We've all been hungry before, and for most of us, we treat that feeling of hunger as something that's pretty unpleasant. What we may not know is if you've ever been in the gym and you've exercised a muscle group-like your chest or your thighs doing squats-to the extreme, and the next day or next two days you experienced DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).

When you wake up in the morning and you feel that DOMS in your legs or that DOMS in your biceps, you don't say to your friends, "Oh my goodness, my legs are hurting. This is so bad," because you know you've worked your muscles hard and you've done something good for yourself.

That feeling of hunger is something you are definitely going to experience if you want to lose weight. It's pretty hard to feel full the whole time and lose weight, but what we can have control over is what that feeling of hunger tells us and signals to our brain. For example, imagine if, with that feeling of hunger, you could tell yourself-rather than "Oh no, I feel hungry"-"Amazing, my body is burning its stored energy." You've taken something that you may have treated your whole life as something negative and twisted it into something that's positive.

If you want to lose weight, it's absolutely essential that you burn your stored energy, and the more you can treat that as a positive, the easier your journey is going to become.

For me, when I did the 5/2 diet-if you don't know what that is, it is a way of intermittently fasting with a really low-calorie diet for two days a week-you spend an awful lot of time being hungry. But hunger is in waves. You're not going to be continuously hungry; if you're on a restricted diet, one minute you're hungry, you do something else, then that hunger has gone.

Any aggressive weight loss plan that's promising to lose weight in one or two weeks is gonna need some pretty drastic changes happening and some aggressive fasting. And typically, these super quick changes to your body are reversed just as quickly. That's why it is important to make changes to your body over a longer period of time and turn them into lifetime habits and permanent positive changes. Try to step out of the yo-yo of dieting and move into a permanent change.

But will changing just what you eat work on its own? Yes and no! Yes, if you restrict your calories and your consumption is below your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)-what your body burns in a day-then you will 100% start to burn stored energy and begin to lose weight. But this will not necessarily make you a healthier person, and may not lead to permanent changes in your lifestyle.

So, before you start to try and lose weight, whatever way you're thinking of, it's important to reprogram your brain and your mindset.

Rewiring Your Appetite: Why Willpower Isn't the Answer (and What Is)

Let's be honest for a moment. We have all been there. You decide it is time to make a change. You are motivated, you have cleared out the cupboards, and you have bought the fresh vegetables. For the first few days, you feel fantastic. But then, something shifts. It isn't just that you are hungry; it feels like your entire brain is screaming at you to find the nearest source of sugar or comfort food. You rely on willpower, white-knuckling your way through the afternoon, but eventually, the mental energy runs out.

For years, we have been told this is a failure of discipline. We are told it is a simple matter of "calories in versus calories out," and if we can't stick to it, we just aren't trying hard enough.

But what if that isn't true?

What if the problem isn't your willpower, but the fact that your conscious mind is in a direct argument with your biology? When we voluntarily cut back on food, our brains often interpret this not as a healthy lifestyle choice, but as an emergency. It hits the panic button. It floods us with stress hormones and ramps up our hunger signals because it thinks we are in danger.

The exciting news coming out of modern neuroscience and metabolic research is that we can change this. We don't have to fight our biology; we can essentially update the software. We can move away from the exhausting cycle of restriction and move towards "neuro-metabolic reprogramming."

It sounds complicated, but it is actually quite intuitive. It is about playing the long game-not just trying to look a certain way for summer, but performing at your peak forever. It is about teaching your body that it is safe, nourished, and able to switch fuel sources without drama.

Here is how we can rewrite the script on hunger and build a lifestyle that feels effortless rather than forced.

Understanding Your Internal Hardware

To change how we react to food, we first need to understand what is happening under the hood. We often talk about hunger as if it is one single thing-that gnawing feeling in the stomach. But neurobiologically, it is a bit of a tug-of-war between two different systems.

