5 Eating Habits that Keep You Hungry After a Meal

Scratching your head as you help yourself to seconds? Here's why.

We’ve all been there. After inhaling a delicious salad at lunch or enjoying a wholesome dinner with friends, you sense a hunger that continues to linger and just won’t leave. The faint grumbling noises coming from your tummy suggest you’ve not fed your body sufficiently. As a result, you go for a few extra helpings, or overcompensate with dessert.

The truth is, oftentimes the ravenous sensation you experience after eating doesn’t mean you need more food. Instead, you’re probably exercising some small yet powerful behaviors that invite rebound hunger, which can ultimately add inches to your waistline. For example, certain foods might carry a boatload of calories, but their high glycemic index trigger surges in your insulin levels, which prevents you from feeling the effects of leptin, or the fullness hormone.

This feeling of dissatisfaction would likely trigger you to reach for more food. Here at SkinnyMs., we’re drawing your attention to small habits that keep you hungry after a meal, and offer some terrific tips on how to change these habits for the better. An awareness of these behaviors will help you tweak your lifestyle, so you can finally feel satiated after meals and keep those pesky pounds from piling up!

1. You Skipped (or Skimped on!) Breakfast
Never miss a morning meal! It’s no wonder a boatload of research deems breakfast the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast stabilizes your blood sugar and insulin, helping to keep dramatic fluctuations of these levels at bay. This means fewer food cravings and feelings of intense hunger, as well as a prolonged feeling of satisfaction. Regular breakfast eaters tend to eat fewer calories throughout the day, according to research. As a bonus, breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism and have you burning calories at a faster rate!

Rise and shine! Fuel your body with delicious, nutritious meals such as these 13 Scrumptious Breakfasts that Won’t Wreck Your Diet or one of these 7 High-Protein Breakfasts to Try this Week.

2. You Ate From a Can
If your dinner came from a can, don’t be surprised if your hunger remains long after a meal! In order to preserve freshness, numerous canned foods contain high amounts of BPA, also known as bisphenol-A. BPA causes dramatic fluctuations in leptin levels, the satiety hormone, which can activate hunger and cause you to crave carb-rich foods.

Instead of opting for certain canned foods, you can whip up healthier, BPA-free alternatives at home. Check out these recipes for Homemade “Canned” Diced Tomatoes recipe or Homemade “Canned” Tomato Paste.

3. You’re Sleep Deprived
We’ve all had those nights of partying until the break of dawn, pulling an all-nighter to cram for a test, or simply staying up due to stress and anxiety. No matter the cause, sleepless nights can trigger dramatic changes in your appetite and ultimately affect your waistline in undesirable ways. Sleep deprivation heightens your body’s levels of grehlin, a hormone that stimulates appetite and makes you want to eat. Worst of all, research shows you’ll experience cravings for foods that are packed with carbs and flowing with calories. Take charge of your health and hit the pillow earlier!

Get the scoop on sleep and how it can trigger weight gain. Check out these 5 Ways Your Sleep Schedule Could be Piling on the Pounds.

This post may include affiliate links.

Ellie Krasner

Ellie is a full-time violinist living in Las Vegas, and a writer with an insatiable appetite for clean eating and fitness! She is a graduate of Binghamton University with degrees in English literature and violin, and loves investigating the world of healthy living.

More by Ellie