7 Ways to Fight the (Afternoon) Hunger!

It’s 3 o’clock and you’re ravenous...again. In fact you’re ravenous every afternoon around the same time. What gives? A lot of things, actually! Some of them you can control, others you simply won’t be able to fight without seriously changing your routine up. To troubleshoot your own snack attack madness, read on!

1. Break the Fast!
Breakfast literally means ‘to break the fast,’ but you may still skip it or eat the wrong thing, which sets you up for some serious hunger pains later in the day. Eating the right kind of breakfast will significantly affect how satisfied your belly feels. A breakfast bar may seem like a good choice (there are so many out there specifically marketed as such), but all those simple sugars they contain will have your blood sugar dropping in no time. This usually causes people to overeat at lunch which in turns gives them another fast boost in blood sugar right before it plummets back down, resulting in afternoon binges. The fix? Be sure to choose a breakfast with a good amount of protein (at least 12 grams, but more is even better). Two eggs and whole oats with a side of fruit is a great example.

2. You Eat the Right Foods at the Wrong Times
Even if you’re eating right (whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean proteins), you may not realize that it’s not consistent. Our bodies like routine most of the time (a story on plateaus is another day, another newsletter). Ever notice how once you eat something really bad you end up craving something equally as bad or worse? Whatever you give your body, that’s what it expects the next time. Apply that concept to the times of day you eat and aim to eat all your meals around the same time. For example: Breakfast at 7:30 am, a mid-morning snack at 10 am, lunch at 12:30 pm, an afternoon snack at 3 pm, and dinner at 7 pm. A neat thing I’ve noticed is I can actually tell approximately what time it is every day based on how hungry I am.

3. You Stockpile Your Calories
Do you eat so sparingly during the day that you’re famished by the time dinner rolls around? (“Mmm...you said dinner rolls!”) When you skip meals it’s harder to think straight, so by the time you eat you’re much less concerned about implications of what you do eat. Pretty soon you’ve wiped out a Baconator and a large fry without knowing what hit you, and you’re stuffed to the max and often not hungry until the same time the next day. If this happens to you often and your excuse is that you “don’t have time to think about eating during the day,” then try thinking ahead next time and pack snacks with you (light string cheese, whole wheat crackers, a good quality protein bar, etc.). Be sure to have a snack in the afternoon so that by dinnertime you’re not harassing the Wendy’s window attendant again.

4. You Drink Your Meals
With the constant availability of lattes for breakfast and smoothies for lunch, you could be drinking your calories away. You may not think of a smoothie or coffee as actual food (many people “forget” to account for things they don’t chew), but drinks can leave you feeling dissatisfied. Chewing causes the release of hormones that signal fullness and solid food is also digested more slowly than liquids. A slower digestion equals even blood sugar levels. So if you notice you’re always hungry in the afternoon and the drink you just had didn’t help, next time skip it in favor of veggies and hummus or an apple and peanut butter.

5. Borrrrring!
A common issue I see people having with food is too little variety. So many people think that to eat healthy means to strip your food of any flavor. This couldn’t be more backward. If grilled chicken and steamed veggies are your mealtime staples, you’ll get bored eventually – and this is when dangerous binges can occur, especially in the afternoon when your guard is down. Try a new fruit or yogurt one day in place of your usual snack. Texture is also key. Aim for combinations of creamy, crunchy, and chewy at lunch to keep your taste buds on their toes (you didn’t know they had toes, did you?). Just keep in mind that “creamy,” “crunchy” and “chewy” can also mean additional calories that your waistline doesn’t need. So choose wisely and always opt for whole, real foods whenever possible.

6. Sleep it Off
Here’s the part that’s tough to change: Because of our innate sleep-cycles and hormonal fluctuations throughout the day (a little something called circadian rhythm), the afternoon is the time where our body temperature and serotonin levels peak. This natural rhythm is enough to deal with when you’re getting adequate sleep, but considering most of us don’t actually get the 7-8 hours we need, fighting the afternoon slump becomes more of a challenge. Not only are we tired but when we’re tired we find it more challenging to choose healthier foods and we’ll reach for the first thing available to try to wake us up. That first thing is usually a simple carb (think candy bars, soda, and chips), so when we finish our noshing session we’re left even more tired and hungry than before. What to do? Try to get a consistent amount of sleep each night. If that’s not possible and you find yourself dozing off and reaching for caffeine or junk food, get up and walk around for 15 minutes instead. Seriously, it works! I use this trick just about every day and it’s my saving grace. Unless you can sleep standing up and with your eyes open...

7. Drink it Up
I know you’ve probably heard it before: Drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day. But do you even know why you should? One reason: To fight hunger pains and low energy levels. It’s true that most people mistake thirst for hunger at least once a day. Water not only fills you up and keeps your body temperature the way it should be, but it also increases your alertness. It always surprises me how little water I find out people drink when talking to them. Here’s my Trainer Girl tip: Start out with a full glass of room-temperature water first thing in the morning before breakfast and carry a water bottle with you at all times throughout the day. You can even add a slice of lemon, lime, or cucumber if that makes it taste more appealing to you. Aim to fill that water bottle up 6-8 times before dinnertime and see what a difference it makes in your ability to control your hunger pains and fight the slump!

Meet the
Trainer

Crystal is a certified personal trainer through
the National Sports and Conditioning Association (NSCA). She has a passion for helping others live a healthy lifestyle and coaching them to push
their limits beyond what they think they are
capable of.