Hunger is a sign that your body is letting go of fat! Celebrate that feeling.
I actually heard a coach say that before. On more than one occasion.
Rather than viewing hunger as a biological signal that indicates your body is asking for energy …
We should view it as a signal that your body is removing fat and have a dance party instead lol.
Outside of the fact that it’s not true (hunger doesn’t necessarily mean anything in regards to body fat loss), the message highlights a bigger issue …
We are often taught to ignore the very thing that we want to change.
Are you ignoring your body and its signals?
That would be like getting a notification on your phone that you overdrew your checking account and deleting it … and then celebrating that you didn’t give in to the demands of your bank account.
I had a great conversation this morning with an individual on IG who was sharing her experience with me about tracking macros.
She said that macros were helpful in teaching her about portion sizes, but it never made practical sense to live by the numbers and ignore her hunger and satiety signals.
She said that she had a hard time understanding why it’s ok to keep eating if you’re full, just because you have macros left to hit for the day. And, on the flip side, why is it considered normal to not eat more when you’re hungry but you’ve already consumed your daily macro total?
I told her that she’s exactly right. Macros can be a great tool for awareness around portion sizes, reading food labels, and how certain ratios of foods make you feel …
However, the numbers shouldn’t control you.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spoken to individuals with similar experiences … either feeling like they have to force feed themselves for the sake of hitting numbers, or they have to starve themselves to stay within their targets.
The cool thing about our bodies is that they’re pretty damn smart.
We’ve just become conditioned to not listening to or trusting them.
You might even be thinking … Mike, how can I trust my hunger signals when sometimes I crush an entire bag of chips with salsa and I still want to eat more?
And, that’s a great question. There are certain foods that are designed and engineered to over-consume.
I talked yesterday about why avoiding them completely may be a bad idea. However, it does help to have awareness around their impact.
In other words, if I’m eating a cookie, I’m not eating it because I think it’s going to fill me up and keep me full for a long period of time.
I’m eating it because it’s fuckin delicious. That’s it.
Some common sense and practicality needs to be applied.
But, when you’re eating mostly quality foods, you should absolutely pay attention and listen to those hunger and satiety signals.
Hunger is not a sign of losing body fat … it’s a sign that your body wants more energy.
In the battle of man vs. hunger … hunger will eventually win.
Maybe not right away, but eventually.
The more you ignore it, the more likely you are to binge.
So, rather than letting the numbers dictate your body, what if we flipped the script?
What if your body dictated the numbers (assuming you want to use numbers in the first place, which also isn’t necessary).
Here’s a personal example …
I’m on week 3 of my fat loss cycle and I’ve been pretty hungry lately.
Now, I could ignore it and do a celebratory dance.
But ultimately, I know what would happen. I would reach my tipping point and I’d start snacking, taking bites of things that go untracked, and eventually I’d binge.
I know this because I’ve done it so many times before.
What’s the saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 1,000 times, learn the fuckin lesson already! I think that’s it. 😉
So, I learned my lesson and I’m increasing my calories.
There are a few ways to do this, but I prefer to have some days at maintenance calories because for me, just a small increase won’t do much.
After a couple of days at maintenance, I’ll go back to my lower numbers and reassess. Pretty simple.
When you’re trying to lose fat, some hunger is normal. There’s a difference between manageable hunger here and there vs. non-stop hunger that you can tell isn’t going away.
Instead of ignoring your body, it’s important to pay attention.
Or, have someone who can interpret all of that for you.
That’s one of the things that our clients love about our program …
They’re pleasantly surprised (sometimes shocked) when the plan is adjusted based on their biofeedback.
Like, wait, really?? I don’t have to just suck it up and deal with it?! What a relief!
It may seem obvious, but like I said, we’ve been conditioned to believe that we just have to white knuckle our way through the process and ignore all the red flags.
How has that worked out so far?
Hunger is not the only thing we monitor. We also look at cravings, energy, mood, stress, sleep, digestion, performance, recovery, cycle.
It gives us insight into exactly what your body wants and will respond to. Then, we can see what’s working and adjust what needs to be changed.
No more guessing game.
We also can use that information to determine when you’ve reached homeostasis in terms of your metabolism. It’s pretty easy to tell if someone will respond to a fat loss phase.
We prefer to prime your metabolism first and ensure we’ve set you up for success and ultimately, deal with less hunger and cravings through the fat loss process.
If we notice any red flags, we can quickly adapt so you don’t end up with any negative metabolic adaptations.
We also make food recommendations based on your personality type which will make you feel your best through the process. And, we adjust macro ratios to mitigate any of the negative side effects from trying to lose body fat.
For example, we don’t want you losing muscle. We don’t want hunger or cravings to get too intense, we don’t want mood instability, we don’t want low energy/fatigue, and we certainly don’t want you to lose your cycle.
Success is just around the corner when you stop ignoring your body.
Through food choices, the way we structure your plan around your lifestyle, macro ratios, and meal composition, we’re able to put you in the best position to succeed.
Couple that with daily habits like movement, hydration, and stress management, and it becomes the most effective process for sustainable results.
This is what makes our signature 6-month 1:1 coaching program so valuable. It’s not just achieving your results and being able to maintain them permanently. It’s also the fact that you’ll have the tools and skill-set to be successful forever.
No more program hopping, no more guessing, no more wondering.
If that’s you, and you want to see if our program is the right fit, simply click the button below and PM me on Facebook and we’ll discuss your goals to see if we can help! Either way, I’ll ask you a few questions to see if you qualify for our program.
Much love,
Coach Mike
