Weight loss is hard to maintain, especially when you’re hungry all the time. And, to boot, keeping track of how many calories you take in and how many calories you burn out isn’t always the magical fix to losing weight. Sometimes, you need a little extra help. And sometimes, counting calories gets ridiculously annoying.

First, however, you need to understand what is causing you to be hungry all the time, specifically when trying to watch your weight. Then, you need to choose the right foods that are good for your body. In addition, you need to get out of the house and exercise a little bit more.

For right now, though, we’re going to take baby steps. I’m going to provide you some insight on the matter. Specifically speaking, I’m going to make you aware of some triggers that spark up hunger in that stomach of yours. And they go as follows:

Salt

We all know that a eating a diet high in salt makes us thirsty, but did you know it also makes us hungry?

Allow me to explain.

Having a lot of salt in your diet can initially make you thirsty. However, after that initial thirst goes away, your body naturally starts to produce and starts to store more of its own water. When this happens, your body uses extra energy to help break down things like muscle mass. This, in turn, makes you hungry.

So, in other words, if you want to cut out a few pounds, watch your salt intake. Keep in mind, salt only makes you hungrier.

Air Conditioning

Think about it this way: In the winter, we tend to stay inside and not go outside. When we stay inside, we tend to watch Netflix, binge eat our favorite snacks, and load up on our favorite drinks. Why do we do this? To pass the time, yes, but also to stay warm.

Okay, so, it’s scientifically proven that when we eat, our bodies warm up a little. Why? Because our bodies are using energy and fuel to break down the nutrients and use them in several bodily activities. That’s why food tends to warm us right up when we’re cold.

If you haven’t put the pieces of the puzzle together yet, it’s okay. I’ll give you a helping hand. When the air conditioning is on, we feel a chill in the room. Granted, it is a good chill, but it’s still a chill. In turn, our bodies become hungry. They become hungry because they know that in order to stay warm, they have to keep burning fuel (food). Therefore, air conditioning equals hunger.

Keep in mind, I am not telling you to turn that AC off when it’s crazy hot outside. Just ease up on it if you’re trying to lose a little bit of weight.

Certain Drugs

Certain medications can alter several functions in your body, hunger being one of the main areas.

Specifically speaking, medications such as allergy medications, diabetic medications (e.g. insulin), steroids (e.g. prednisone), blood pressure medications (e.g. atenolol), and anti-depressants (e.g. sertraline) can alter and affect hunger. Therefore, if you’re on medications such as these, you are apt to putting on a few extra pounds.

Talk to your doctor; See if there are any alternate ways of dealing with such issues if you’re gaining too much weight. Or, simply ask if there’s an alternative medication that won’t get you gaining as much.

Other than the above issues, there are additional triggers to being so hungry. For example, if your hormones are out of whack, your stomach may be grumbling a little bit more. If your hunger is due to a hormone imbalance, the following suggestions should be taken into account:

Appetite Suppressants

When I suggest this, I mean to suggest the natural appetite suppressants. These should be incorporated into your routine, every day if possible. Such suppressants include green tea extract, saffron extract, spicy foods of any sort, and high-fiber foods of any sort. Google some spicy and high-fiber foods. Don’t assume certain foods are spicy enough and don’t assume certain foods have the amount of fiber you need.

Essential Oils

All essential oils are good for us. And, all essential oils have their own primary functioning for our bodies. However, the grapefruit essential oil is the one you want to use when it comes to hunger problems. The grapefruit essential oil actually helps to excite what’s known as our sympathetic nerves in our bodies. Doing this, in turn, suppresses hunger and allows for weight loss to happen effortlessly.

Exercise

Exercise, and make sure you do it on a regular basis. Burst training is recommended if you want to achieve the best weight loss results. If you don’t know what it is, look up some videos and see how it’s done so that you are sure to achieve results you want to see.

Eat Certain Foods

Foods that help with hormone regulation are the types of foods I’m talking about. For example, avocados are great at helping people with hormone imbalances. If you don’t know of many other foods, ask around or simply look it up. There’s so many that I’d be here forever naming them.

In addition to everything I’ve told you thus far, be sure to get adequate sleep if you’re looking to control your weight. Adding certain spices that stimulate weight loss is a good idea, too. Such spices can really do a number on burning extra calories. Check out some appetite-suppressing foods, too. They make a little weight go a long way, a long way away from you, that is.

So have fun with these tips and tricks and be sure to keep them in mind when your hunger rises again.

By Jenny Lyn