Everywhere you look in physical culture there is some diet strategy to get ripped or shredded. Look to the cover of magazines and they all make ludicrous promises of doing less cardio while eating more carbs to lose weight. Alternatively, the magazine covers will contain the phrase RIPPED. When you turn to the section in the magazine that contains the secret to ripped “whatevers”, it inevitably contains some combination of 
less cardio, less carbs, higher protein or less fat. On the rare occasion that I decide to look at one of these articles out of boredom, I find they always overlook one of the most simple principles of weight loss, appetite control. When you can shut-down the desire to eat or cheat, stripping away body fat becomes a heck of a lot easier. In my many years in the business, I have stumbled upon or discovered many strategies that make cutting carbs, fat and calories much easier. Here are the 11 of the best ways to help you control your appetite. Bon appétit!
1) Avoid Carbohydrate Only Meals
Carbohydrates are the first nutrient to leave the stomach. A meal comprised of only carbohydrates will leave the stomach quickly, leading to hunger. Protein and dietary fat not only digest far slower than carbohydrates but prevent carbohydrates from rushing out of the stomach, making you feel “full.” This is reason enough to avoid carbohydrate only meals. They ignite hunger and can lead to cheating, gorging and overeating.
2) Start With Protein
Let’s say you’re dieting and a meal calls for a carbohydrate-protein meal comprised of rice and a chicken breast. If you’re feel like you’re starving and could eat a small elephant, opt for the chicken first, followed by the rice. The reason: proteins first exert a greater appetite quelling effect than carbohydrates alone or a combo of carbohydrates and protein.
3) Really Graze
Bodybuilders know that six to eight meals per day results in better results than eating fewer meals. In terms of appetite control, breaking your meals into six a day and even eight a day can have a huge impact on appetite. That’s because every time you eat, even a very small meal, the appetite center of the brain in stimulated – relaxing a sometimes urgent appeal for more food or an overwhelming desire to eat. Eating multiple small meals within your daily calorie requirements will not only tame the appetite, but help accelerate a loss in body fat.
4) Fine Tune The Protein
Yes, you really do need only 1-1.5 grams of complete protein per pound of bodyweight to build mass. It should be acknowledged that the number can change, and should go up, if you find yourself ravenously hungry following this golden rule for protein consumption. When you adjust your protein up another 70 grams a day above the 1 to 1.5 gram rule, you should back down on your carbohydrate consumption by 70 grams. Proteins satisfy the appetite while carbohydrates, in general, increase it. Re-adjusting your protein to carbohydrate mix is an easy step to keep the appetite down.
5) Use Fiber Supplements
Soluble Fiber adds a gel like substance to the stomach to delay the entry of carbohydrates into the intestines. This slowing effect alters the amount of insulin secreted and insulin has been touted “the hunger hormone”. When fiber delays carbohydrate digestion and modifies insulin secretion, you’ll not only lose the urge to over eat, but will feel better. Remember, spiking insulin levels often result in drastic drops in energy levels. An example of this is one I think we have all experienced. Remember back when you were a kid and Halloween night would come around; after tick-or-treating you would sit down with a garbage bag full of candy and eat the whole thing? After the sugar high wore off, your energy levels would dry up and you would feel like a zombie? Of course you remember that. Well that feeling is exactly what I am referring to. One reason I always suggest dieting bodybuilders make oatmeal and cream of rye cereal as their main sources of carbohydrates has to do with appetite. These carbohydrates are loaded with soluble fiber which helps keep insulin under control and keep the appetite in check. Oddly, you’ll get leaner with these carbohydrates than you would with rice, pasta or potatoes. Fiber rich carbohydrates are, gram for gram and calorie for calorie, less fattening than other carbohydrates. Their low impact on insulin means the body can remain in a fat burning state where as other carbohydrates increase insulin to a greater degree not only spiking the appetite but also have a greater possibility to shut down fat metabolism.
7) Use 5-HTP
5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan or 5-hydroxy-l-tryptophan) is a natural supplement that converts in the brain into a chemical called serotonin which helps sequester the appetite. One study with obese women (Journal of Neural Transmission 76:109-17, 1989) showed 200 mgs taken 20 minutes before each of 3 daily meals caused a 22% decrease in carbohydrate consumption. Now, I know that you are a big bad bodybuilder and not an obese woman, but try 20-40 mgs twice daily.
8) Tyrosine & Caffeine
The amino acid tyrosine, when taken on an empty stomach can increase levels of noradrenaline in the body to act as a mild appetite suppressant. Throw in caffeine – a big cup of coffee- and you enhance the effect especially when used on a completely empty stomach. Caffeine compounds the noradrenaline boosting effects of tyrosine and also liberates free fatty acids from fat cells. Both free fatty acids and glycerol, the by product of fat breakdown, help short circuit the appetite control center located in the brain. A good bet is to use 2-3 grams of tyrosine and a cup of coffee in the morning 45 minutes before eating and repeat the process in the early afternoon.
9) Use Satietrol
Cholecystoikinin (CKC) is produced by the small intestines during digestion and is thought to strongly influence appetite. A product called Satietrol contains a special milk protein called glycomacropeptide which research has shown to help curb the appetite. Taken with the first meal of the day, Satietrol can help curb the appetite leading to a drop in food consumption.
10) Histidine
Histidine is a lot like the unpopular kid in high school that never got asked to dance, but was one helleuva good dancer. This not-so-popular amino acid has recent research showing it can help suppress the appetite. It’s thought histidine influences the hormone leptin, which influences control over hunger. Histidine gives way to histamines which decrease food consumption. On the flip side, drugs that block the release of histamines lead to increases in food consumption. This would explain the appetite boosting effects of Periactin. Periactin is an anti-histamine drug underground gurus have touted as a chemically supported approach to eat more and bulk up. Ask lady Histidine to dance and try 500 mgs, 3 times daily to help control the appetite.
11) Hoodia & Fenugreek
Hoodia is an herb found in South Africa and other parts of the Sub-Saharan Africa that works on the hypothalamus portion of the brain. Hoodia is a liar and it tricks the brain to believe that it has eaten. Fenugreek is another herb that decreases post-prandial sugar levels in the blood. In bodybuilding jargon, post-prandial means the amount of sugar in your blood after eating. Fenugreek prevents elevated blood sugar levels after you eat which prevents rocketing insulin levels. Earlier, we learned insulin can have a huge affect on how much food your desire to eat. One study using rats, injected insulin into one group while the other group of rats had their insulin producing pancreas, completely removed. The results were that the high insulin rat group ate until their stomachs exploded! Insulin strongly influenced how much they wanted and could eat. Interestingly, the group with no pancreas failed to eat and starved to death!
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