Tamannaah Bhatia's fitness coach shares 3 ways to control your evening cravings

If you are struggling with your evening hunger pangs, find out how you can gain control and start to snack more mindfully.

The urge to reach out for a snack is very tempting in the evening. These cravings can be overwhelming as one may go overboard and overeat unhealthy junk to get rid of hunger pangs. But if you are on a calorie-deficient plan or general weight loss journey, it may derail your goals.

Addressing this common issue, Celebrity fitness coach Siddhartha Singh, who has worked with stars like Tamannaah Bhatia, shared 3 ways one can curb their evening hunger pangs.

Here are the three ways one can reduce cravings as suggested by the fitness coach:

1. Increase protein and fibre intake in nutrition

First up is to ensure your day's nutrition is not falling short. This means you need to start by modifying your diet and adding two key essentials: protein and fibre.

The fitness coach explained about the value they bring to your life, “Number one, increase protein and fibre intake in your nutrition. Have more protein, have more fibre. This is going to keep you fuller for longer.”

2. Are you really hungry

The second point Siddhartha drew attention to was to understand the reasoning behind the cravings, and whether they are genuine or not.

“Ask yourself, are you craving because you are hungry? Or are your cravings because you are just bored or stressed? In those cases, think about standing up and walking around for ten minutes," he said. "Even if you are in a small room, usually 99.9 per cent of the time after that ten-minute walk, you won't be craving anything anymore."

Recognising the difference between real hunger and emotional eating is the first step to controlling hunger pangs. You may be confusing your psychological hunger with a physiological one. As the fitness coach revealed, walking is one way to reduce the intensity of emotional hunger. Walking helps reduce stress, so after a good walk, you get better clarity.

3. Pre-planning

When you are hungry, you reach out for anything and everything nearby. But if you plan, you take control of the situation before the craving takes control of you. Often, one doesn't think straight when they are hungry; logic and reasoning are the last things that come to mind when those hunger pangs hit hard.

Instead, the fitness coach suggested pre-planning. He explained, using his own experience as an example, "If you know, like me, that you are going to crave something at around 5:30 PM in the evening, my cravings are usually crunchy and sweet so I plan my snacks around something like a Greek Yoghurt bowl with some berries and maybe some granola in it. It's going to give me high protein, it is going to be healthy, in my nutrition plan, and it is going to make sure my cravings are conquered.”

When you are planning ahead, you start to become more careful about what you eat, instead of impulsively scarfing down anything.

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them. This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.