Why Am I Always Hungry? How to Fix Constant Hunger

Nikkiey: If you're consistently hungry, it's your body telling you, I'm underfed, I'm unbalanced, I'm not being nourished in a way that supports me, you, right? Hunger isn't about, let me be disciplined more. It's about you figuring out the alignment of what your body needs and giving it enough of what it needs in a balanced fashion.

Hey, you guys, what's up? Happy Monday, happy Memorial Day. I hope that you guys have had a great weekend enjoying yourselves, and know that tomorrow the holiday is done. Y'all better get back to it.

Anyway, what's up, everyone? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome, my friends, to a new episode, episode number 262. Today, you guys, what I want to talk about with y'all is the reason why y'all are feeling hungry and how to fix that, okay?

You could be saying, and I've heard this so many times, I'm doing all the right things, but I'm always hungry. I know you've said it before, and if you've said it before, you need to listen to this episode. Because whether you're trying to lose fat, trying to build muscle, or trying to just feel more in control of your eating, always feeling hungry is a chronic red flag. And it's not that you lack willpower and you need to push harder, or that you just need to continue to eat less. It's about how you're refueling your body and where your nutrition might be working against you rather than with you.

So today, I want to break down why you're always feeling hungry and give you guys some simple, tactical, science-backed, everyday changes to implement that'll actually help you stay full and feel more in control without starving yourself or living off of freaking bird food. I don't know. Maybe that's why you're always freaking hungry, because you're not eating enough and you're living off a salad and you're eating like a bird, okay? So let's dive into it.

The first thing that I want to clear up is that hunger isn't the problem. Chronic, all-day hunger, being starving or feeling like you're going to gnaw your hand off, that is. Often the reason you're feeling that way is that it's a signal your body isn't actually getting what it needs. It's not being fueled with the right nutrients. It's not getting enough of certain macronutrients. Maybe you're snacking and you're not giving your body the fuel that it needs to function properly.

Why you may be eating that way is because a lot of you, a lot of women, have been conditioned to think that being hungry all day means, I'm doing it right, it's working, and this is what it's supposed to feel like. This is fat loss. My fat is crying. Whatever y'all were made to believe. I just need to push through it. Look, if you're consistently hungry, it's your body telling you, I'm underfed. I'm unbalanced. I'm not being nourished in a way that supports me, you, right? Hunger isn't about, let me be disciplined more.

It's about you figuring out the alignment of what your body needs and giving it enough of what it needs in a balanced fashion. So that's what I want to break down: what's really going on when your stomach's growling two hours after every meal, or growling 30 minutes after every meal, or you're always constantly hungry. And let me just throw this in here really quick. It's okay to feel hungry, but it's not okay to feel hungry all of the time, where every single day you're like, I know I'm going to be hungry today. Maybe you're not thinking about that when you wake up, but it's okay to normally feel hungry throughout the day, just not consistently.

So I just want to throw in the difference between the two, I guess you could say. Feeling like you want to gnaw your hand off is not okay. Having little hunger cues throughout the day is okay. But the chronic kind, I'm just reiterating it over again. You guys know what I mean. All right. So I'm going to break it down into a couple of reasons why this is happening.

The first thing that I want to talk about is that you guys are not eating enough protein. I have probably recorded a dozen podcasts about protein and how it's an epidemic in the fitness space, because women don't eat enough of it. And it's not your fault. We're not taught how to eat right. If you think about it, you're not taught that protein is important. You have to seek out that information. So this one's huge, and it's the number one fix for 90% of the women that WarriorBabe coaches and that I've coached. You guys aren't eating enough protein, and protein is the most satiating macronutrient. I call it the macronutrient king, the macronutrient god, the macronutrient of strength, the macro of power.

It keeps you fuller longer. It stabilizes your blood sugar. It supports lean muscle and your metabolism. It supports the lean muscle as you're going through the fat burning process, so that you can preserve the lean muscle as your body decreases body fat, so that you're not tapping into the muscle, if you're eating enough protein on a daily basis. And yet, this is what's crazy to me: I know that women don't eat enough. Women are barely eating 60 grams a day, thinking that that's okay.

Let me just paint this picture for you guys. 60 grams a day is like the recommendation for a woman that is on dialysis. Okay, just let that sink in for a second. When you actually need to be eating 100-plus grams, depending on your goals, depending on your body weight. I always say eat one gram of protein per pound of body weight a day. And here's what happens when your meals are mostly carbs and fats with minimal protein.

