How to stay full in a calorie deficit and not feel so damn hungry?
Here’s what we’ll go through in this article.
What is a calorie deficit?
How does your body burn calories? (metabolism)
Food choices that will help you stay full in a calorie deficit?
Which lifestyle habits will help you stay full and make progress?
What is a calorie deficit?
Despite what you may have seen on the gram or read in a crappy newspaper that in order to lose weight you need to “take this” or “eliminate” that or worry about insulin. I am here to say to you that the ONLY way you lose fat my amigos, is by getting into a calorie deficit for a certain amount of time (usually weeks). That’s literally how EVERY diet works.
Before I explain what a calorie deficit is I first should explain how the body burns energy aka calories. (Obviously we TAKE IN calories via eating and drinking). However, the 4 ways your body burns calories are via the following.
EAT- (planned exercise). This is the energy you burn doing your gym sessions or classes etc. (usually less than 300 calories per workout or 10% of total daily energy expenditure or TDEE)
NEAT- (general movement, fidgeting, walking up stairs, chores etc) The most underrated part in my opinion and the one major part that you have quite a bit of control over.
BMR- Roughly 60% of the calories you burn are burned via your basal metabolic rate. This is the calories you would burn if you just lay in bed all day. You can’t really change this that much naturally.
TEF- (digesting your food) A lot of people don’t realise we burn calories breaking down food. We burn more calories digesting protein and we absorb MORE calories from processed foods than minimally processed foods.
As I eluded to before, you can’t really control your basal metabolic rate much and the TEF can only be increased by a small amount by eating more protein. The 2 things we can control are exercise and NEAT. This why I’m a big fan of walking more than 10k steps a day if possible. More on that later.
The best way to explain a calorie deficit is by using a financial analogy. If calories are like money then you want to be ‘BAD’ with money (calories) if you want to be in a calorie deficit. If you “spend” calories by exercising (EAT) and by upping your NEAT (general movement) and at the same time reduce your ‘earnings’ (calories) so that you go into the red, you’ll be in a calorie deficit.
EARN £100 A MONTH AND SPEND £100 DURING THE MONTH = £0 (CALORIE MAINTENANCE)
EARN £100 A MONTH AND SPEND £50 OVER THE MONTH = £50 LEFT (CALORIE SURPLUS)
EARN £100 A MONTH AND SPEND £150 OVER THE MONTH = £50 UNDER (CALORIE DEFICIT)
Now let’s move onto my top tips on how to stay full in a calorie deficit.
1.Foods and drinks that can help you stay full in a calorie deficit
There isn’t any magic food or drink per se BUT there are definitely some foods that help you stay full in a calorie deficit. It’s not the actual food or the fact that it comes from some tropical island that helps with satiety it’s more about the make up of the food that helps you stay full. If I explain to you what to look for in a food then you can choose the foods that YOU like and then add them into your diet if you’re trying to stay full in a calorie deficit.
PROTEIN. Yes a lot of people get fed up with trainers chatting about protein but study after study concludes the same thing.
Protein helps keep you fuller for longer.
It helps you preserve your muscle. This is not only good for your health but it also helps you look more defined.
Remember how I said you burn calories digesting food? Well you burn roughly 30% of the calories you eat when it’s protein. So if you ate 100g of protein during your day (400 calories) you would burn roughly 133 of those calories just digesting it. Cool huh?
Most protein rich foods are also high in nutrients and eating a diet high in nutrients is good for health but also will make you feel buenisimo (great in spanish!).
2.Fibre
You’ve probably read a bit about it and know that it’s good for gut health and helps reduce your risk of certain cancers etc. It also helps with keeping you full too. Eat 20g of rice crispies and then 20g of oats and tell me which fills you up more? A lot of the reason is due to the fibre content as the oats will expand in your stomach and small intestines due to the fibre content. As a general rule aim for 14g of fibre per 1000kcals that you eat.
At each meal aim for a food (along with your protein rich food) with a good source of fibre. Try to eat at least 6 fruits and veg a day (80g is a portion of veg in the UK btw).
Foods high in fibre are whole grains, beans, lentils, vegetables and fruits.
3.filling low calorie density foods that you enjoy are your friends when you’re trying to stay full in a calorie deficit.
People who eat a lot of processed foods are often shocked that they can eat more food and still lose weight when they make some simple changes. This is because they swap to more low calorie density foods. For one Reeses krispy kreme donut you can eat 200g of greek yoghurt 40g of oats and a squeeze of honey. Way more food!
Obviously low cal foods are great when you’re trying to stay full in a calorie deficit but they need to keep you full. A rice cake is low cal but won’t really keep you full for very long. Foods high in water, fibre and or protein that are low in calories that YOU ENJOY are excellent choices when trying to lose weight. Most of these examples are low in fat too not because fat is bad but fat has 9 calories but gram whereas protein and carbs have 4 calories per g. Here are some that I enjoy.
