5 Reasons Why Your Body Thinks You Need to Eat More
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Do you feel like you're constantly hungry, even shortly after having a meal? Do you find yourself frequently indulging in snacks throughout the day or struggling to resist overconsumption of food? Are you preoccupied with thoughts of food and find yourself allowing these thoughts to dominate your actions?
In this episode of Embrace Your Real podcast, we will explore five possible reasons why you may be experiencing constant hunger and provide practical recommendations to address each of these factors. We'll dive into the underlying causes of your hunger pangs and offer actionable solutions to help you manage your cravings and feel more satiated with your meals.
What I discuss:
You need to reduce your stress/emotions
You need more nutrient-dense food
You need more sleep
Your body needs to be better hydrated
You’re not giving your body the proper nutrients or amount of nutrients that it needs.
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Transcript:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. A podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I issue a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it, let’s go.
Hello, and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your podcast.
Do you feel like you're constantly hungry or even shortly after having a meal you find yourself like snacking frequently throughout the day or struggling to resist overindulging on foods? Or maybe you're constantly thinking about food or allowing that thought of food to control you. If so, you are not alone. Trust me when I say that you are not alone. I know that this is extremely frustrating and it can even be challenging to manage. I personally was at a point in my life where constant hunger controlled me. It prevented me from living my best life, and I just felt so lost about that specific topic. And it's such a huge part of our lives that I just felt so discouraged. And so that's why in this episode today, we're going to be exploring five reasons why you might be feeling hungry all the time and kind of provide some practical tips to help you combat those five things.
We'll dive into the underlying causes of your hunger pains and offer some, like actionable advice to help you curb your cravings and really feel more satisfied with your meals. Hint you don't need just more willpower. I know that we always tell ourselves, Well, I just need more willpower. I just need to say no more. Sometimes there is actually an underlying cause, so we're going to talk about that. So if you're tired of feeling hungry all the time and really want to take control of your appetite, this episode is for you.
Before you dive in, though, I wanted to share this review. It comes from Mommy of Boys. She gave a five star review and said,
“Amazing love your passion for helping other women and their health and wellness. I love it so much.”
Super simple, straight to the point. And it really does help us out. When you do leave a rating interview on the podcast so you can scooch over to Apple Podcasts, leave that rating and review over there. First, make sure you subscribe if you're not already, because that will just ensure that you get the episodes downloaded directly to your phone so that way you don't have to go searching for them. They will already be in your library every Monday and Thursday.
Let's dive in to the five reasons why your body thinks you need to eat more.
Number one, you need to reduce your stress and emotions. There is a direct correlation between your stress and emotions and your appetite. And this is why stress eating and emotional eating is honestly a real thing. Like it's not just in your head. In fact, when you are stressed out and emotional, your body releases excess of two hormones that really play a vital role in your feelings of hunger. The first hormone is called cortisol, which is often known as your stress hormone. And this is because when we are under lots of stress or experience chronic stress, our bodies release cortisol into our bloodstream. Now, why is this a problem? Well, it's actually a problem for a couple of reasons. But in terms of your hunger, it can really increase your blood sugar levels to unnecessary levels. And this can make us feel like we're hungry when our body actually doesn't need more food. Plus, raised cortisol levels actually are known for not only increasing our appetite, but also increasing our cravings. So when you feel like your cravings are just out of control, it could be due to your stress levels and emotional state. So instead of putting all of your energy into just thinking that you need to have more willpower to not give in to those cravings, it would be better, a better use of energy really, towards working to reduce the stress and figuring out kind of the underlying cause of the emotions that you're having. Because as long as the stress and the emotions are there, you're going to continue to have those heightened levels of hunger and cravings. So you'll just constantly be fighting this uphill battle until you really address the root cause of those cravings. But aside from cortisol, another hormone that is involved in this stress eating connection is ghrelin, which is also known as your hunger hormones. So ghrelin is produced in the stomach and signals to the brain to increase food intake. So when we are under stress, our bodies may produce more ghrelin leading to an increase in appetite and food cravings. So combining their raise, cortisol and ghrelin, you really do have a recipe for disaster. So again, instead of working to just try to have more willpower, you really have to ask yourself, okay, am I addressing the true root cause of the cravings and over hunger that I'm having? A.K.A., am I trying my hardest to ensure that my stress levels are decreased? Am I really, you know, practicing mindfulness? Am I for me personally, spending time in the word, spending time in prayer and making sure that I am addressing the emotions that I'm having so that I don't get into, you know, the middle of the day or the end of the day. And I'm just so stressed and I'm so riled up that it just leads to this binge session where I just eat everything in sight and I don't feel good at the end, Like I feel sick, I feel icky, and it's just not honoring my body with the foods and the nutrition that I need.
