9 Ways to Reduce Food Cravings While Fasting

There are proven ways to reduce hunger and appetite while fasting for fat loss. If you want to lose belly fat and have tried intermittent fasting but felt starving all day this video will help. Learn how to do intermittent fasting for weight loss without dealing with crazy hunger pangs or impossible fasting diet restrictions.

Watch this video if you'd like to learn how to create your own intermittent fasting plan from scratch:

Not eating anything throughout the day can be really difficult when first starting to fast. But having these set intervals throughout the day where you don't consume any calories can help you lose a lot of body fat while still enjoying bigger more satisfying meals during the hours that you are allowed to eat. So today I'd like to go over some of the things you can do to make fasting or not eating easier to stick to and this should help you whether you're a beginner or someone that has lots of experience with fasting. 

One of the number one tips that you hear is to drink coffee. Many people swear that coffee helps them reduce hunger making it easier to go for longer periods of time without food. And for many people, coffee can be a very effective appetite suppressant. One reason for this is that coffee actually enhances fat burning while sparing muscle and liver glycogen, which might take longer to start having sugar cravings. However, this likely doesn't play as big of an impact on hunger as the fact that coffee contains phytochemical compounds called chlorogenic acids. These compounds have gotten a lot of attention from obesity researchers and supplement manufacturers because they might help decrease hunger. Unfortunately the studies that are currently available show mixed results. Some indicate that chlorogenic acids can reduce hunger while others don’t find the same result. (3) But even if it's not specifically the chlorogenic acids, there may be something else at play that allows coffee to lower appetite for a decent length of time. One meta-analysis for example found that coffee could help reduce appetite anywhere from half an hour to four hours after consumption. (**) It also found that somewhere between 3 and 4 1/2 hours after drinking the coffee the appetite suppressant effect wore off. So you're welcome to try black coffee while fasting since it can help reduce your cravings and overall appetite. Just don't add calories to the coffee in the form of sugar or coffee creamer as that will temporarily break you out of your fast.  

Now one of the most important tips that I feel many people can benefit from is to remember that you can cycle your calories within an intermittent fasting plan. This is so important because it gives you mental breaks and can make fasting much easier to stick to. I mean think about it for yourself. You might not mind aggressively dieting Monday through Thursday. But when the weekend rolls around and you go out with your friends or your family and you get dinner and drinks, it's a lot harder to be restrictive. And it could even feel like a reduction in your quality of life if you're not allowed to celebrate with food occasionally. Well, calorie cycling allows you to do this. Let's say you need to eat 2000 calories per day as your target to lose fat. Well, you can instead eat 1400 calories per day Monday through Thursday and then Friday through Sunday you can eat 2800 calories. Ultimately at the end of the week, both of these setups should lead to similar amounts of fat loss since the calorie totals for both are 14,000 calories by the end of the week. You would still keep the same feeding and fasting windows each day, but you would alternate the calories within your feeding windows. This way you can burn fat while still having days where you can fully enjoy the food you eat, the size of your meals, and have more room for treats and snacks. Research also supports the fact that cycling calories enhance diet adherence, diet satisfaction, and weight loss compared to continuous calorie restriction. (9) Just keep in mind even when you have more aggressive days where you cut calories further down, you always want to make sure you get at least 0.73 grams of protein per pound of body weight.    

Next is pretty simple for most adults with jobs just stay busy, it literally helps the time go by faster and keeps your mind off of food. Research actually shows that focusing on a task reduces food cravings (7) So keep yourself busy. And you'll be able to experience another amazing benefit that comes with fasting in terms of your productivity improving. Since you won't be busy eating and you won't be wasting any energy on digestion when you do adapt to your fasting schedule you'll find that you're much more focused on the tasks you need to get done throughout the day. 

It'll also highly help to avoid having food that you...

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References

1. Participants in this study drank 500 milliliters of water 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in addition to their regular water consumption, for 8 weeks in a row;
“The decrease in body weight, BMI, sum of skinfold thickness, and appetite score of overweight participants at the end of study period establishes the role of drinking excessive water in weight reduction, body fat reduction, and appetite suppression of participants.”

2. Some studies indicate that chlorogenic acids can reduce hunger while others don’t find that result.

3. Coffee May Reduce Appetite For 1/2 hr to 4 hours after consumption

4. Research links coffee consumption to various health benefits, including better glycemic contrl, a small reduction in blood pressure, better herat health, and a reduced risk of cancer.

5. As an example, a 2016 study had eleven normal-weight women follow two different diets.
“Higher postmeal ratings for hunger and lower postmeal ratings for fullness (paired t test, P, 0.01) were observed in irregular compared with regular intervention periods”

6. Research shows that focusing on a task reduces food cravings and that actively thinking about anything other than food reduces food cravings

7. This might explain why researchers found that homes of obese individuals have less healthy food available but more junk food than those with a healthy body weight.