Low fat greek yoghurt or skyr
Berries, apples and watermelon
Phat salads (be careful with dressings and croutons!)
Fresh carrots, cucumber and peppers
Any green veg
Stir frys
Homemade Soups, miso soup and stews.
Boiled potatoes - In fact, a study evaluating the effects of certain foods on satiety — or fullness — ranked boiled potatoes as the most filling, with a score of 323 on the satiety index — nearly seven times higher than croissants.
Oats or oatbran.
Protein smoothie with whey isolate, almond milk, 1 fruit and fresh spinach.
One of my former clients Qays lost over 30lbs and twp of the simple changes we made was switching from full calorie coke to coke zero and getting him to walk more.
4.80% of your diet should be minimally processed,be active and avoid liquid calories
Something a lot of folks don’t realise is that being active (walking, cardio etc) helps you feel full after a meal and in between meals by regulating your hunger hormones more efficiently. Ghrelin is the hormone that makes you hungry and leptin is the hormone that tells your body it’s full.
This is why I like most of my clients to track their steps each day and hit at least 8k which is really simple with modern technology. I use an app on my phone.
Most of your diet should be coming from minimally processed foods (80% or more) if you’re eating for general health and this becomes even more important if you’re trying to stay full in a calorie deficit. A good example of what I mean is if you eat a croissant which is roughly 250 calories. Maybe it’s just me but I can easily eat 3 (750kcals). But if you told me to eat 750kcals of boiled potatoes I think I would struggle.
Billions of money is spent on designing foods nowadays to make them SUPER tasty with a tantalising texture that makes you want to eat more and more. These foods are okay in moderation but you’ll struggle to feel full if you a lot of them and you’ll probably not feel energised if you overdo them.
My old client Qays (below) who lost almost 20kg used to enjoy the full calorie cokes. With him changing to coke zero was a simple change for him to use to reduce his calories which helped him towards reaching his goal. Liquids aren’t really very filling so by avoiding liquid calories it’s a simple way to be able to save more calories for food which keeps you fuller for longer. So try to avoid juices, milk shakes, full sugar sodas and keep your alcohol intake to a minimum.
5.Sleep
If you’ve ever got a really bad nights sleep, you probably noticed that you felt hungry the next day and that you craved high calorie sweet foods. Often when you’re hungover you crave a full English breakfast (bacon, sausage, beans, fried bread, eggs etc) or chocolate etc.
Alcohol affects your sleep in a negative way so you still feel tired the next day even if you spent 10 hours in bed. Sleep affects your hunger hormones too and not in a good way. So if you want to feel less hungry during a diet try to get 7-10 hours of good sleep.
6.Don’t eat when you’re not hungry
My client Ben (link below) has lost around 9kg whilst he’s been with me without counting calories and he wasn’t overweight when he started. When he told me he didn’t feel super hungry in the mornings I suggested he might enjoy intermittent fasting aka skipping breakfast. He loved the simplicity and results. If you’re trying to lose weight and you don’t feel hungry at certain points in the day there’s no point forcing yourself to eat even if Dave Deltoids down at the gym tells you you must eat breakfast.
Edwin Griffiths | Online coach (@bvoytraining) • Instagram photos and videos
7.eat slowly and drink water before your meal
This could be one of the most underrated tips but eating slowly is really beneficial to help you feel full and it usually improves digestion from my experience. A lot of people don’t chew there food enough and “eat like they’re in jail” as my mate says! 2 ways to slow down are by trying to be the last to finish at a meal with friends (don’t tell em though) and you can put down your fork in between bites.
Drinking a glass of water (I like sparkling) before a meal can also help you feel fuller as your stomach expands with water before you start eating.
Caffeine - caffeine (and coffee) can help to keep you to feel more energised when in a calorie deficit and also blunts hunger for some reason. The best thing is to experiment with it but obviously don’t abuse it and don’t have it after 3pm so that it doesn’t interfere with your sleep.
big takeaways
Find foods that you enjoy that are filling, high in fibre, high in protein and low in calories. These are your friends.
Be active, aim for at least 8k steps a day. Track it on your phone.
Avoid liquid calories.
80/20 rule. 80% of your diet should be from minimally processed foods.
Eat slowly.
Drink water before your meal.
Get good sleep. 7-9hrs a night is good for most.
Don’t eat when you’re not hungry.
Experiment with caffeine but don’t go for it after 2-3pm
If you’re still reading then I send you a BIG fist bump like Shaq. Please share and email me if you have any questions. bvoytraining@gmail.com. If you’re interested in working with me online then apply below.
Ed