Abdominal contractions caused due to hunger are known as hunger pangs. Everyone is familiar with them & they denote early stages of hunger. You must eat right while you are experiencing hunger pangs to avoid excessive calorie consumption & to keep your weight in check.
Tips to control hunger pangs
- Have 6-8 small meals throughout the day. This will avoid repeated occurrence of it by keeping you satiated.
- Eat slowly. Chew every bite 32 times! Hunger pangs will go away slowly but gradually.
- Add proteins & healthy fats to your meal. Proteins & fats take longer to get digested, thus delay your next hunger pangs! Consume lean proteins like egg whites, fish, toned milk & healthy fats like walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds etc.
- Include fiber rich foods, fibers delay stomach emptying. Thus you feel full for a prolonged time. Include oats, wheat flakes, whole grain products & leafy veggies.
- Avoid simple sugars & refined flours. They get digested very rapidly & you tend to eat more frequently.
- Have a glass of water/ lime juice water before your meal. This will fill some space & your hunger pangs will do down.
- Chewing sugar free chewing gums also helps reducing hunger pangs.
- Never skip meals. This adds up to the severity of your hunger pangs & you eat even more during the next meal!
- Chalk out your meal schedule & try to follow it religiously. After some days, you will start getting hunger pangs at particular pre scheduled meal timings. This will avoid unnecessary hunger pangs in between the meals.
- If you have eaten your meal & start getting hunger pangs, try to distract your mind from food & engage yourself in some other task!
