Exercise for Appetite Control

Exercise can suppress your appetite? You don’t need to buy pills for this? Yet again something your body can do for free. 

Does that hormone ghrelin got you hungry???  Exercise! 

I am not talking about working out so hard you make yourself sick. I am saying basic forms, which I will go over, do in fact suppress your appetite. This is nuanced as most things are. For instance if you’re super dehydrated your dreams of suppressing hunger will not occur. You need to get it together to reap the benefits. 

I think most people assume exercise will increase one’s appetite. That is true if you’re getting into something like heavy lifting for more than 45 minutes, or you’re running or cycling for hours.  Please keep these things in mind. It’s also okay to replenish your body, that isn’t what this is about. 

Something to remember is consistent physical activity can improve how your body regulates appetite by enhancing sensitivity to hunger and fullness signals, making it easier to avoid eating out of emotion or habit rather than true physiological need.

Here are some forms of exercise known to suppress one’s appetite: 

HIIT - high intensity interval training lasting 15-30 minutes. If you don’t know, a HIIT workout is 30 seconds of an exercise (running, pushups, etc.) and then resting for a chosen time and repeating. 

Moderate intensity cardio for 45 min to an hour. This could be on an elliptical, light cycling, or swimming. Anything that’s low intensity or medium intensity at most. 

These are the main two. I like interval training the best because it is great if you don’t have an hour. You can also complete it with zero equipment and don’t have to leave your home. It’s an efficient way to get a lot done in a short amount of time.