By: Matt Weik
We’re going to have a little fun with this article yet discuss a very important topic that many people suffer from on a daily basis. What’s the topic? Hunger. Or, taking it one step further… being HANGRY.
Hangry is a play on words by combining “hungry” and “angry” together. If you’ve ever been starving (think of the Snickers commercial), you’re not yourself. You’re irritable, angry, moody, and are ready to devour whatever food is put in front of you. Well, there could be a reasonable explanation as to why you feel that way, and it CAN be prevented, and there are ways to help curb these feelings.
In this article, we will discuss five reasons why you’re hangry all of the time, so you can identify the issue and work towards fixing it and finally feeling satiated throughout the day.
One of the most common reasons why people are hangry all of the time is because they dropped their calories too low. This could be in an attempt to lose weight, or the day simply got away from them, and they missed a few meals. Either way, if your calories are too low, you’re going to feel hangry and will experience some pretty intense cravings.
If you’re trying to lose weight, you will want to try removing 250-500 calories from your maintenance calories. This can help you lose anywhere from 0.5-1.0 pounds of weight per week. Stick with this deficit until you plateau and then decrease another 250-500 calories and repeat the process.
Dropping your calories too low, too quickly, will cause your body to think you’re in starvation mode and will actually slow down your metabolism to preserve the calories you consume. Be aware of this and be mindful of how many calories you are eating per day. You can track them with something like MyFitnessPal on your phone, so you have a visual of your daily caloric and macronutrient intake.
When it comes to staying satiated throughout the day, so you aren’t hangry, there are two things you want to pay close attention to – protein and fiber. Both protein and fiber will help keep you full and provide you with a whole host of health and fitness benefits.
One tip is to ensure you aren’t hangry all day long is to add protein to each of your meals, including snacks. Meat, chicken, fish, beef jerky, nuts, legumes, natural peanut butter or almond butter, eggs, Greek yogurt, protein bars, and protein shakes are a few options to consider.
Strive to consume anywhere from 0.8-1.0g of protein per pound of body weight. This will provide your body with adequate amounts of protein to help build or maintain your lean muscle tissue – regardless of if you are in a caloric surplus (bulking) or a caloric deficit (cutting).
If you’re hangry, it could be due to stress. Let’s face it, life isn’t easy. Some days simply getting out of bed and putting your shoes on can seem daunting. But when you are stressed, your body releases a stress hormone called cortisol. This unleashes a domino effect that can cause you to become hangry.
When cortisol is elevated, it also increases ghrelin levels, which is a hunger hormone. If ghrelin levels are high without leptin (the hormone that makes you feel satiated) coming in and helping turn off the hunger switch, you’re going to continually be hangry throughout the day.
In addition to being hangry, cortisol can cause you to more easily hold onto body fat and store it rather than using it as a source of energy. Essentially, cortisol is like stepping in the ring with Mike Tyson. You’re going to take some damage if you can’t keep him away.
If you want to better control your cortisol levels, consider adding MPA CortiSolve to your supplement regimen. CortiSolve is a supreme cortisol optimizing agent that can help manage and normalize cortisol in the body. Additionally, MPA CortiSolve can promote recovery, enhance lean muscle tissue growth, and increase fat loss. Don’t allow cortisol to wreak havoc on your body and stall out your physique progress – optimize your levels and keep them under control.
Whether you decide to utilize the unique formula found in MPA CortiSolve or not, you’re still going to want to find some way to manage your stress levels better. This can be through meditation, deep breathing, exercise, sleep, listening to music, sitting in a quiet room, yoga, whatever you find relaxes you. Doing something to manage your stress daily is incredibly important not only for your health but also to prevent you from feeling hangry all of the time.
Sleep is a great way to decrease stress and manage hormones in the body. As mentioned in #3, stress increases cortisol. If you aren’t getting enough sleep each night, your mind and body will be taxed and stressed, which will elevate the levels of cortisol produced. The increase in cortisol will again increase ghrelin, which then leads you to be hangry. It’s a vicious cycle.
To help your body recover and give it the quality rest it needs, you want to strive for a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. The best way to ensure you are getting enough rest each night is to create a schedule that you abide by. If you know you need to be up at 6am each morning, that means you need to be asleep by 11pm. Therefore, if you create a schedule that allows you to start getting ready for bed around 10pm, you have a full 60 minutes to get yourself ready for bed and to fall asleep.
Not many people realize that when it comes to feeling hangry, what you perceive as being hunger is really thirst. Yes, you heard that right. Many times, when you are hangry, if you would simply drink a glass of water, you will find the feeling subsides.
When the body is even slightly dehydrated, it can cause the sensation of hunger. Even if you are finished eating, and all of a sudden feel hungry again, it’s probably thirst, and grabbing some water will help curb the craving you are feeling.
In order to maintain proper hydration levels, you’re going to want to sip on water throughout the day. You can do this by carrying a water bottle around with you. When it’s empty, fill it back up and keep sipping throughout the day. If you exercise during the day, you’re going to need even more fluids to help replace what was lost through sweat during your workout.
Look at each of these reasons mentioned above as to why you may be hangry and work towards improving them with the tips and strategies found in this article. Being hangry is no joke, and if you want to perform optimally all day and be as productive as possible, you’re going to need to keep hunger pangs under control.