First, you have the system that manages your energy needs (homeostatic hunger). This is your brain's way of saying, "The fuel tank is low." It is controlled by the hypothalamus, which acts like a thermostat for your weight. When it senses a dip in energy, it sends out signals to make you eat and, crucially, to make you conserve energy. This is why you feel lethargic when you are "dieting." Your body is trying to save you from a perceived famine.

Second, and often more powerful, is the reward system (hedonic hunger). This is driven by dopamine. This system doesn't care if you need fuel; it cares about pleasure. It is the engine of "wanting." In our modern world, we are surrounded by foods perfectly engineered to hijack this system-combinations of sugar, fat, and salt that light up our brains like a pinball machine.

When we constantly stimulate this reward system, our brains try to protect themselves by dialing down our sensitivity. We end up with fewer dopamine receptors. The result? A feeling of flatness or boredom. We don't just eat because we are hungry; we eat because we are trying to get back to "normal." When you switch to whole, natural foods, that initial feeling of dissatisfaction isn't a permanent reality. It is just a temporary adjustment period while your brain resets its sensitivity.

The Mindset Trap: The Milkshake Study

One of the most fascinating discoveries in recent years is that what you believe about your food actually changes how your body processes it. This isn't just "positive thinking"; it is measurable physiology.

There was a landmark study known as the "Mind Over Milkshakes" experiment. Participants were given a 380-calorie milkshake on two different occasions. The shake was exactly the same both times. However, on the first visit, it was labelled as a "620-calorie Indulgent Shake," described as decadent and rich. On the second visit, it was labelled as a "140-calorie Sensible Shake," described as light and guilt-free.

The results were incredible. When people thought they were drinking the indulgent shake, their hunger hormones dropped significantly. Their bodies registered satisfaction and ramped up their metabolism. But when they drank the exact same shake believing it was the "sensible, light" option, their hunger hormones stayed high. Their bodies physically reacted as if they hadn't eaten enough, keeping them in energy-conservation mode.

This tells us something profound: the language of deprivation works against us. If you sit down to a healthy meal thinking, "This is diet food, I am depriving myself," your body may literally resist the weight loss. It keeps the hunger alarm ringing.

The key to the long game is to change your vocabulary. Stop using words like "guilt-free," "skinny," or "sensible." Start describing your healthy food as "nourishing," "rich," "energising," and "satisfying." When you plate your food, make it look beautiful. Convince your brain that you are feasting, not fasting.

Reframing the Rumble: The Metabolic Switch

One of the hardest parts of changing how we eat is that physical sensation of hunger-the rumble in the stomach. We are conditioned to treat this as an emergency. We think, "I'm hungry, I must eat immediately or I will faint."

But let's look at what is actually happening biologically. We are designed to be metabolically flexible. This means we should be able to burn the food we just ate (glucose), and when that runs out, seamlessly switch to burning our stored body fat.

For many of us, that switch has become rusty. We are stuck in sugar-burning mode. When the glucose runs out, instead of easily accessing our fat stores, the body panics and demands more sugar. That panic is what we feel as "hangry."

However, if we can ride out that sensation, magic happens. That hunger pang is actually the feeling of your body attempting to flip the switch. It is the sound of your system changing gears.

Even better, during this time, a process called autophagy kicks in. This literally translates to "self-eating," but in a good way. It is your body's housekeeping service. When you aren't constantly digesting food, your cells start cleaning up the debris, recycling old proteins and repairing damage. It is a powerful anti-ageing and health-boosting process.

So, the next time you feel that rumble, try a new thought process. Instead of "I am starving," tell yourself, "My body is cleaning house right now. I am switching into fat-burning mode." You aren't empty; you are dining on your reserves. Visualising this can turn a feeling of distress into a feeling of achievement.

The Brain Tantrum: Why It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

Have you ever noticed that when you decide to cut out sugar or snacks, the cravings don't just fade away gently? They often scream louder.

Psychologists call this an "Extinction Burst." It is exactly like a toddler throwing a tantrum because you said no to a toy. The brain is used to a certain reward (the biscuit, the crisps). When you remove it, the brain doesn't just accept it immediately; it panics. It thinks, "Maybe I just need to ask louder."

