7 Ways to Combat Hunger when You’ve Already Hit Your Macros
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Are you hungry all the time?! I can tell you this is the worst feeling EVER!
I don’t know about you, but around my time of the month, my appetite goes through the roof. And, some days I’m just more hungry than others. Both are natural, but what do we do about it?
So, in this episode of Embrace Your Real, I want to share a few tips for what you can do when you’ve already hit your macros but you’re STILL hungry.
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 dish you 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 in, let's go.
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast, Seven Ways to Combat Hunger When You've Already Hit Your Macros. I've got to ask you a question. Are you hungry all the time? I can tell you that that is truly the worst feeling ever. I don't know about you, but especially around that time of the month, my appetite can go through the roof. And some days I'm more hungry than others. Both are very natural. But what do we do about it? I think so many of us are scared to eat more food because we don't trust whether or not we're actually hungry or if we actually need more food. So in this episode of Embrace your Real, I want to share with you a few tips that you can do when you've already hit your macros but you're still finding yourself hungry.
Before I dive in, I have to share this super sweet review. It comes from JB96. She says, "Love. I love this podcast. Julie is like a friend who's always there to give you advice you need before you even know that you need it. She knows what she is talking about and gives it to you straight. Thank you, Julie, for all you've taught me about honoring my body." Oh my gosh. Love this so much. Thank you for the review. If you haven't already rated and reviewed the podcast, you already know what I'm going to ask you to do, scooch over to Apple Podcasts, any Apple device, iPad, MacBook, iPhone, every single Apple device has a podcast app. It's a purple icon. You tap that, type in Embrace Your Real. First, make sure you subscribe, and second, leave a rating and review. It takes less than 15 seconds, but it truly helps the growth of this podcast.
Okay. So let's dive into these seven tips. Tip number one, spread out your meals. Spread your macros evenly throughout the day. First of all, you're going to feel fuller longer when you eat carbs, fat and protein all together. The fat will help you digest the carbs slower and the protein will naturally slow to digest, which keeps you feeling fuller longer. Obviously though, some days a meal is going to be more carb heavy or more protein dominant, but in your day-to-day meal planning, try to keep a balance of all three things to keep your hunger at bay. Something that also helps me is planning a meal or snack every one to three hours. This way, I never feel so hungry that I just feel like I need to stuff my face to feel full again.
And if you ask Joshua, who works with me at home all day, every day, I'm always in the kitchen, you guys. I would say every one to two hours, I'm having some sort of small snack, and it's because I have found that that is what makes me feel my best. Having a balanced meal, protein, carbs, and fats, for the majority of meals, and also having smaller snacks throughout the day just keeps my hunger at bay. And I am not a friendly person to be around when I'm hangry. I don't know about you, but when I get hangry, it's like everything in my world immediately starts to frustrate me. And so I know if I want to be my best self to serve others in my best capacity, I have to figure out what works best for me. And I want you to figure out what works best for you.
Tip number two, snack on high volume, low calorie food. So what does high volume, low calorie food even mean? These are foods that you can get a lot of while still keeping your caloric intake low. For example, you can eat four lightly salted rice cakes, which feels like a lot, but you're only consuming around 200 calories. Or you can eat an entire head of celery without hardly eating any calories at all. For example, two salary stalks only have 15 calories. High volume, low calorie food is something that you want to prioritize when you've eaten enough macros for one meal but still feel hungry and need something extra. I wouldn't, though, focus on making all of your food be only high volume, low calorie food because the majority of that is just going to leave you feeling hungry and not satiated and satisfied, and you're also going to likely miss out on important vitamins and nutrients that can come from other foods.
But some other great high volume, low calorie foods, cucumbers, squash, Zoats, which is zucchini and oats together, it just makes a bigger bowl of oatmeal, a more voluminous bowl of oatmeal without all the additional carbs. And when I say this, I want to make sure that you know that I'm not saying that carbs are bad, but I think the key to essential meal planning and successful meal planning is having that balance between high volume foods as well as calorically dense foods, because those are going to keep you full and satiated, whereas the high volume, low calorie foods are going to allow you more bang for your buck, if you want to think of it like that. Some other things, watermelon, some berries. You've got to, again, be careful. Fruit is not bad in and of itself, but fruit itself can be pretty carb dominant, so just keep that in mind. Protein smoothies, et cetera.