Because that's what happens on a daily basis. Think about it. Think about how much protein you actually eat right now. You could be somebody I'm speaking to right now that's like, damn, she's right. I know that I don't eat enough protein and I need to eat more protein on a daily basis. If that is you, just think about this with me for a second. And yo, 10 grams of protein in a protein bar does not count. I just did an episode a couple of episodes ago about protein, and about thinking that a little bit of chicken on a salad is your protein for the day.

Nah, guys, that's not enough protein. So think about this with me. You guys are eating carbs and fats the majority of the day. You're snacking. You're waking up and eating avocado toast. That is one egg, which only has six grams of protein in it, and avocado and toast. That is mainly a carb and fat meal. And then think about the rest of the meals that you eat throughout the day. Maybe you have a turkey sandwich. Okay, a couple of the slices in there are protein, but there's bread and there are the sauces and all of the things that are included in it.

Maybe you have some potato chips with it. Carbs and fats. This is what happens when your meals are mostly made up of those things and minimal protein. You get hungry an hour later. You crave sugar and snacks. And let me guess, your energy tanks midway through the day. Am I right? Because that is what happens. What protein does is, if you have protein in every one of your meals, it's going to make you feel fuller for longer.

It's going to keep you satiated. And you're not going to crave, because your body is getting what it needs. You won't crave sugar and snacks and all the things later in the day, where you're piling it up at dinnertime because you didn't give your body enough throughout the day. It won't crave that if you're giving it enough protein. So you're going to fix this by building every meal around protein first, meaning you are going to aim for 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal. Options, and I've said this in all of the podcasts I've done around protein:

Eggs. Lean ground beef. Greek yogurt. Chicken. Turkey. Protein powder. Fish: salmon, cod, tilapia. Seitan is a really good vegan type of protein. All of those are great options. And make protein the star. She is the star of all your meals. She's not the sidekick. She is the star. If you're wanting to snack on something, grab Greek yogurt.

You can put honey and fruit in it, and it sweetens it up, but you're getting the protein with it.

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Okay, the first reason was you're not eating enough protein. Reason number two why you're always hungry is that you're on the blood sugar roller coaster.

So let me ask you this. Have you ever eaten a healthy breakfast, right? You eat fruit and toast, only to then crash mid-morning and need a second breakfast because you're hungry again. You're on that blood sugar roller coaster, and that is a major hunger trigger. When you eat too many fast-digesting carbs like fruit or toast first thing in the morning, they're fast digesting.

And you're not combining protein and fat with them. Then your blood sugar is going to spike, and then it crashes, and then you get ravenous, you get cranky, and you get snacky. And that all happens very fast. So the way to fix this is to balance your plate. Every meal should include protein, because protein is the star. Then it should include veggies. It should include whole grains, and it should include healthy fats: avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil.

That's the trio that keeps your blood sugar stable. That's the trio that keeps your energy smooth. And that's the trio that keeps your hunger in check. And you're not going to go on this blood sugar roller coaster of up, down, up, down, ravenous, hungry, snack. Then up again and down again, ravenous, hungry, snack. That is how the majority of people live their lives on a daily basis. Okay?

Reason three that you're always hungry is that you're under-eating. And here's the kicker that surprises most women.

Being hungry all the time can mean that you're not actually eating enough. As I said earlier in the episode, if you are consistently hungry on a daily basis, like you are hungry every single time or every single day, then that means you're not eating enough. And especially in a cut, you guys, if you're in the cut phase and you are consistently feeling hunger on a daily basis, you could plateau because of that, because you're not giving your body enough to get the results that you want.

So if you're trying to lose weight and you slash your calories too hard or too fast, if you've ever done that, this is what happens. Your metabolism slows down. Your stress hormone goes up. Your hunger hormones go crazy. And you end up thinking, oh my God, why can't I control myself? I'm going insane. I want to eat everything. When the real issue is that your body is in survival mode. You cannot restrict your way into sustainable fat loss. The key is to be in a moderate deficit, following and eating in a smart fashion:

smart nutrition, high in protein, enough fiber, and meals that are spaced throughout the day. Under-eating is going to backfire on you on every single level. So I want you to be very honest with yourself when I ask you this question. Are you fueling your body to feel satiated, strong, and supported? Or are you starving it and calling that being disciplined enough? Don't get those two confused, you guys.

