Why do I feel so hungry while dieting?

Types of Hunger

The feeling of hunger that an individual may experience while dieting (more often than not) generally stems from both false and true hunger.

Let's define the different types of hunger and how they vary, as well as how they impact your dietary health.

False Hunger

Have you ever been told that you couldn't do something? If so, then you know that the first thing that you want to do after that is the thing that you've been told that you can't do!

You may not have done 'that thing' for days, weeks, months or years - but NOW you want to do it. You may feel defiant as well as frustrated. A multiple mix of emotions tend to be associated with this particular situation.

As an example, let's take a look at Julie.

She just left the doctor's office in a storm; why so? His new prescription for getting her blood pressure readings at a normal level without use of medications which are more often than not accompanied with bothersome, and at times, worrisome side effects.

The Reducing Blood Pressure Naturally Prescription

Julie enjoys her morning, evening and afternoon cups of coffee tremendously as well as the lacing of caffeine. It assists in waking her up on mornings when her brain is locked in a fog. After her lunch when the afternoon lull hits, she drinks a cup to re-energize. And in the evenings, she enjoys the pleasure that the flavor brings her, although she will admit that it has disrupted her sleeping pattern lately.

Her doctor has told her that the caffeine is influencing her blood pressure readings in a bad way.

He also told her that she needed to reduce the amount of sugar usage in her day.

She told him that she didn't like sugar substitutes and he told her that was a good thing because he didn't recommend using such.

While it was going to be difficult enough to go without the caffeine in her coffee, how could she manage without the sugar? She had posed this question along with her frustration to her doctor and he had told her in a very calm voice that she should begin by cutting the serving of sugar that she normally added, in half.

Julie supposed that she could get used to this over time; the good doctor had assured her that the cravings tend to diminish over time. Nonetheless, she suddenly craved a cup of high-caffeine coffee.

A dieter faces the same dilemma. As soon as the diet becomes restrictive, the only thing they may think about is food that they can't enjoy without doing such in moderation.

True Hunger

Because one must generally restrict their caloric intake in order to achieve fat loss, less food in the tummy may equal true hunger - particularly if the daily diet becomes too restrictive.

The addition of increased activity also fuels the hunger factor as energy burn equals a need for additional energy - whether it arrives in the form of new fuel or fuel that has been stored within the fat cells. In the later event, weight loss is the result.

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