Curbing Your Appetite

If one of your main goals is weight loss, and you have been finding it difficult to keep your appetite under control, then this article is for you! Here are three ways to keep your appetite in check without starving yourself!

Eat more protein
Eat more often
Exercise more

Eat more protein:

Protein is the macronutrient that can be the most beneficial to dieters. Lean protein takes the longest to break down in your stomach, it will keep you feeling satisfied the longest compared to the other macronutrients (fat and carbohydrate). Due to the processing time of protein, it has a high "thermic effect". That means protein will actually burn off calories as you consume it. In fact, up to 30% of the protein calories that you eat will be spent just in digesting it! So, if you ate a lean piece of chicken breast that had 300 calories, your body is only going to use approximately 210 calories of that chicken breast! No other macronutrients have that high of a burn naturally.

Types of protein:
Here is a list of lean primary protein sources to consider adding to your diet to help curb your appetite:
- lean meats like: chicken breast, turkey breast, most fish, leaner cuts of beef and pork (the loin)
- egg whites
- non-fat cottage cheese
- low-fat cheese sticks
- protein substitutes like: Nutrilite Whey Protein Shakes and Bars

How to get protein to fit your diet:
- Always have a lean primary protein source with your three main meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Examples:
     Breakfast: eggwhites or cottage cheese
     Lunch: turkey breast
     Dinner: Salmon
- A great planning tip is to make a double portion of your dinner meal so you can eat it for lunch the next day
- For snacks consider: nonfat cottage cheese, cheese sticks and protein substitute like Nutrilite Nut Roll Bars (a tasty high protein treat!)

Risks of consuming too much protein:
Some dietitians like to believe that if you eat too much protein, you can create kidney damage. This is simply not true! This is only a concern if you already have a pre-existing kidney issue. If you have a familiy history of kidney stones or kidney disease, then you may need to be more cautious about increasing protein. I would recommend speaking with your physician if this situation pertains to you. However, if you have perfectly healthy kidneys with no family history of kidney disease, then increasing the amount of protein you eat will only make you go to the bathroom more (yet another reason to increase the amount of water you drink)! If you have any further questions about this, I can direct you to a handful of peer-reviewed journal articles that have shown people with healthy kidneys who considerably increase their protein consumption do not increase their risk for kidney disease.

Eat more often:

By increasing the frequency of your meals, you decrease the temptations of overeating. By eating smaller meals more often, you allow your body to never really go hungry. This allows you to purposefully eat nutritious meals instead of reacting to cravings! If you eat every 2-3 hours foods that are high in protein, combined with quality carbohydrates and either a fruit or a vegetable, you will keep your energy level up and keep your appetite down!

Example Meal Schedule:

6am Breakfast: Egg whites, oatmeal, berries and skim milk
9am mid-morning: Nutrilite whey protein shake with banana
Noon: Tuna, salad and brown rice
3pm mid-afternoon: Nutrilite chocolate nut roll bar
6pm Dinner: Turkey breast, sweet potato, broccoli, skim milk
8pm: non-fat cottage cheese, raisins

This meal schedule outlines how often you should eat and displays proper nutrient balancing. With this meal schedule you eat lean protein sources with quality carbs all throughout the day. You will have lots of energy to exercise and you never go hungry!


Exercise more:

During intense cardiovascular exercise, you really don't want to eat! In fact, 30 minutes to an hour after your intense cardio session, your body is bringing it's adreneline down and you may not be in a mood to eat a large meal. Now, it's true that once your body does calm itself down, you may become quite hungry, however by following the above guidelines, your appetite should be thoroughly curbed!

By keeping intense cardio and weight training as a part of your regular schedule, you can seriously decrease your appetite for at least an hour to two hours during the day (1 hour for working out, 1 hour for hunger recovery). If you workout about 2 hours after your last meal, than you will have up to 4 hours with no real serious hunger issues! That's about 25% of your day (being awake for 16 hours).


Eating more often high protein meals and vigourous exercise can significantly help you with keeping your appetite down. By keeping your appetite in check, you are able to keep your goal of weight loss with less stress!

"My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons" Proverbs 23:19-20 (NLT)