Tip number three, stay hydrated with water. I don't know about you, but oftentimes we can actually misread thirst signals for hunger cues. This is why many of the reasons why staying properly hydrated is so important. Because sometimes we feel like we're extremely hungry when in actuality we're just extremely thirsty and our body is begging us for water. So if you feel like you're on track with your macros for the day but your hunger is out of control, I want to encourage you to make sure that you are hydrating yourself. Drink some water, wait around 30 minutes and see how you feel. If you are often feeling hungry and are not sure why, I would focus on your hydration daily, because prioritizing water first thing in the morning when you wake up and then also carrying that water bottle around with you throughout the day, so that you're constantly reminded to hydrate, I think you'll learn that many times when you felt like you previously needed a snack, what you really needed is just some water and hydration to your body.
The National Academy of Sports Medicine, NASM, recommends anywhere from 16 cups, 120 ounces of water per day for men, and a minimum of 12 cups, 96 ounces of water per day for women. Again, I have talked about this before, but a great kind of baseline for your water intake is 0.67 times your body weight. So that's going to give you in ounces a great customized recommendation for water intake. And then for any 30 minutes of vigorous activity, we just always encourage you to add 12 ounces more to that baseline of water. Especially if you are doing an intense workout, if you're doing sports, just make sure that you are hydrating on top of that baseline of water so that your body can make sure that it's maximizing its hydration.
Tip number four, eat satisfying meals. Like I mentioned in tip number two, oftentimes the reason that we are still hungry is because we're not eating foods that are satisfying us. For example, if you're constantly just eating plain chicken, or plain broccoli, or plain rice, no wonder you are still hungry after eating that. Your taste buds are not satisfied whatsoever. And you'll learn that prioritizing meals that actually have flavor will fill you up more and will have you eating less because you're actually satisfied.
So of course, I'm not saying don't eat chicken, broccoli or rice, but I encourage you to spruce it up. Add some seasoning, add some sauces, turn it into an Asian stir fry, or an Indian Curry, or a Mexican bowl. There are so many simple ways that you can make your meals more exciting. And I promise you, adding in a few macros to that dish that makes it more satisfying will have you be eating less macros in the long run. Plus, who wants to live the rest of their lives eating bland foods? I'm going to say absolutely no one. Have fun with your foods and you will feel less hungry.
This is something that I learned along the way, because when I first entered into my health and fitness journey, I was so conditioned to only think that I could have bland food, and it led me, like I had mentioned earlier, feeling so bored. As a result of feeling bored in my taste buds, I wanted to spruce it up, and I ended up eating way over my macros because I was bored in my main meals. So find meals that are exciting, find meals that are yummy. There are so many delicious different types of variations of meals.
And I'm talking about my Honor Your Body Challenge later in this episode, but in every challenge we give you a Jumpstart Meal Plan. And what's so cool about this is that we give you protein batch recipes. So we'll do a big batch of chicken. For example, we have a copycat Chipotle chicken coming up in this Jumpstart Meal Plan. And you can do four or five recipes. We're showing you how to use that specific chicken in different recipes. Because you could have one protein, but you could make it a million different ways, and that's what's going to make it feel exciting and in the long run, like I had mentioned, keeping you on track.
Tip number five, eat nutrient dense foods. Sometimes the reason why we're still hungry, even if we're hitting our macros, is because we're not eating enough nutrient dense foods. Our hunger is essentially our body asking for more vitamins, nutrients and fiber. Not all the foods that you eat have to be nutrient dense, but incorporating more into your daily intake will help to keep you feeling fuller longer. Nutrient dense foods includes things like veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, meat, rice, potatoes, foods that don't have an ingredient list. They are the only ingredient list. So if you're always feeling hungry, see where you can start making small tweaks to your daily intake to sneak some more nutrient dense foods in there.
Tip number six, eat more protein. Did you know that protein is the most filling macro? It will actually keep you feeling fuller longer than carbs and fats. It keeps you feeling full because it's slow to digest, and it also burns 30% of its calories through digestion, which is a great little protein perk. So when I've hit my macros for the day but I'm still feeling hungry, protein is always my go-to for when I want to eat a little bit more. I'll add some more chicken to my dinner, or if it's later at night, I'll make myself a protein shake. Beef jerky is also great, hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese. Those are also some simple ways to get extra protein in to calm those hunger signals.
And you can get so creative with this. There's a million different ways you can do a protein shake. There's so many different ways to have a Greek yogurt bowl and dress it up, or cottage cheese, so many different things. One thing that I have loved recently is deli turkey, like low sodium smoked deli turkey with cottage cheese and a little bit of paprika. I'm telling you guys, it is a total game changer. I have been loving it so much.
