Reasons For Always Being Tired And Hungry
This was extremely strange, experiencing a late-afternoon energy crash, feeling ravenous hours after a hard workout or snacking into the night – I was doing them all. And ultimately I was trapped in a series of overeating and a seemingly never-ending battle with weight, satiety and energy levels. I learnt it later with my experience that it is essential to be fine tuned with our hunger levels and be able to distinguish feeling starved, feeling full, and the whole spectrum in between. Here are a few common reasons I observed that people are always hungry and suggestions from my personal experience to find better balance:
Category 1: The Breakfast Skippers
Research shows eating more, earlier in the day, known as ‘front-loading’ calories promotes satiety and long-term weight maintenance. Breakfast eaters tend to be healthier and leaner than breakfast skippers as by fueling our bodies in the morning, we are putting gas in the tank for a full day of mileage. If you tend to skip breakfast, it is very likely your body eventually catches up to feeling this lack of fuel. So, in the long run, it is not just about feeling hungry, but rather you feel starved and reach for everything in sight.
Category 2: Unhealthy Breakfast Eaters
We need to observe that many common morning foods are high in carbohydrates, such as cereal, pancakes, fruits, etc. All these are great for ramping up energy before a major workout, but if you’re headed to work they’re more likely to leave you with a mid-morning energy crash due to spiking and falling insulin levels. So, adding protein to your breakfast helps refuel muscles after a night’s fast and fat adds a slow-digesting satiety factor.
Category 3: Fussy Eater Gym-lovers
Adequate food and fluid should be consumed before, during, and after exercise in order to maintain blood glucose concentration during exercise, increasing exercise performance, and enhancing recovery time. The body should be well hydrated before exercise too. There happen a few of us who won’t fuel up our body by eating the right foods and drinking the right fluids, in the right amounts at the right times.
Category 4: Diet And Starve Types
Crash diets, fad diets, starving due to irregular eating schedules is dietary disaster, typically our body clocks are bound to fix meal times – breakfast, lunch and dinner. So, what works best for you without starving your body works fine so long as it is regular and timely.
Conclusion:
Last but not least- going hungry all the time could be a medical condition too. I did rule that out with my Doctor, and just made sure- not be one of above four- and I am doing just fine. So, if your problems with hunger and energy are preventing you enjoying life, and you are not one of above four people category, you must also rule out a medical condition.
Lesson #1 is not to skip breakfast.
Lesson #2 Watch what you have for breakfast
Lesson #3 – Match your diet with activity.
Lesson #4 – Dont torture yourself with hunger pangs, plan for timely and regular meals
