In this lesson, you will learn how to beat the munchies and why ravenous hunger keeps messing up your diet. If you have ever tried to lose weight rapidly, you surely have experienced this. You try to lose weight, control your calorie intake, and then the munchies come up — Game Over. I hope this article will help you understand why these hunger attacks keep coming back. Beating the munchies is not just about discipline, but about a carefully planned and well-balanced diet. Find more nutrition-related topics at Nutrition Main.
First of all, you need to understand why the munchies keep attacking you.
The causes of ravenous hunger can be physical, psychological, or hormonal. Psychological and hormonal causes could be mood swings or a woman’s menstruation.
But since this is a fitness site, I will focus on the physical aspect here. The most common reason for the munchies is low blood sugar. If you only eat one meal per day, your blood sugar level will drop lower and lower until your next meal. The longer you wait, the higher the risk you lose control and start eating everything that’s not nailed down. That’s why you should eat at least three times a day; actually, six meals (three big meals and three snacks) would be even better.
Another reason for the munchies could be that you ban all tasty foods from your diet. There are too many tempting foods, and banning them completely is not the right solution. You should create a plan for dealing with chips, ice cream, etc. For example: never eat dessert when you are hungry. Always eat real food or vegetables first. If you start eating ice cream when you’re hungry and keep eating until you’re full, you will consume too many calories. But if you start with salad and soup, you won’t even be able to finish half an ice cream.