I've lived in that world for a very long time, because that is the bodybuilding world. So I know what it feels like to be hungry all of the time. Now, I was going for a goal at that point. But many of you guys are just doing this for your lifestyle. And there's no need to feel like, I just have to do this because it's part of the program, and I'm in a cut phase, and I'm disciplined enough to follow through even though I'm starving. Then you are answering no to the first question and yes to the second question, when you should be answering yes to the first question and no to the second question.

Ask yourself this: are you fueling your body to feel satiated, strong, and supported? That should be yes in every circumstance, no matter what your goal is, because you can achieve fat loss eating enough food that you feel satiated.

So, the tactical takeaways from the episode, which I love diving into. A few actual hunger hacks that you can use to stay fueled, that you can use to stay on track,

that you can use to feel sane, and that you can use to feel satisfied. Always start your meals with protein, because it naturally reduces how much you eat and it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Do not skip your meals. Do not skip your breakfast. Do not skip your lunch, because that is always going to backfire on you with late-night hunger. You're going to snack. You're going to eat later in the night because you skipped breakfast and lunch. I know this because this was me.

Drink more water. Thirst is controlled by the same part of your brain that hunger is, so thirst is often mistaken for being hungry. The next one is to bulk up your meals with fiber. Bulk up your meals with veggies. They add volume to what you're eating, they slow your digestion down, and they keep you feeling full without over-consuming tons and tons of calories. The last thing that I would recommend is to always, always have a go-to protein snack ready.

Have hard-boiled eggs with you. Have protein bars with you. Have beef sticks with you. Have Greek yogurt with you. You better bet. I just got back from getting my hair done. On my way there, I was like, I know I'm going to be hungry sitting in that chair getting the highlights and everything done. I need to bring a protein bar with me. That is just the way that I think now. And I want that to be hardwired into your brains: always think, before you walk out the door or when you're on the go and you have to stop at a local gas station or something,

let me grab protein. Let me grab a Greek yogurt, because that's in the gas station. Let me grab some hard-boiled eggs, because that's in the gas station. Protein bars are in the gas station. I cannot recommend those five things that I just gave you enough. Start your meals with protein. Do not skip your meals. Drink more water. Bulk up on your veggies. And always have a protein snack ready to go. Because you do not need to suffer through hunger to lose fat, you guys. You don't have to feel like, I just need to keep pushing through.

You just need to fuel your body smarter. All right. So the real takeaway is, if you are always hungry, it's not your fault. It's just a flag that you need to pay attention to. Your body is trying to communicate with you. And when you understand that signal, you can finally stop fighting it and pushing through it and enduring it. Instead, you can be like, let me just snack on some protein.

Let me just balance my meals better throughout the day. Stop under-fueling and calling it discipline. That's so far from what it actually is. Because when you finally give your body what it needs, fat loss gets easier. Cravings quiet down. You start feeling like you are in control again. You start feeling sane. I know what it feels like to be hungry all of the time. I know how crazy one can get. Hunger gets to a whole other level. You don't have to live like that,

where you feel out of control. The goal is, let me have power and be in control of this. Let me have peace as I go throughout my day, and not have to worry about feeling hungry all the time. And then guess what? Your results start to last and are easier to achieve, because you're at peace along your journey. It's more enjoyable. It's not hard. It becomes easier. Okay, so hopefully this episode started to connect some dots for you

and helped you guys in some way. I have loved recently seeing you guys tag me on social media, on your stories, sharing takeaways that you're getting from these episodes. So please, if you could take a screenshot of this and share it to your IG story, and just write what your biggest takeaway was, I'm going to cheer you on. I'm going to either reshare it to my story or message you in the DMs and be like, let's go. I love to hear that. I love to hear that a light bulb went off. I love that this is sticking with you. I love when y'all listen to these episodes,

because I appreciate you guys so much for listening to each and every single one of them. But more so, I love that you start taking these things and putting them into action. That's my favorite thing about it, because that's where results start to happen and transformation takes place. All right, you guys, so please do that. If you haven't yet reviewed this episode or this podcast, please take 10 seconds and just write how these episodes are helping you in the review section. It helps get this podcast out to way more people.

I can't do that myself. I need all y'all's help, and I appreciate y'all so much for doing that. All right, guys, I'll see you in the next episode. I love you very much. Peace out.

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