Tip number seven, eat enough food. If you do all of this and you are still hungry, it is a clear sign that your body needs more food. Plus, if you find yourself battling hunger every single day no matter what, that is not healthy. That clearly means, number one, you need to incorporate more nutrient dense foods into your daily intake if you're not already, or number two, you need to eat more. There's a couple of different things that I want you to ask yourself. If you are following old macros, I want you to ask yourself if your activity level has changed, if anything in your life has changed since those last macros. That can even be like your weight. If your weight has fluctuated and then you just went back to your old macros, you may need to get your macros recalculated based on where you're currently at, what your current activity level is and what your goals are.
And two, I also want to remind you that copying someone else's What I Eat In A Day is not going to yield results. Let me say that again, copying someone else's What I Eat In A Day reel, or TikTok, or video, whatever you see, that is likely not going to yield the results. You are on your journey. They are on their journey. There are so many different factors that your customized nutrition is based on that you can't be going copying everybody else's what they're exactly eating in a day and expect that that's going to work for you. So I want to encourage you to figure out what your customized macros are, what your customized nutrition is.
And if you are needing help with that, I've got you, because we have the Honor Your Body Challenge coming up. If you've never heard of what my Honor Your Body Challenge is, essentially, you will get four weeks of strength training and cardio workouts routine inside my Movement With Julie app, a Jumpstart Meal Plan with delicious recipes, including breakfast, entree, desserts, along with accountability and support as well as getting your macros custom to where you're at and what your goals are. So we are going to customize your macros, we're going to send those to you, and then we teach you, in that calculation, step-by-step, how we did it so that you can feel empowered to do it in the future.
This four week challenge, you guys, is not a quick fix. It is a challenge, though, to give you the tools that you need to create a lasting change in your life. So if you are interested and you want to join the waiting list, enrollment for the challenge opens on September 17. So this Friday, if you're listening as soon as this episode went out. And the challenge actually starts October 4th of this year. So you're definitely not going to want to miss it. Be sure to click the link in my show notes so that you can go and sign up for the waiting list. That way you will be the first to know when enrollment enters. I also have a huge weekend of giveaways for early bird enrollment. So if you sign up the 17th, 18th, or 19th of September, you will be entered to win huge giveaways. I'm giving away thousands of dollars worth of stuff just as an incentive for you to sign up early. So again, be sure to go to the show notes, or you can go to honoryourbodychallenge.com and sign up for the waiting list.
I hope this episode was helpful for you. I know that it can feel frustrating still feeling hungry even if you've hit your macros. But I guarantee if you take these seven things into your routine and ask yourself if you're spreading out your meals, if you're snacking on high volume, low calorie food, if you're staying hydrated with water, if you're eating satisfying meals, or eating nutrient dense foods, or eating more protein, or just plain eating enough, I can guarantee between those seven things, you will find your answer for what you're looking for. Like, "Why am I feeling hungry?" You will find the answer and a solution for that.
So let me recap those seven ways to combat hunger when you've already hit your macros. Tip number one, spread out your meals. Tip number two, snack on high volume, low calorie food. Tip number three, stay hydrated with water. Tip number four, eat satisfying meals. Tip number five, eat nutrient dense foods. Tip number six, eat more protein. And tip number seven, make sure you're eating enough food. I hope that this episode helped you. I hope that you found something for it.
Again, be sure to not miss out on the Honor Your Body Challenge, fall 2021. I am so pumped to do this alongside of you, because I know that the last four months of the year can be hard but not impossible. If you have a community of women that are all along the same journey with like-minded goals, it is so much easier to follow through. And if you feel like you've fallen off track this summer, if you just need to kickstart, or if you need to reestablish those healthy habits that maybe you lost over the summer or even prior to COVID, I know it's been a hard year and a half, this Honor Your Body Challenge is for you.
So be sure to go to www.honoryourbodychallenge.com. You can sign up for the waiting list. Enrollment opens September 17th. Challenge starts October 4th. You're definitely going to want to get into early bird enrollment, which is September 17th, September 18th and September 19th, because you will be entered to win tons of amazing giveaways that we have in store just for those who sign up during that early bird enrollment. But you can sign up any time before October 4th for the challenge. I cannot wait to do this alongside of you. I hope this episode was helpful, and I will talk to you guys in the next episode.
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, juliealedbetter, yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post-workout 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.