Number two, you need to be eating more nutrient dense foods. So. You guys. Now, if you've listened to me for any length of time that I do not believe in, labeling foods is off limits. I really personally believe and speaking from experience and then also working with thousands of women over the last ten years that you absolutely can build the body that you want by eating all of the foods like no foods off limit. Moderation and balance are the two keys, in my personal opinion, to having a healthy and thriving relationship with food while still building the body that you want. And I believe that you absolutely can do that as long as you are properly nourishing your body with the proper amount of protein, carbs and fats. So with that being said, though, nutrients are still very important. Your body literally craves nutrients. And this doesn't mean that you have to only eat salads or vegetable every single meal, but it does mean that incorporating nutrient dense foods into your daily intake amongst eating some of your other favorite, maybe non nutrient dense foods that can be super beneficial for you for so many different reasons. But this again, your body literally craves nutrients because there's a lack of nutrient dense food in your diet. That could be a reason why you're feeling overly hungry. When we consume less nutrient dense foods, our bodies are not getting the essential nutrients that they need, which can lead to a lack of satiety. Now, satiety is essentially the fullness and satisfaction that we get from food, and it's regulated by various hormones in the body. Now, these hormones signal to our brain, you know, when we've had enough to eat, helping us to control our appetite. However, when we're consuming a vast amount of less nutrient dense foods, these hormones may not be activated, leading to a lack of satiety and increased feeling of hunger. And this can really cause us to overeat and consume more calories than we need, leading to excess body fat gain. But at the same time, if we're only eating nutrient dense foods, that will likely lead us down this path of feeling unsatisfied with our meals and craving foods that we actually enjoy because we're not allowing ourselves to eat them in moderation. So personally, from my experience and also just working with so many women over the last ten years, I have just found that the secret sauce is finding the right balance for you and your body. And this is why I personally love incorporating both of them into my day. Now, I would say when you kind of look at from a bird's eye perspective of my day to day daily intake, I would say about 75 to 80% of my day comes from Nutrient Whole Foods. And that leaves, you know, anywhere from 25 to 30% of my day. And I would say I would say 20 to 25% of my day coming from non nutrient dense foods. I will tell you that every single day I don't miss a beat. Hear you guys when I say that I eat dessert every single day. I'm not talking about like a chocolate protein shake. I'm talking about like ice cream. I love Mya, so I love dark chocolate. I eat chocolate every single day. I eat it at the end of the night. It's my favorite. I love a frozen dark chocolate bar. I love my lasso bars. The chocolate covered are the best in my opinion. If you have not tried those, I know go to your local target. I'm not even joking. Like don't walk. Run to your local target and get the chocolate covered. Yeah. So bars, they are the best. I've had the salted caramel, I've had the vanilla, I've had the peanut butter. The peanut butter is our favorite in our household. But I'm telling you, all of them are so good and they're just the perfect amount of chocolate and ice cream to where you don't feel like super full, but you feel very well. What's the word I'm looking for? Just satiated like you feel like. Yes, that's a perfect amount. I feel good. And so side note, yeah, so bars are the best. But personally, again, going back to kind of bird's eye perspective, if you look at my meals, I would say, you know, breakfast, lunch, dinner, the majority of those meals are coming from whole nutrient dense foods and then kind of snacky things rice cakes, protein bars, molasses bars. Those are kind of the in-between things that I kind of sprinkle throughout my day that are a little bit non nutrient dense. And having that balance and having that moderation will lead to overall satisfaction. When you are satisfied, it will lead to consistency. And when you're consistent, that's when you're going to see results.
