Do you find there are some days where you can’t get enough food into your belly? Hunger is the way your body tells you it needs food. However, there may be other reasons why you are constantly hungry.

You are not eating enough protein

Protein plays a vital role in appetite control by regulating hunger hormones. Eating protein with each meal or snack, rather than all at once, may help keep appetite steady throughout the day.

You are not getting enough sleep

As you’ve heard me say many times, sleep is essential for our overall health. Sleep regulates ghrelin, our appetite-stimulating hormone. Lack of sleep leads to higher ghrelin levels, which explains why you may feel constantly hungry when tired.

You are eating too many refined carbohydrates

Refined carbs lack fiber and cause blood sugar fluctuations, which are the primary reasons why eating too many of them may leave you feeling hungry.

Your diet is low in fat

Fat plays a role in slowing digestion and increasing the production of fullness-promoting hormones.

You’re not drinking enough water

When you are dehydrated, you will feel hungry. Often we mistake dehydration for hunger and reach for food instead of water.

Your diet lacks fiber

Fiber plays a role in reducing your appetite and keeping you full. High-fiber foods will take longer to digest than low-fiber foods.

You eat while distracted

Eating while distracted makes it difficult for you to recognize feelings of fullness.

You exercise a lot

Individuals who regularly exercise at a high intensity or for extended durations tend to have larger appetites and faster metabolisms. Thus, they may experience frequent hunger.

You drink too much alcohol

Alcohol is well known for its appetite-stimulating effects. Alcohol may inhibit hormones that reduce appetite, such as leptin, especially when consumed before or with meals.

You drink your calories

If you consume many liquid foods, such as smoothies, meal replacement shakes, and soups, you may be hungrier more often than you would be if you ate more solid foods.

One reason for this is that liquids pass through your stomach more quickly than solid foods do. Also, liquid foods do not have the same effects on keeping you full and satisfied as solid foods do. For this reason, you may feel hungry frequently if liquids are a significant part of your diet.

You are over-stressed

Stress increases cortisol levels, a hormone that is known to promote hunger and food cravings. During fight or flight mode, cortisol floods your body, which convinces it to eat, even if you don’t need the calories.

You’re taking medications

Certain medications cause increased appetite as a side effect. In turn, they may cause you to experience frequent hunger.

The most common appetite-inducing medications include antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, corticosteroids, and antiseizure drugs.

You eat too fast

Eating too quickly doesn’t allow your body enough time to recognize fullness, which may promote excessive hunger. It can take upwards of 20 to 30 minutes for your brain to realize you are full.

You have a medical condition

Medical conditions like diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, depression, anxiety and premenstrual syndrome may cause excessive hunger.

If you suspect that you may have one of these conditions, talk with your doctor to receive a proper diagnosis and discuss treatment options.

You are on a calorie-restricted diet

Consuming fewer calories than the body burns can cause the body to produce a hormone called ghrelin, our “hunger hormone.” A low-calorie diet can increase ghrelin production and cause hunger, even if you have just eaten.

You consume a lot of sugar

A high-sugar diet may cause the body to produce more ghrelin and affect activity in specific brain regions to make a person feel less full.

You are bored

Some people may confuse boredom with hunger, causing them to eat more.

You are going through menopause

A decline in estrogen during menopause may lead to an increased appetite.

You are obese

Leptin is a hormone that tells the brain when the stomach is full. Leptin levels usually rise after a person eats a meal. Overweight or obese individuals may develop leptin resistance, which can make them feel hungry more often.

You Drink Diet Soda

Soda is one of the sugariest foods you can consume. And while you may know sugar makes you crave sugar, artificially sweetened products, and sugar alternatives can ramp up your appetite even more than natural sugar, causing increased calorie consumption over time.

You skip meals

Skipping meals can make you feel hungrier when it’s time to eat. When you don’t eat, your body can deplete its blood glucose stores, promoting an uptick in the hunger hormone ghrelin, ramping up your appetite.

Your Gut Health Is Off

Unhealthy eating or meals centered on saturated fats and sugars can disrupt your digestive system. As a result, an increase in harmful bacteria in your gut may inhibit the good bacteria from regulating your hunger hormones.

Now that it’s getting cooler out, I’m starting to crave soups and stews. A base for many soups and stews is a good bone broth. It’s easy to make from scratch using the bones of a cow, chicken, turkey, and even fish.