8. Research indicates that calorie cycling enhances diet adherence, diet satisfaction, and weight loss compared to continuous calorie restriction.

9. “Roughly 40% increase . . . feeding behaviors during stressful periods.”

10. Not getting enough sleep increases the hunger hormone leptin

11. Not getting enough sleep lowers the satiety hormone ghrelin

12. Ghrelin (Hunger Hormone) Released During Normal Feeding Times (ie. breakfast, lunch, dinner)

[SchuyFit]

0:31 - Drink coffee to reduce hunger
2:00 - Cycle your calories for mental breaks
3:30 - Stay busy
5:05 - Drink more water
6:06 - Stay consistent with your feeding & fasting windows
7:13 - Let other people know you're fasting
8:07 - Consume high quality, slow-digesting protein during your eating window
8:55 - Reduce stress
10:18 - Get enough sleep

Great video! I use fasting with my clients and it most definitely works. I post a lot of content around fasting as well!

[Clemenz]

Used to be 320lbs. Now I’m 194lbs. It took 12 months of intermittent fasting. I also cut out sugar, sodas, and most carbs. I did work out too but the fasting really helped. Plz continue to preach this!

[purpleslushie]

I've dropped 15-20 pounds in the past few months thanks to this channel. I like that science and studies are the backbone behind a lot of this info.

[karlbodmer]

I was trying for years to lose fat. It was really hard. Intermittent fasting was definitely the hardest thing to do in my life. You need so much mental strength to go through day while fasting. I am currently experimenting with Nextlevel Diet and it has working perfectly for me. 100% recommend.

[totallysickable]

Great content as always! The biggest game changer that helped me was eliminating sugar! A lot of times you think your hungry when actually your body is craving sugar. You only need 25g a day which you basically get from just eating fruit and veg. Take a closer look at food labels because A lot of products that claim to be “healthy” are actually packed with sugar.

[AnthonyArroyoYoutube]

I started changing my lifestyle back in December 2021, I was 315. Now in August 2022, I’m 225. A lot what’s in here is definitely things I’ve been doing but being more intentional on my eating schedule could really help out since I’ve been all over with that lately. Thanks!

[stephaniephouotrides]

fasting is the only thing that has really worked for me. great info. 🎉

[musicandme]

I started fastin 1 year ago took me 6kk to loose 37kg and now i have been bodybuilding the hole time back in the Day i was 137kg now im 97kg pure muscel 💪🏼

[arielpenalver]

Fasting has been part of my life for years thanks to this channel. Great stuff as usual, keep on doing a nice job.

[brandonwhitby]

At @10:28 he misspoke lol leptin is the satiety hormone and ghrelin is what makes you hungry lol

[marcuswelby]

Once you become metabolicly flexible you can go back and fourth. That does take some time but can be done especially with black coffee.

[bookworm]

I'm on day 3 of no processed sugar or processed carbohydrates. Already I'm noticing some pretty crazy changes. My cravings and overall hunger have gone way down. I had a couple pimples and some eczema, that's going away. Redness inflammation in general, my skin is looking really nice. I've got some joint pain due to injuries, the last few days I haven't had much of an issue with that. My fingertips are regaining feeling. I'm sleeping better. It's really insane, I'm excited to see how far this goes. Also I literally haven't been starving myself. If I want sweet I have some fruit. Just no sugary soda or candy, no processed sugar. I'm taking my carbs from vegetables, not bread or pasta. And plenty of protein and water. Eggs, lean beef, lean pork, unbreaded chicken. I won't eat fish I didn't catch though. Tuna in a can is as far as I'm currently willing to go, but I have been taking fish oil. So far so good.

[iknownothing]

I've been on testosteron replacement therapy for 3 months now, and I have to get rid of 30 pounds. Losing body fat when extremely low on T is virtually impossible, especially around the waist. Your videos are extremely valuable and motivational.

[jamieroberts]

Dude you helped me lose 75 pounds quick and I look great. Thanks for the information.

[RankMotion]

I have lost more than 20kg of pure fat in 4 months thanks to keto fasting

[vivicmp]

How come you are getting even more handsome, Max? 😅🙈 Thank you for the content and the motivation 🔥💪🏻😘

[shresho]

while on fasting I used to drink water whenever I felt hungry.. I don't know how scientific is that but that always helped me to postpone the hunger feeling.

And I didn't expected but my skink got alot healthier. I mean I can really see there's a big improvement.

[kenzboard]

lost 20 lbs in 4 weeks doing alternate day fasting where id fast mon/wed/fri (and workout/run) and tue/thur/sat/sun i eat at or slightly below maintenance calories. highly recommend it.

[dekaywill]

I'm on a keto 18/6 fasting cycle and black coffee works wonders for me! My mind is so clear and focused!