This usually peaks around day three or four. You might feel irritable, tired, or intensely crave the very thing you are avoiding. This is the danger zone where most people give up, thinking, "I just can't stick to this."

But knowing about the Extinction Burst changes everything. It means that the intense craving isn't a sign that you are failing. It is a sign that the addiction is dying. It is the final protest of the old neural pathway. If you can surf that wave-if you can wait it out-the urge will crest and then crash.

The worst thing you can do here is "intermittent reinforcement." If you fight the craving for twenty minutes and then give in, you are effectively teaching your brain that if it just screams for long enough, it will get what it wants. This makes the habit even harder to break next time. View these tantrums as temporary. They are uncomfortable, yes, but they are not commands.

Tools for the Long Game

So, how do we actually do this? We can't just wish the cravings away. We need tools to reprogram the response.

Functional Imagery Training Willpower is often a battle of words in our head ("Don't eat the cake"). But cravings are multisensory-we imagine the smell, the taste, the texture. To beat a craving, we need a competing image that is just as vivid.

Don't just think "I want to be fit." Visualise it. Close your eyes and imagine yourself a few months from now. What are you wearing? How does the fabric feel against your skin? How does it feel to walk with more energy? What are your friends saying to you? The more detail you add-sights, sounds, physical sensations-the more you crowd out the "craving movie" in your head.

Urge Surfing When a craving hits, don't try to distract yourself or fight it. Acknowledge it. "I am noticing an urge to eat." Locate where you feel it in your body. Is it a tightness in the throat? An emptiness in the stomach?

Breathe into that sensation. Imagine your breath surfing over the top of it like a wave. Watch it change. It will shift, vibrate, and eventually fade. Most cravings only last about 15 to 20 minutes. You just have to stay on the surfboard until the water calms down.

The Identity Shift The most powerful changes come when we shift how we see ourselves. If you are offered a sugary snack and you say, "I can't eat that," you are telling yourself (and others) that you want it, but you aren't allowed it. This creates a sense of restriction.

Instead, try saying, "I don't eat that." It is a subtle shift, but it changes everything. It moves the decision from an external rule to an internal identity. It aligns you with the person you are becoming-someone who fuels their body for performance and vitality.

The Sensory Reset

Finally, have some patience with your taste buds. If you are used to highly processed foods, natural foods can taste bland at first. This is because your palate has been desensitised by the hyper-palatable "food-like products" on the shelves.

The good news is that taste buds regenerate quickly-usually every 10 to 14 days. You can speed up this reset by introducing bitter foods, like dark leafy greens, black coffee, or dark chocolate. These flavours act as a "palate cleanser" for your system. After two weeks of real food, you will find that a strawberry tastes incredibly sweet and roasted vegetables taste rich and savoury. You aren't losing the pleasure of eating; you are just recovering your ability to taste the real thing.

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The Sundried Roundup

This isn't about a diet that starts on Monday and ends on Friday. This is about understanding your own machinery so you can run smoothly for the rest of your life. It is about moving from a state of constant internal conflict to a state of metabolic peace.

How can I build this into my life?

Start by changing the narrative. For the next week, catch yourself every time you think about food as "good" or "bad." Replace those thoughts with "does this fuel my performance?" or "will this crash my energy?" When hunger hits, pause. Ask yourself if it is true hunger (fuel need) or just a dopamine craving (boredom/stress). If it is hunger, eat a nourishing meal without guilt. If it is a craving, practice urge surfing.

Pushed for time, how can I keep up?

You don't need hours of meal prep to make this work. Focus on simple, high-protein foods that keep you satiated and prevent the "hangry" crash. Tinned fish, eggs, bags of pre-washed salad, and nuts are your friends. The most time-efficient thing you can do is not obsess over food. By removing the constant insulin spikes of snacking, you free up the mental energy you used to spend thinking about your next meal.