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This morning yet again my lil bro Sir Thomas (the moggie) narrowly averted death. I’m pretty sure he was close to starvation in the 15 minutes before I dragged myself out of bed to give him his breakfast… or at least that was the distinct – LOUD – impassioned impression he gave me!

I’m staying with my parents for the weekend in stunning Noosa. Whether Thomas was truly starving or whether he’s just adhering to the wake his sis up at stupid o’clock routine I guess I can’t know for sure, however it did cause me to reflect on the subject for today’s Tuesday Tucker show:

Is It Bad That I Never Feel Hungry?

We are lucky enough to live in a time of such food abundance that too often I hear of people never feeling hungry.

If fat loss is your goal then YES, you want to be feeling hungry regularly.

Not in a punish yourself, restrict food way – more so in a your metabolism is cranking and you’re ready for that next awesome meal way.

So there’s a fine line to negotiate. Between the I’m constantly in surplus with my food and can’t remember what hungry feels like to the I’m so crazy outta control hungry I’m going to devour everything in sight once I start the gobble-fest!

Here are 4 steps to consider working into your routine if you never feel hungry:

One: Reduce your carbs at dinner.

Most of us just don’t need them. We got sold the meat veg and starch for years and its hard to let go. Or it’s quick. Easy. Cheap. However a dumping of carbs on your body just before bed is the last thing it needs.

=> if this sounds like a jump try first halving your refined or starchy carbs and doubling your fibrous veg. No less food, just a little swap.

Two: Try intermittent fasting one day a week.

It’s a chance to give your body catch up and processing time. I like to do it the day after cheat day when I’ve consumed more carbs and more alcohol than usual. There are a variety of fasting options – and I’m no expert however 16-18 hours from 7-8pm Sunday till around 1pm Monday is working well for me.

=> if you’re keen to give this a try them please ensure you have a generous serve of protein with your last meal pre-fast and first meal after your fast. Because I’m a little paranoid about losing any lean muscle I also have a protein shake mid-morning (just raw vegan protein powder and water) after weights training.

Three: Don’t snack if you don’t feel like you need too.

The eating every few hours myth was one I subscribed to for years. However eating should be natural. Your body knows when it needs food… Or if it doesn’t then today’s show is about getting back to a place where it does!

Great nutritious snacks are fine when they are planned and help you stay energized and effective and stop you from becoming crazy hungry before your next meal. However those opportunistic little snacks that sneak their way into your day are the ones to ditch.

=> the approach I currently favor is less snacking and an awareness of the go2snacks to turn to if the over-hungry-monster is threatening to strike. Easy to grab stuff like nuts or a protein shake.

Four: Move more.

Sometimes a change to routine will cause us to slip into a more sedentary lifestyle without the corresponding adjustments to eating.

So far as stimulating your metabolism and getting your healthy hunger back every movement opportunity counts.

=> walking to work, the gym, the cafe. Perhaps standing up for a couple of hours a day… build your way up with this one and if you love it consider investing in a stand-up desk.

To get actionable today if you’re concerned that you never feel hungry I’d love you to do a one day audit of how you feel before you eat.

How often in a day are you hungry? So much of what we put in our mouths just happens on auto-pilot. The thing with long term fat loss and body gain is not so much that it’s restrictive or obsessive – I really don’t see it that way AT ALL – more so that decisions are made with volition.

Rather than eating the breakfast everyone else eats because it’s there and quick and easy and breakfast time it’s a matter of eating the breakfast that sets you up for the best day and eating it a a time when you feel hungry and ready for it.

So you’re giving your body the high quality fuel it wants rather than stuffing an over-flowing tank full of more rubbish.

In fact a good analogy to think of is a daily carb tank that your body has to work with…

Day by day year by year it’s normal to eat a little or even a lot more than that tank needs. A double serve of cereal and yoghurt here… pop-corn and ice-cream at the movies there… and a little soda everywhere…

The thing is, when that tank over-flows the excess carbs are turned to fat and stored as fat. For most of us we’ve spent our whole lives over-eating the refined carbs that were sold to us as the healthy alternative to fat. We’ve keep that little carb tank from full to overflowing and right now – if you’re not the person that regularly feels hungry is the time to let that carb tank empty out a bit.

Choose the step to work into your day that feels most doable for you. So again that was:

One: Reduce your carbs at dinner.

Two: Try intermittent fasting one day a week.

Three: Don’t snack if you don’t feel like you need too.

Four: Move more.

Take that step for a spin for a week and redo your daily hunger audit. If you’re still not feeling hungry at all in your day then in addition introduce the step that feels next most doable for you. And so on.

To judge what level of hunger is right for you let’s check in with Sir Thomas the moggie again.

A while ago, the vet who usually agrees with mum that Thomas is a very beautiful (let’s just call it perfect) cat, first jotted down the not so complementary ‘Happy and FAT’ on his report card and then also recommended a rather drastic reduction in cat biscuits.

My lil bro went from happy-FAT-satisfied-and-super-good-at-sticking-to-cat-food to naughty-NEEDY-yowly-and-super-sneaky-at-stealing-human-food.

My parents in desperation at their moggie always prowling the kitchen bench resorted to the middle ground so far as cat biscuits.

That is exactly what you’re looking to do. To be ready for each meal yet generally not so hungry you’ll resort to poor food choices… stealing… or begging before you have that meal!

That’s it for today in Healthification.

I’ll be beck tomorrow with the Wednesday Weigh-in show and…. Less Decisions More Fat Loss.

If you liked this you’ll also like: How To Maximize Your Daily Eating and Exercise Discipline.

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.