7 Tips on How To Curb Hunger While Fasting

What Are the Best Ways To Curb Hunger While Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a great way to lose weight, as many practitioners of this diet can attest. And though you might feel hungry during fasting windows, it’s an essential part of any intermittent fasting plan.

That is because intermittent fasting relies on a calorie deficit through fasting windows to help your body go into a metabolic state of ketosis, where maximum fat burning and weight loss can take place, along with a myriad of other associated health benefits.

But as you undoubtedly experience hunger pangs during this diet, it can be tempting to break your fast and eat food that will push you out of ketosis.

To avoid this, we have compiled our 7 top tricks for how to push through feeling hungry during intermittent fasting

1. Stay Hydrated To Feel Satiated for Longer Periods of Time

Hydration is essential for everyday life, and it’s even more important when it comes to fasting and hunger.

Because your digestive system and entire body already require you to drink plenty of fluids on top of eating food with water content (think of cucumbers, lettuce, and oranges), that need is amplified when you fast without food.

So, make sure you are drinking water during a fast, enough to sustain your body as you do.

Besides, your body can sometimes get confused between real hunger and thirst, so drinking fluids can fix hunger pangs too!

The more water you drink, the fuller your stomach will feel— and it doesn’t just have to be tap water, either. Other drinks that won’t break your fast include sparkling water, black coffee, black tea, green tea, and a variety of other unsweetened herbal teas.

Make sure that you don’t drink alcohol, sugary sodas, or dairy beverages during a fast, as they will push your body out of fat-burning.

2. Try Using Appetite Suppressants During the Fast To Prolong the Fasting Window

A great way to beat the urge to eat when you feel hungry is by taking an appetite suppressant that makes you feel full, aids the digestive system, and helps avoid breaking your fast.

Our own DoFasting Essential Fiber Complex is a suppressant that is full of natural ingredients to curb appetite cravings.

It uses glucomannan and cellulose as science-based compounds that fill your stomach with fiber and help you feel satiated while reducing bloating, lowering cholesterol levels, and boosting your energy.

Add in some of our Apple Cider Vinegar Gummy Supplements to boost your metabolism and regulate the bacteria in your gut, and it’s a winning combination for any intermittent faster!

3. Before Starting Intermittent Fasting Have Meals Loaded With Healthy Fats and Protein

It’s important to pack your last meal before the fasting schedule starts with good foods and nutrients that will fuel your body and give you more energy for a longer period of time to get through a fasted state.

That includes a final meal with enough protein, fibrous vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats like coconut oil and avocado. Ideally, following a low-carb diet will guide what you eat to healthy options, so that what you’ve eaten can sustain you for longer.

Make sure to stay away from unhealthy foods including sugar, high-calorie junk food, processed meats, and anything else that will cause a glucose spike that leads to an energy crash and you feeling hungry sooner.

4. Embrace a New Hobby To Take Your Mind Off for a Bit

While you might not always associate hobbies and health, it’s important to stay busy as you fast.

And though taking your mind off of hunger for a while won’t convince your body that you have eaten, it can actually achieve positive aspects in terms of physiology.

The hormone ghrelin is responsible for some of the hunger feelings you experience, as it stimulates your body to want food at certain times of the day, particularly when that has been part of your normal diet routine.

However, if you can ignore it by focusing on a hobby and pushing through, those hormones will regulate and become less intense.

5. Adopt a New Mindset That Reminds the Reasons for Starting a Diet in the First Place

Thinking about the benefits and positive effects that intermittent fasting will have on your body is super important for everyone.

A strict diet can be a cause of stress for your brain, but if you embrace a new mindset that allows you to focus on the positives and view your goals as achievable, you can push through the struggle of hunger and be ultimately successful!

And to keep yourself in a positive mindset, it’s worth setting goals that you can see milestone achievements for and monitor your progress against. To do so, consider the rule of S.M.A.R.T. goals:

• Specific— Set particular constraints for your goals to keep them grounded.
• Measurable— Make sure you can measure your progress over time.
• Attainable— It’s better to establish steps that are actually feasible to do.
• Relevant— Always ask, how does this goal relate to you and better your life?
• Time-Bound— Put a time limit on yourself to help motivate you along the way.

6. Change the Habit of Going to Sleep Late To Avoid Feeling Hungry

Most people go to bed fairly late, but that’s not recommended during an intermittent fast— particularly if you are starting your fasting window after eating dinner. Instead of staying up, you should try to go to bed early (and to sleep) after dinner, as soon as the fast has started.

This prevents you from being tempted towards eating a midnight snack or feeling true hunger cravings set in during the night. It’s especially important for the first few days of fasting, as your brain likely isn’t used to the feeling yet, and allows you to sleep through a good portion of the fasting window.

Additionally, avoid drinking black coffee and even green tea late in the day or after your last meal. This is because the caffeine levels in both can keep you from sleep and stimulate your brain at the wrong time, leading to higher stress as you cannot get to sleep!

7. Engaging in Light Exercise Can Also Be a Contributing Factor To Curbing Hunger

Lastly, but certainly not least, some people find light exercise can help them control hunger, get their body to move and function properly, and prevent them from eating snacks. Plus, exercise can burn calories and fat to lose weight, and bring more energy to your metabolism!

It’s important to only do light-intensity exercises during this time, however. That includes easy cardio, yoga, walking, jogging, hiking, and stretching. Save the high-intensity workouts, weight training, and bodybuilding for later, when you can eat and drink enough to sustain such an exercise regimen.

And no matter what, make sure you drink enough water to get you through any form of physical activity, and always listen to your body. If you are feeling fatigued, dizzy, or ill, it’s definitely time to stop and take a rest.

Another great way to get into some light exercise even easier is to invite a friend along for a walk or casual nature hike— additionally, keeping up a conversation can take your mind off of being hungry.

Should You Start Fasting?

Though intermittent fasting is generally safe for most individuals to pursue, regardless of hunger pangs, how to make hunger go away while fasting becomes a moot point for certain groups of people who should not fast, to begin with.

If you belong to any of the following categories of individuals, please do not try intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating unless under medical advice and supervision. Groups who should not try fasting on their own include those who are:

• Anyone with a chronic disease or illness.
• Breastfeeding, pregnant, or trying to conceive.
• Dealing with a current eating disorder or a history of eating disorders.
• Diabetics or people with insulin irregularities.
• Insomniacs or those with sleep disorders.
• Struggling with weight gain.
• Suffering from cardiovascular issues like heart disease.
• Taking prescription medications.
• Those with pre-existing health conditions.
• Under the age of 18.

Conclusion

Intermittent fasting is a great option for many things, including losing weight and gaining a variety of other positive effects on your health. But because fasting involves a calorie deficit for maximum weight loss, you will undoubtedly feel hungry during the diet.

There are many methods for how to make hunger go away outside of your eating window, from drinking water to adopting a new mindset about foods, changing your sleep schedule to using appetite suppressants to keep you going until the next meal.

During your intermittent fasting regime, give these suggestions a try to control hunger, beat your appetite, and achieve your health and wellness goals!