5 reasons why you’re always hungry

1Not eating enough

The first port of call if you're always feeling hungry is to identify whether you're simply not eating enough. Of course, when your aim is to lose weight, it's necessary to be in a calorie deficit – but it shouldn't be such an extreme deficit that it leaves you feeling continually hungry.

An appropriate calorie reduction should allow you to lose weight at a healthy and sustainable rate, while ensuring you still feel well fed and energised. It's possible you may feel a little more hungry than usual when you first embark on a reduced calorie allowance, but this should subside quickly as your body adjusts to a lower intake.

If you are consistently eating below your calorie allowance or you often have lots of calories in the 'Left' row in your Nutracheck diary at the end of the day, then it's possible you're not eating enough. This can result in feeling extra hungry as your body isn't getting the nutrients and energy it needs to function at its best.

Solution: Always aim to eat up to your calorie allowance and more on days when you're extra active.

2Eating too much processed food

The type of food we eat has a huge bearing on how full and satisfied we feel. A diet that consists of a lot of processed foods which tend to be higher in added sugar, saturated fat and salt can leave us feeling hungry and wanting more.

High sugar foods in particular cause our blood sugar levels to spike quickly, which is then followed by these levels crashing shortly afterwards. This blood sugar crash leads us to feel hungry and in need of a quick carb fix - which can then become a vicious cycle of high-sugar snacks leading to more high-sugar snacks, and so on. The best way to manage hunger levels is to keep our blood sugar levels as stable as possible throughout the day. This can be achieved by eating meals high in fibre and protein, which are digested slowly causing a much more gradual and less exaggerated rise in blood sugar – but more on this later!

Research suggests that those who eat more processed foods tend to consume more calories throughout the day [1], which supports the notion that processed foods lead us to feel hungrier and to crave more high-sugar, high-fat foods.

Solution: Have a close look at your food choices to see where you can swap out some of the more processed, high-sugar foods for something more wholesome and filling. Wholegrains, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins are great choices!

3Not eating enough fibre and protein

Fibre and protein are a perfect pair for filling us up! They both work in different ways to help keep us feeling satiated, and to fill us up sooner when eating. If you're struggling with feeling hungry much of the time, checking what your typical fibre and protein intakes are is a great place to start.

We should all aim to have at least 30g of fibre per day, but most of us are only reaching around 60% of this target. We can't digest most fibre, so not only does it add bulk to our foods and pass through our digestive system slowly, it also feeds our good gut bacteria, which play a role in feelings of fullness too. So fibre really is a winner when it comes to keeping us feeling full and satisfied.

Great sources of fibre are foods like wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta, wholegrain rice, beans, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, seeds, fruit and veg, and fibre-rich cereals and cereal bars.

Protein is more difficult for our body to break down than carbs and fat, which means we digest it more slowly. This is why higher-protein diets are more satiating. The minimum protein we should have each day is around 15% of our total calorie intake, which is what our Well Balanced plan sets. But if you are hitting this and still feeling a bit on the hungrier side, it may be worth trying a higher-protein diet. Give our Higher Protein goal a try!

Great sources of lean protein are things like skinless chicken and turkey, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy, tofu, Quorn and pulses.

Solution: Pay close attention to your total fibre and protein intake. Aim for that golden 30g figure for daily fibre and at least 15% of your calories to come from protein.

4Not eating enough fruit and veg

Most fruits and vegetables are what we call 'low energy density' foods. This means they provide a large volume of food for very little energy. As opposed to foods like chocolate or biscuits, which provide a small volume of food with a high energy content.

If you're not managing to fit many fruits and vegetable portions into your day, this could be contributing to the hunger feelings, as you're missing out on the all important bulk that fruit and veg adds.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables means we can eat a larger volume of food, for fewer calories, which can help to fill us up throughout the day and bulk out our portion sizes.

Fruits and vegetables with the highest water content are the best choices, including tomatoes, cucumber, celery, spinach, watermelon, strawberries, lettuce and apples.

Solution: Ensure you're hitting your target to eat 5 portions of fruits and vegetables each day. Aim to exceed this target when you can for extra fullness feelings – 5 is a minimum target, the more the better!

5Lots of exercise

High activity levels can lead to increased hunger, as you'll be burning off more calories each day. The extra hunger is your body's way of telling you it needs additional fuel during this time.

If you are suddenly being more active than usual, or if you have been following a busy exercise plan for several weeks, it may be necessary to adjust your calorie intake to support this. Some people find they get extra hungry soon after exercising too, so this could also be a factor at play. If you find this is the case for you, plan your meals/snacks around your exercise routine so you have something to eat soon after you finish to stop the hunger building up too much. Protein- and carb-rich snacks soon after exercise are a great way to recover!

To ensure you're eating enough to support your activity levels, we recommend using our Combined diary view. This view adds your exercise calories back onto your allowance for the day, to encourage you to eat them back.

Solution: Plan your meals/snacks around your exercise and ensure you're using the Combined diary view and eating back your exercise calories.