Losing weight can be tricky. Restricting calories can leave you feeling hungry, grumpy, and unsatisfied. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I don’t believe anyone should have to suffer through that to improve their health!

I encourage everyone to start with eating complete meals, which will help you get enough fiber and protein. Those three things should help you feel more satisfied. However, it is normal to feel some hunger when losing weight. Your body doesn’t like it when you lose fat so it will up your ghrelin (hunger hormone) levels to get you to eat more.

If you are feeling really starving while losing weight or just want to experiment a little, I’ve got a few more tricks for you that can help keep you feeling satisfied and boost your fat-loss efforts!

Fat Loss Boosters

1. Drink 1-2 cups of water before your meals.

There is more to this method than just filling up your stomach. Research has shown that drinking 1-2 cups of water before meals increases the metabolic rate of men and women by up to 30%. Ninety minutes after drinking two cups of water subjects burned an extra 24 calories. Drinking 2 cups of water four times a day could burn an extra 100 calories a day!

One cup will help, two cups is more effective. Drinking cold water is more effective than room temperature. A metabolic boost is only effective when drinking plain water. No electrolytes. Not soda. Not juice. Just cold, refreshing water.

Don’t drink more than three cups of water at a time- that is more than your kidneys can handle and can lead to serious health problems including death. Remember, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. 

If you have kidney problems consult your doctor before trying this. If you’re on a beta blocker, this might not work because the beta blocker will also block the pathways that provide the metabolic boost.

Drinking this water before meals is beneficial because researchers found that those who drank 2 cups of water before a meal ate about 20% less, or 100 fewer calories during their meal. Natural portion control without it being hard!

One more plug for water- They’ve also found that those who are obese drink a lot less water than those who are lean. We won’t say that not drinking water leads to obesity but perhaps the extra calorie burn is helping those who are lean to stay lean?

2. Eat 100 calories worth of vegetables and/or fruit before meals.

Researchers found that those who had 100 calories of fruits or vegetables before a meal ate about 200 calories less during the meal. So they net 100 fewer calories eaten overall! This could be some raw veggies chopped up into a salad, or just an apple. In fact, the research found that those who ate an apple right before a meal ate 300 less calories. So, they netted 200 fewer calories overall! This works way better with fibrous fruits and veggies so skip the bread basket when you go out and opt for a salad- with very little to no dressing, or use salsa as a dressing.

3. Eat more leafy greens.

Leafy greens have something called thylakoids. The thylakoid membranes bind lipase, the enzyme we use to break down fat, which delays fat absorption. This means fat absorption happens at the very end of the small intestine where strong satiety signals are sent out, telling our brains that we are full and can stop eating. Researchers have found people who have greens with their meals eat less overall and lose more weight than those eating similar foods without greens.

The darker the green, the more thylakoid it contains. Kale and spinach are the best options. You need at least ½ a cup of greens to notice a difference. Green powders mixed into drinks and shakes are also effective. I like to add 1 cup of frozen spinach to my shakes.

I hope these tips help! If you found this email useful, please forward it to family and friends who would also benefit.

Try these tips and you are going to feel amazing! If you would like help implementing these healthy behaviors go here to set up your free Strategy Session.