There are so many health benefits to bone broth:

It’s nutritious

Bones are rich in vitamins, including calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Bone marrow contains iron, vitamin A, vitamin K, selenium, and zinc.

It helps your joints

Bone broth is a source of collagen, which is so essential for our joints. Our cartilage tends to wear down over time through continuous use, which adds stress to our joints. Adding collagen to your diet will help protect the joints from constant wear and tear.

It may help fight osteoarthritis

A 2016 study in the Nutrition Journal found that type 2 collagen (from the connective tissue of chickens) helped improve pain and stiffness in people with osteoarthritis.

It may help reduce inflammation and heal the gut

Not only is bone broth easy to digest, but an amino acid also called glutamine found in the gelatin of bone broth can help maintain the function of the intestinal wall and is known to prevent and heal leaky gut. Gelatine can also bind with water to support the healthy transit of food through the intestines.

It may help you sleep better

The amino acid glycine found in bone broth may help you relax, and multiple studies have also shown that this amino acid helps promote sleep. You may fall asleep faster, maintain a deeper sleep, and wake fewer times during the night!

It may support weight loss

Bone broth is high in protein, which helps the body feel full longer. It’s low in calories but can still satisfy hunger.

The holidays are a time for celebration and festivities, but they can also mean weight gain, stress, and total overwhelm. Thankfully, my 6-Week Happy Healthy Holidays challenge will give you strategies to maintain a healthy lifestyle while also enjoying the magic of the holiday season.

Let this be the year you "maintain, not gain" while enjoying some planned indulgences. We begin on November 26th. Click the link below to learn more and enroll in this 6-Week challenge.

No matter what your body shape, excess fat isn't good for your health.

In most people, about 90% of body fat is subcutaneous, the kind that lies in a layer just beneath the skin. If you poke your belly, the fat that feels soft is subcutaneous. The remaining 10% — called visceral fat — lies out of reach, beneath the abdominal wall.

Research has shown that fat cells — particularly visceral fat cells — are biologically active. The fat cell is considered an endocrine organ that secrets hormones and molecules affecting other tissues. Researchers have identified a host of chemicals that link visceral fat to a wide variety of diseases.

As women go through mid-life, the proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase — more than in men — and fat storage begins favoring the upper body over the hips and thighs. Even if you don't gain weight, your waistline can grow as visceral fat pushes out against your abdominal wall.

The good news is that visceral fat responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs. Here are some approaches that may help:

Move. Visceral fat responds well to both aerobic and strength training. Spot exercising does nothing to visceral fat.

Eat a balanced diet and avoid food that encourages belly fat, such as simple sugars, like sweetened foods, beverages, and alcohol.

Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you will store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.

Keep your mood in check. Middle-aged women who show more hostility and depressive symptoms tend to have more visceral fat — but not more subcutaneous fat.

Selenium is a micronutrient that cannot be produced by the body and must be obtained through food or supplementation. There are several reasons to ensure we are getting enough of this nutrient. We don’t need a lot of this micronutrient and the recommended daily allowance for adults is 55 mcg/day. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you’ll need 60 – 70 mcg/day.

Here are a few benefits of Selenium:

• It’s an antioxidant and can help reduce and protect against oxidative stress

• It strengthens the immune system and reduces inflammation

• It supports our thyroid function (the thyroid gland contains the highest amount of selenium compared to any other organ in the body)

• It may reduce the risk of cancer and increase the quality of life/decrease side effects in patients undergoing radiation

• It reduces cognitive decline

• It may protect against heart disease

If you are looking to boost your Selenium intake, consider the following foods:

• Brazil nuts (one of the highest and most well-known dietary sources of selenium)

• Eggs

• Oat Bran

• Tuna

• Brown Rice

• Beef Liver

• Chicken

• Sardines

• Sunflower Seeds

• Grass-Fed Beef

• Oysters

• Halibut

• Shiitake mushrooms

Building on small wins is key to creating permanent healthy behaviors. You can use the progress you’ve already made to motivate you toward your larger goal of living healthier.

Baby steps are at the heart of my programs because you don’t create success in one sudden overwhelming swoop unless you win the lottery. Winning at anything is about using each small success to motivate yourself to the larger goal.

Eating simple equals eating better.

Eating simple equals eating better.