How To Cut Calories Without Feeling Hungry

How to cut calories to lose weight without feeling hungry

Calorie is a unit of energy, and cutting calories per day so you’re in a calorie deficit is one of the most effective ways to lose weight.

However, you shouldn’t make drastic changes, and cut too many calories all of a sudden. Cutting only 500 calories per day is a good rule of thumb. Making drastic dietary changes to achieve a caloric deficit can cause more harm than good, and it can also leave you hungry, making you eat more than you are supposed to. The body also doesn’t get the energy it needs to function well.

There are several ways you can scale back your portions and calories while feeling full longer and satisfying your appetite and hunger. It’s possible to achieve long-term weight loss, without having to feel hungry all the time.

How To Cut Calories Without Feeling Hungry

Use smaller plates

You should think about portion control when you’re trying to reduce your calorie intake. That’s an easy way to lose weight without even counting calories.

When we use big plates, we often put a lot of food on the plate, just because we want to fill it up. However, it’s often not the portion we actually need, but we end up eating all of it just to “finish the plate”, even though we might have been full before finishing it.

If we put a smaller portion on a big plate, it seems like we’re not putting enough.

However, if you put the same portion on a smaller plate, and you fill up the plate, it will seem like you’re putting plenty.

Of course, if you’re still hungry after finishing the plate, you should eat more. This isn’t about starving yourself. This is about letting yourself listen to your body, and not eating too much just because you don’t want to waste food on the plate, and you put too much because of the plate size.

Chew your food well

Chewing your food well is very important for digestion, but it will also help you feel full a bit quicker. When you don’t chew your food well, it takes longer for your body to realize you’re full, especially since you’re eating much faster that way.

Give up sodas

Sodas have lots of calories, with no nutritional value, so giving them up and opting to drink water is an easy way to cut calories. You might also try sparkling water as well. You’re not eating less, and you’re cutting the calories.

Give up junk food

Another thing that has tons of calories and no nutritional value is junk food. When you’re eating you should make it count - intake tons of vitamins and minerals. Junk food, even though it can be tasty, has none of that.

So, replacing junk food with healthy, nutritious food is an easy way to cut calories without feeling hungry. You’re still eating the same amount of food, you’re just eating healthier food while making your daily calorie intake lower.

Give up sweets

Sweets also have many calories and no nutrients. There are healthy desserts you can make that have less calories and less sugar, so cutting out artificial sweets is a great idea if you want to eat fewer calories and lose weight.

Cook with less oil

Oil has lots of calories. If you cook with a lot of oil, you’re adding on calories without even realizing it.

You can still make tasty dishes with little bit of oil, so it’s a very easy way to eat fewer calories without eating less or without feeling hungry.

Eat a high-protein breakfast

Research has shown that healthy foods like either a diet rich in "good" carbohydrates (like whole grains) or a diet high in protein can suppress the hunger hormone ghrelin more effectively than a diet high in fat. A high-protein breakfast will keep you full longer and give you energy throughout the day. You can try incorporating chicken breasts, eggs, or peanut butter into your favorite breakfast dishes for additional protein. That means you won’t be super hungry before lunch, and won’t need to get unhealthy snacks before lunch.

Eat more soluble fiber

Dietary fiber is not only important for digestion, but food that is high in fiber also helps keep you full for longer, which means you’ll be eating a bit less throughout the day, without feeling hungry. Fruits and vegetables are high-fiber foods, so make sure to add more of them to your diet.

Make easy swaps

Another easy way to cut calories is to make easy swaps. You will be eating the same amount of food, but the food you’re eating will have less calories.

For example, instead of regular cream cheese, get light cream cheese. Instead of regular sugary cereal, get granola with no added sugar. Instead of flavored greek yogurt, get flavorless yogurt and add fruit to it. Instead of regular pizza, get a cauliflower-crust pizza.

Look at the labels

Some brands of food have less calories than others, so whenevery you’re grocery shopping, check out the labels, to find the option with the least amount of calories for the food you’re getting.

You’ll be cutting calories without actually changing anything.

Eat more vegetables

Vegetables are not only nutritious and very important for your health, but they are also very low in calories.

That means you can eat a lot of them and feel full, without eating too many calories. That’s called “volume eating” - eating lots without eating tons of calories.

Eat clean

Clean, unprocessed food has less calories and more nutritious value, which means you’ll be full for longer and eat less calories.

Eat balanced meals

It’s definitely okay to eat foods that aren’t low calorie. Just because something is higher in calories doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad for you. For example, avocado isn’t really a low-calorie food, but it has healthy fats which your body needs.

So the key is to eat a balanced diet. Eat lots of vegetables, which are lower in calories, eat lean protein, and incorporate healthy fats and healthy carbs in your diet as well - your body needs them too, and since your meal is balanced, it won’t matter that some parts of it are higher in calories.

Make healthier desserts

If you have a sweet tooth, giving up sweets might be hard. Luckily, there are tons of healthy desserts lower in calories that you can make. Try out different recipes, and find ones you like.

Eat food at home

When you eat out, you can’t actually know if the food is low-calorie or not. Sometimes a salad, which seems like it will be low-calorie, actually has more calories than a burger - depending on the dressing and the toppings.

So it’s always safer to eat at home, because you know what food you’re putting in the meals you’re cooking.

High Fiber Low Calorie Foods

Broccoli

Broccoli has 35 calories and 3.3 grams of fiber in 100 grams, which makes it the perfect high fiber low calorie food.

You can make soups with it, grill it and eat it as a side, bake it, put it in healthy pasta sauces, put it in stir fries, etc.

Lettuce

Lettuce has 15 calories and 1.3 grams of fiber in 100 grams. It’s the perfect salad base.

Zucchini

Zucchini has 13 calories and 1.4 grams of fiber in 100 grams. You can grill it and eat it as a side with your protein, you can stuff it and make zucchin boats, you can put it in casseroles, you can make zucchini rolls, and so much more.