Do you ever finish a meal and then maybe half an hour later feel hungry again? Perhaps this is a recurring problem for you, where you feel hungry after having a meal.
Hunger is your body’s way of telling you that you didn’t get enough food. So, why am I still hungry after eating? I want to discuss some of the reasons why you may still be hungry after a meal and why your food isn’t always as filling as it ought to be.
If you’re Still Hungry After Eating, Have you Eaten Enough?
The simplest and most obvious reason is because you’re not eating enough. If you’re starting a diet and trying to cut back on food, you may not be eating as much food as your stomach expects.
You may want to eat less food, but your stomach might not be prepared for that yet.
It could take a while to get your portion sizes down to where your stomach agrees that you had enough food.
If the hunger pangs are severe, you may want to consider having a bit more food, particularly focusing on foods that are healthy and that won’t add to your waistline. You may also want to drink some more water with your meal, as water can help you feel full.
You do want to be careful about your dieting habits. If you’re constantly starving yourself, you can lose not just fat but muscle tissue as well. You may also be constantly fatigued, irritable, and malnourished.
If you’re not eating enough, you may end up focusing on foods that are not healthy for you and eating too much of them, without saving space for foods that are good for you.
The answer to the question of, “Why am I still hungry after eating a meal?” can come down to something as simple as the fact that you need to eat more food. Don’t skimp if your body says you are starving.
Are you Getting the Right Nutrients in your Meals
Have you ever eaten a few different snacks and yet still felt hungry? That could be because the snacks don’t contain anything of nutritional value. If you’re just eating what’s known as “food fluff”, your hunger won’t be sated. It’s going to take a lot of food to fill you up if you’re just eating salt, sugar, and other unhealthy foods.
The makeup of your meal determines how filling it is. Some foods are a whole lot more filling than others, particularly those with protein, fiber, and carbohydrates.
Why am I still hungry after eating vegetables? It’s likely that you’re not getting enough protein and carbs to go with them. Vegetables are healthy for you, but they’re not very filling, unless we’re talking about starchy vegetables like potatoes.
Protein can be somewhat filling, but not as filling as carbs and fiber tend to be. Why am I still hungry after eating protein? You may need to complement it with some carbohydrates and fiber for a more complete and filling meal.
You might find yourself feeling hungry frequently if you’re not getting enough fiber.
Fiber takes longer to digest than other types of food, so it leaves you feeling full for longer. If you want to minimize hunger pains, eat something that’s high in fiber.
Eating too Quickly Can Leave you Feeling Hungry after a Meal
Why am I still hungry after eating a lot? Sometimes it’s not how much you eat but the way you eat that makes you feel full. Do you sometimes scarf your food down, gobbling it up in seconds instead of minutes? You may be wondering if eating too quickly has an effect on how full you feel.
Being mindful of what you eat and not being distracted while you eat can help you to feel fuller. It makes you more aware of the way your body is feeling and allows you to pay attention to your internal receptors.
Two people can eat the same amount of food, but if one person is distracted and wolfs their food down and the other person takes their time to slowly eat, they might not both feel as full. That’s the kind of effect paying attention to your food can have.
Why am I still hungry after eating so much? If you slow down and focus on what you’re eating, you might not feel hungry so often. You’re less likely to feel hungry shortly after you eat, particularly if you remove distractions.
So, eating your food without having a screen in front of you or scrolling through your phone or even talking to someone can all help you to feel more full by the time you’re done eating. This can allow you to pay attention to the way your body is feeling, and you will probably enjoy your food more.
Are you Working Out Too Much and Not Eating Enough
Why am I still hungry after eating pasta and other carbs? These are foods that are supposed to be filling, but you might not be getting enough if you live an active lifestyle. If you work out a lot, you’re using a lot of energy. You need to constantly restore that energy by eating.
The trap many people fall into when they try to get fit or lose weight is that they exercise a lot and diet a lot. Those can both be very effective for helping you get into shape and get rid of fatty weight, but doing them to such a degree that you’re starving yourself is not very healthy.
You’re not going to get the fit, athletic form you may be wanting if you’re not consuming enough fiber, protein, and carbohydrates. You may end up starving yourself and destroying your muscles, as your body tries to pull nutrients from somewhere.
That’s why it’s so important to have a balance between exercise and dieting. If you’re doing both to an extreme, you can starve yourself. You may end up feeling hungry all the time, even though you’re eating the same amount of food you used to.
Consider how much you’re working out and how many calories you’re burning. Compare that to how many calories you’re consuming.
If you up your physical activity levels and lower your calorie consumption, you are going to feel hungry.
If you end up feeling hungry all the time, you’ll probably want to quit your diet and exercise routine after a while.
Could it be a Medical Issue
If you’ve considered the possibilities that I listed earlier and nothing seems to fit, there may be an underlying health issue that needs to be addressed. It’s not a bad idea to talk to your doctor if you constantly feel hungry and there doesn’t seem to be any reasonable explanation for it. Your doctor may be able to recommend medication or other treatment that can help, as well as changes to your diet that can benefit you too.
There are so many reasons why you might still feel hungry after eating a lot of food. I hope this article helps you to get a better idea of why you may be feeling hungry and finally be able to tackle this issue.
My name is Ellis Francis and I have been a personal fitness trainer, sports nutritionalist and health and fitness advisor for over 25 years. I am the lead health and fitness advisor at https://awellnessbody.com.