Number three, you need more sleep. Believe it or not, lack of sleep can really play a significant impact on our hunger levels when we don't get enough sleep or our sleep quality is not great. Our body will produce the hormone ghrelin like I just mentioned, which is what we talked about, and that's going to signal feelings of hunger, right? When we have an excess of ghrelin in our body, our body will produce less of our hormone leptin, which signals the feelings of satiation, right. Essentially signals to our body that we are full and we don't need to eat more. Now, this imbalance can. Lead to an increase in appetite and greater likelihood of overeating, plus a lack of sleep really also does have an effect on the levels of cortisol. Again, the stress hormone that can cause us to impact our appetite. And it's the same emotion. It's the same hormone that is released when we're stressed and when we're emotional. So when we're sleep deprived, our bodies are producing more cortisol, which, you know, studies have shown that can not only increase our feelings of hunger, but can also make us crave high calorie carbohydrate rich foods. And something also that's really interesting is that a lack of sleep can actually disrupt our circadian rhythm. Now, this is kind of your internal biological clock, which most people think regulates you to go to bed when you wake up. But it also really does regulate kind of your appetite and metabolism. So when your circadian rhythm is disrupted because your sleep or your wake time is off, it can trigger appetite regulating hormones, a.k.a. ghrelin and leptin, to not function properly. And when these two hormones don't function properly, that's when your appetite is going to get out of whack. That's when you're going to end up feeling super hungry all the time. And really, this could be a never ending cycle. So when you lack sleep, when you're stressed, when you're emotional, you're likely to be more hungry. You're likely to crave foods that are more, less nutrient dense and kind of more carbohydrate rich foods. And it's really again, it's not about just trying to have more willpower. It's really getting down to the deeper reason why and trying to address the deeper root.
Number four, your body needs to be better hydrated. Now, you might be surprised to learn that your constant state of hunger might be because you're actually thirsty, not hungry. But thirst is often mistaken for hunger, as the body can sometimes misinterpret the signals that it sends to the brain. So those feelings of hunger might actually be you being dehydrated or needing to have more water, and your body is confusing the two. Now, if you're if you confuse the two, you're not alone. They're super common to confuse many people. They confuse thirst for hunger because the symptoms are just very similar. And if you're not in tune with how much your body needs to be hydrated on a daily basis, then you're likely just mistaking all the time, Oh, I'm hungry, or I'm hungry again, or I'm hungry again, when in reality it could just be that your body's like, No, I'm thirsty, but you're actually not recognizing that. And so you're thinking that you're hungry, so you're eating more. And it just leads to this constant cycle, right? Because your your, you know, your stomachs, your stomach is grumbling, you're having headaches, you're feeling up emptiness in the stomach. And this can often time lead people to think that they're hungry. So how can you really tell the difference between hunger and thirst? Well, the easiest ways to really stay hydrated again, just knowing how much your body needs. So if you have a pen and paper or if you have your phone near you, I'm going to give you kind of just the estimated water intake based on your estimated weight. Now, if you don't weigh yourself regularly and you don't know, I would just take a guess, take a wild guess of kind of where you're at in terms of your weight. And the calculation is as follows It's point six, seven times your weight in pounds, so point six, seven times your weight in pounds. So I'll just do this right now. So I'm about 150. So 0.6, seven times 150 for me, would it be about 1.5 ounces of water? So whatever that is, that's the estimated ounces that you should be drinking per day. Now, there's a caveat to this if you have some intense movement. So that's a work out. It's a hit class, it's a cycle. I'm talking your heart rate is elevated and you're working hard. Typically for every 30 minutes of activity, you would want to add an additional 10 to 12 ounces of water on top of that. So if I do a 60 minute workout, I'll want to do an additional, you know, 20 to 24 ounces of water in addition to that. So my daily water intake goal should be about 120 ounces of water. Now, if you are not used to drinking this much water, I know that sounds super overwhelming. It really does. And I know you're like, Julia, I'm going to be in the bathroom all day and I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to sugarcoat this. You probably will, especially if your body's not used to it. But I'm telling you, it is amazing what happens, not just your skin, not just the clarity like in your brain, the energy that you get. You're not mistaking your body and you're eating when your body's actually thirsty. I mean, there are so many benefits to water, the less bloated. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. I personally feel like all the benefits of water really do outweigh going to the bathroom a million times. But also, I will say, just having done. This for so long now your body adjusts to it and yes, you'll still go to the bathroom, probably an abnormal amount because the majority of the population does not hydrate the way that they should. But again, the benefits really do outweigh that. So kind of how do you tell the difference between hunger and thirst? Now, the easiest ways to just stay hydrated, right? Make sure that hydration is included when focusing on nourishing your body with what it needs. So if you feel hungry, even though you just recently ate a meal, drink a glass of water, wait a few minutes, and if you're still hungry, then you're probably still hungry. However, if the hunger subsides that it was probably just thirst like your body was probably just asking you to drink more water. I do want to know if you drink a glass of water, you know, wait 15 minutes later, you're still hungry. You drink more water, you're still hungry. I mean, I don't want you to use this as you just saying, Oh, I'm not going to eat now. Like I will never, ever, ever promote you trying to just drink water so that you don't eat food. If your body needs food, your body will tell you. But that simple act of you when you're hungry, after you just eat something, drinking some water and waiting and just kind of listening to your body. It's a beautiful thing when you start to really listen to your body and understand what your body needs.
Number five, you're not giving your body the proper nutrients or the amount of nutrients that it needs. So this one is a twofold. Number one, you could feel hungry because you're not giving your body the proper macronutrients it needs. Or number two, you could feel hungry because you're not giving your body the amount of food that it needs. So let me kind of dive into each one macronutrients, which is also sure, if I say macros, that's what I'm talking about, macronutrients. They're the essential nutrients that our body needs in large quantities in order to function properly. So they include protein, carbs and fat. So each macronutrient plays a very unique role in our body, and all three play a significant role in our hunger. All three of them are very intertwined with our hunger hormones, and a lack of just one of the three. Macronutrients can lead to an imbalance in our hunger hormones. So when we lack a certain macro, our body may send send signals of hunger to make us eat more or to get the missing nutrients. For example, if we're not consuming enough carbohydrates, our body may crave like these sugary foods and carbs to fulfill its energy needs. Similarly, if we don't consume enough protein, our body may send hunger signals to get the amino acids it needs for muscle growth and repair. Our body knows what it needs and it's going to ask us for it. Like our body is a lot smarter than we give it credit for. It's just us that oftentimes are not listening to our body. And if we're listening to our body, sometimes we might not know what it actually means because we haven't educated ourselves. So if you're still feeling hungry, you need to think, okay, did I eat enough protein? Did I eat enough fat, did I eat enough carbs? All three of those working together, those are needed to balance those hunger hormones. This is the one reason why I personally think it's a bad idea to cut out one macronutrient. If you go low carb or low fat, it can be a recipe for disaster in the long run. On the other hand, when we eat a balanced diet with the right combination of macronutrients, our body is getting all the necessary nutrients to function optimally. Our balanced diet will help us feel full and satiated. After eating, for instance, a meal containing a mix of protein, carbs and fats that will take longer to digest, proving sustained energy and preventing those annoying hunger pains. And while eating the right balance of macros is important, you also need to be ensuring that you're eating enough. Now, most of us think we're eating enough when in reality we're not even coming close to how much we need. It's crazy. And this was me for a decade of my life. I thought that I was eating enough. I thought, you know, actually, I thought I was eating too much. And when I actually took the time to learn how much my body needed, I was significantly under eating, which totally made sense why I was lacking in energy, why my skin was freaking out, why am I Hormones were all over the place. It was because I was not fueling my body enough. So for example, when I'm personally in maintenance mode and this will, this will be different from person to person, but when I'm in maintenance mode, I'm about 23 to 2400 calories a day. But I know many women and this was me, you guys. I thought that I only needed 14 to 1500 calories a day. Yeah. And then there is some at some