Guys, take it from someone who has cutting down to an exact science, you can really minimize hunger while you get ripped.
The following are tips that I personally use to help me succeed. All I can say is…take advantage! You won’t regret it!
(1) CLEAN YOUR TEETH
After you eat, you can prevent yourself from craving more food by immediately brushing your teeth. It works!
The mint flavor from the toothpaste helps banish cravings. Also, ever taste something after cleaning your teeth? Doesn’t taste so good, does it? Even chocolate stinks.
After eating prevent food cravings by immediately brushing your teeth Click To Tweet
(2) BULK UP WITH HIGH-FIBER VEGETABLES
You can really fill up your stomach with very few calories with fibrous vegetables like:
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
- Celery
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Zucchini/Courgettes
All salad greens are good too. That’s why so many people eat salads on a diet – they work to fill you up. They’re big, bulky, high in fiber, but very low in calories.
All of the above foods basically consist of fiber (no calories) and water (no calories). The calories that they do contain may not even count as it takes so much energy/calories for your body to process them. Some people even state that they have a “negative calorie effect” i.e. they burn more calories than they contain. Get munching on them – I sure do!
(3) DO SOMETHING – ANYTHING!
I know this might sound weird, but I do it all the time when approaching very low body fat percentages.
I’ll wash dishes, vacuum, go for a walk, go visit a friend, fix something, call someone, clean something – anything. If you walk, walk in nature – it’ll change your mood and mindset.
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(4) DON’T KEEP SWEET STUFF AT HOME!
I shot a video on this recently. Watch below.
Basically, it’s best not to even give yourself the option of sweet or high-calorie foods. You simply do NOT keep these foods at home. These are cheat meal foods only. If you crave them, you gotta get in your car and go buy them…which you probably aren’t going to do. But if they’re in your kitchen…you can only avoid the temptation for so long!
Look, I have iron will – and even I have slipped up sometimes until I finally got it…I simply can’t keep this stuff at home.
(5) YOU GOTTA GET THAT PROTEIN IN!
Your diet must be high in protein to:
- Prevent hunger (as protein is the most satiating macronutrient)
- Preserve your muscle mass while losing fat
Take 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight (see this post for a more accurate formula)
If you are cutting and want your diet all sorted without you having to rack your brain over it, pick up my Total Six Pack Abs – my fat-loss program. No-one has ever reported muscle loss. In fact, everyone continues to get stronger in the gym, and many reported muscle gains.
When cutting go high in protein to prevent hunger & preserve muscle mass Click To Tweet
(6) GOT A SWEET TOOTH? GO SOUR INSTEAD
When your taste buds experience a sour taste, it removes cravings for sweet food. It’s pretty cool, especially when you can go sour for little to no calories.
Foods that work here include pickles, olives, pickled vegetables, balsamic vinegar (on your salad), sauerkraut, sour cherry peppers, kimchi and so on.
Luckily for me, I love sour foods. I have literally sat with a fork and a big jar of pickled onions and had a really good time lol!
Diet Tip: Eating sour food like pickled veggies, vinegar, sauerkraut removes cravings for sweets Click To Tweet
(7) TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ZERO-CALORIE FOODS
Use shirataki noodles, or “slim noodles” and “zero noodles” from Holland and Barrett in the UK. The US has its own zero-cal noodles.
Also enjoy some sugar-free jell-o. Sugar-free gum and sugar-free/zero sparkling drinks.
(8) DRINK SOME COFFEE
The caffeine content in coffee suppresses appetite. Simple. You can also get caffeine from certain teas, but the content is lower (despite some people saying tea has more caffeine – it doesn’t).
(9) EAT MORE SLOWLY
It can take around 20 minutes for the signal to hit your brain from the stomach to say, “Hey, I’m satiated dude…stop eating”. So if you eat more slowly you give your brain time to catch up, you’ll only eat what you need and nothing more.
(10) TRAIN
Might sound counter-intuitive, but when training (and for a few hours afterwards) you simply lose any desire to eat.
I’ve never seen this not work. Even if someone comes to the gym low in energy, by 20 minutes into the workout they’ve become an energetic beast and have forgotten all about that doughnut they were craving.
Guys, I do all of the above…and they work!
At the beginning, cutting is pretty easy. But when you dip under 10% body fat and those calories are getting low, be smart and do all of the above so you can get ripped without feeling miserably hungry…there’s no need!
Stay Motivated!
Mark McManus
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Great tips. Very useful!
Mark I now have an image of you in your pyjamas eating a huge jar of pickled onions with a fork! HAHA
@Vicky. Thanks!
@Larry. lol, yep! Love them. I may or may not have been in my PJ’s! lol
hi Mark, is it ok to eat the zero carb noodles on TSPA? haven’t tried them yet but could definitely do with a filler such as this and add the protein.
great work as always.
@Alan. Yep, they’re definitely TSPA friendly 🙂
Appreciate the tips!
I admittedly have a sweet tooth which usually causes late-night cravings just before I go to bed. I don’t like to go to bed hungry but that is probably the worst time of the day to eat sugary foods. If I do break down and treat myself to a small bowl of ice cream or cookies or any other type of calorie-dense food, I’ve found that I can satisfy that craving by eating only a modest portion if I add a few nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, etc.) Sometimes eating the nuts alone does the job, which are a good source of protein & healthy fats as long as you keep it down to a small handful.
I also occasionally get a craving for salty foods like chips. Lately I switched from potato or corn chips to fried pork skins (chicharrones), preferably the spicy, BBQ flavored kind. If you read the label, pork skins contain about the same amount of calories per ounce as chips and surprisingly contain about the same amount of fat. Plus they contain about 4 times the amount of protein (typically 16 grams per ounce) and zero carbs. And I found that I eat less because the things are so dry I have to chase them with a large glass of water which gives me that full sensation.
Please understand that I’m not endorsing pork skins as a healthy source of protein but I think it’s the lesser of two evils if you’re occasionally going to eat potato or corn chips instead. Also note that the salt content in pork skins is typically double that of other chips so they are a poor choice if you’re trying to limit your salt intake.
@Jerry. Glad I could help, buddy.
Also, if someone is on a low-carb diet, pork skins are perfectly alright and healthy.
My protein intake should be 200 grams should I eat this all at once or spread it out through the day?
Do you have any tips to avoid the fridge during ad breaks 🙂
@Mark. Spread throughout the day, bud. 4 meals suits most people.
@Roland. Don’t have anything tasty in there in the first place lol. Or put a lock on it! 😉