A few reasons why you feel hungry all the time.

Eating a few times a day is necessary to provide your body with the energy needed to do the things you need it to do. For some people, however, it seems the hunger pangs never stop, even after eating a full meal.

If this sounds like you, your waistline and overall health are at risk. Since you put a lot of effort into maintaining both, it’s time to find out what’s making you feel hungry all day every day.

Not Eating Enough

The reason you keep eating is because you think you need more calories. In rare cases, this is correct. People who make dramatic increases in their physical fitness efforts may need to increase their calorie intake at the same time. But be careful! Unless you’re burning a crazy amount of calories in the gym or are trying to pack on pounds, eating more can do more damage than good. Talk with your trainer to find out if you’re eating enough and how to adjust your caloric intake to meet your health goals.The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. – Mother Teresa

Eating the Wrong Stuff

While some people work out so hard and so often that their body needs more calories, others are simply not eating the right foods to maintain feelings of fullness. For the normal person, this is a much more common dilemma. Thankfully, it can be easily overcome by changing what you pick up at the grocery store. To stop feeling hungry all the time, you’re going to need to skip empty carbohydrates and instead look for foods that are packed with protein, healthy fats, and fiber. Each of these ingredients works to fill you up and keep you feeling full for prolonged periods. So eat right and watch the snack machine lose its allure.

You’re Bored

There are a variety of reasons people eat, and boredom is near the top of the list. Leaving the house in 30 minutes and don’t have anything to do until then? Waiting in the carpool lane to pick up your children from school and spy a fruit snack in the back seat? Your stomach calls. If boredom puts you into hunger mode, find something useful to do. Open a book, call a friend, or clean the house. Recognizing boredom-induced hunger will give you a great advantage against unwanted and unexplained weight gain.

The Stress Is Piling On

Along with all the other reasons hunger creeps at your door at all hours, stress can’t be ignored. For many people, stress results in an immediate hunger response. Somehow, the brain suspects that eating will make the stress more bearable, but in reality, eating does nothing to limit stress. And when stress isn’t dealt with properly, you don’t sleep well either, which can also increase your feelings of hunger. So hit the gym and talk to friends to get rid of stress, and ignore your phantom hunger pangs.

You’re Dehydrated

In case you didn’t realize this, you’re probably dehydrated. Sure, you may not be so thirsty that you’re knocking on death’s door, but the vast majority of the world’s population is at least partially dehydrated. One of the indicators of dehydration is that you mistake feelings of thirst for feelings of hunger. As a result, you think you’re hungry all the time, when in reality all your body needs is some fluid. So when you think you’re feeling hungry, go grab a glass of water. Then another. In many cases, this will curb your hunger, all without ingesting a single calorie.

Underlying Illness

In the event you’re not facing one of the previous causes of frequent hunger, there may be an underlying health condition causing your problem. From hyperthyroidism to Graves disease to diabetes, an array of health problems can cause hunger. Check with your physician if you fear something sinister is causing your never-ending hunger.

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