points in my college years where I was like 901,000, like if I went over a thousand calories a day, I was like beating myself up. This is just it's not true. So with everything that I just said, the number one thing you really need to look into is am I eating enough? And then the second question I ask yourself is, am I eating enough of each macronutrient? Now, in most cases, these two are the issue, right? We're simply not nourishing our bodies with what it needs. Therefore, we feel hungry all the time. And if you are eating enough daily and in the right amount without depriving your body, you'll notice how full and satisfied you. Daily. So I know that this is a confusing topic for so many people and I want to help clear it up. So I do have a free e-book. If you want to check that out, you can go to WW dot Julie Ledbetter dot com forward slash free dash e-book. Again that's Julie a lot better dot com forward slash free dash e-book. I will link it in the show notes below. And then I also do have a macro accounting made simple online academy program that will give you the complete guide to macro accounting. So inside there you'll fill out an extensive questionnaire form. Our coaches will go through that. They'll calculate your macros. So how much does your body need based on where you're at and what your goals are? And then we'll also try to simplify this process of macro accounting as much as we can without completely dumbing it down to the point where we're leaving things out. I think that this is the most comprehensive, simplest way to teach you macro accounting. And so that's why we created this program, because I know when I first started this, I was overwhelmed. It was something new. I was like, Oh my gosh, is this going to be is it going to be this hard forever? And it just doesn't have to be difficult. And yes, it's just like learning a bike. You're going to fall down a few times. It's going to take a little bit to learn. It's going to be a little bit of a learning curve. But once you start doing and once you start learning how to properly fuel your body and how much your body needs, it is a total game changer in your overall energy, your overall vibrancy. And also if you are crushing it in the gym or you're crushing it in your workouts and you're just not seeing the results that you thought you would, it's likely because your nutrition is not on par. You could think, Oh, well, I'm just eating super clean. Great. But again, are you eating enough and are you feeling balanced and are you you know, maybe you're eating clean and you're not eating that much throughout the week and they are going crazy on the weekends because you're it's just not sustainable. Our goal here is to teach you a sustainable approach to nutrition that will allow you to eat all foods in moderation and also see results for all the hard work that you're putting into your workouts day in and day out. So I will link both of those things in the shownotes. Again, we have the free e-book that will teach you kind of shares my story about macros as well as just teaches you more about macros. And that is Julia Ledbetter dot com forward slash free dash e-book. And then I have if you just kind of want to jump in and you want to be kind of guided through the process, it is a go at your own pace style program. It's not one on one, but we personally do calculate it's not just like an online calculator. We personally calculate send it to you in an email. We kind of guide you through all the different progressive macro sets and and just try to help in as many as much way we try to help you on this process so that you can feel kind of guided, but also feel empowered to be able to do it at your own pace and not feel like you need to have a coach for the rest of your life. So if you're interested with that, that program is macro accounting made simple dot com. Again, that's macro accounting made simple dot com. I'll link both of those in the show notes below. But let me quickly recap those five reasons why you might always feel so stinking hungry. Number one, you need to reduce your stress and emotions. Number two, you need to be incorporating more nutrient dense food, but also remembering to have some non-nutritive dense food. Really just find that balance in moderation. Number three you are likely lacking in your sleep or sleep quality. Number four, your body needs to be better hydrated. And number five, you're not giving your body the macros it needs or you're not giving your body the proper amount of nutrients that it needs. Again, I will link those two things that I just mentioned, the free e-book and my online academy in the show notes below. I would love to hear kind of your aha moments from this episode. I hope that this served you. I hope that this taught you something or educated you with something or empowered you with something. That is what we're here for. I love you so dang much. I mean it. I'll talk to you in the next life. All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie, A lot better. Yes. It's with an eye in the middle for that daily poser about real talk. Healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.