction from hunger,

and it's highly effective

and it can be a tool that you just pull out

when you really feel like the need for it,

when you have some hours to wait until the next meal,

make the most out of that hour,

schedule some effective distractions,

and use this to your advantage.

Now tip number nine for reducing your hunger levels

is to organize your life to reduce your stress levels

because one of the main reasons

why so many people struggle with their diet

is because they're constantly stressed out.

Their sleep is being affected by that,

they're making poor food choices,

their life overall is very chaotic

and it's hard to keep up with things,

let alone pay attention to their food choices.

And there's really a couple of things that you can do.

Number one is you can declutter your schedule

and really keep the essential bits in there,

and I would highly recommend reading a book called

"Essentialism" by Greg McKeown here.

It's one of my favorite books of all time.

It will really help you

learn how to organize yourself better.

Number two is pre-plan

relaxing activities into your schedule

so other things don't take up those time slots.

And the number three is study productivity systems.

One of my favorites is getting things done by David Allen,

from the book, "Getting Things Done,"

and I would highly recommend doing this

because we're not naturally wired

to know how to organize ourselves effectively.

And we all have 168 hours a week,

but some people are getting way more out of that 168 hours

in terms of value created and productivity

and they're doing so in a lot less stressful way.

So it is a skillset, it is something you have to study,

and it is something you have to master over time

and it will really pay off a lot

in terms of improving your life quality,

but also reducing your hunger

and helping you reach your fitness goals.

Now, this brings us to tip number 10,

which is learning how to reframe hunger,

because a lot of this journey is a mental game

and we can associate different stories

with different events.

So for me personally, when I am hungry,

I have associated that with my body losing body fat.

So whenever I feel hungry, it's me getting leaner,

so it's a positive thing instead of a negative thing

by default, where you feel like you're suffering,

you have to eat, it's survival mode,

and it's the end of the world.

I also associate a story with it

that I'm outside of my comfort zone,

so I'm growing as a person, I'm becoming more persistent,

I'm becoming more resilient.

My mind is being more callous

to resist uncomfortable things in life.

And I know that if I want to get to a place

that most people are not willing to get to,

and it's pretty hard to get exceptional results,

I know I have to do something that's a bit uncomfortable

and accept that as a part of the journey,

and that's just normal.

Now that doesn't stop me from being more efficient

and learning more about this,

but I also understand that there's a degree of acceptance

that's necessary in order for me to get to that goal.

And what's gonna help you get to your goal

is making sure to hit that subscribe button below,

making sure enable notifications

by hitting the bell icon as well.

If you want to work with me,

details are in the description below.

I'm gonna leave a video here at the end

that's going to really help you out,

so check out that video

and I'm gonna to see you right there.