If we’re honest with ourselves, the biggest perk that tags along with working out isn’t looking good or becoming fitter – it’s being able to eat a truckload more food than if we didn’t. The main way we’re told to reduce our appetite by professionals is through improving our diet and choosing foods that offer more satiety. This is good advice, but how to suppress appetite without food?
You’re in luck, since it’s not just food that can reduce your appetite and decrease those hunger pangs. The right exercise can do it too.
How to suppress appetite without food
If you are always starving after a workout though, and it’s starting to look like you may be due a food-baby any minute now, you might want to reconsider your routine. Adding a HIIT workout to your fat loss efforts may spare restaurant-goers your dribbling, zombie-like face plastered on their front window.
A small study in the International Journal of Obesity found that men who performed 30 minutes of high intensity intervals (repeated bouts of at least 1 minute of balls to the wall effort with 4 minutes at 50% of VO2 Max), ate much fewer calories in the 36 hours after the session vs the continuous, moderate intensity cardio group.
This routine can be applied to almost any exercise or form of cardio. Whether you’re jumping on the treadmill, elliptical, rower, or something outside of your standard cardio machines. How about a one minute flurry of punches on a boxing bag, with a 2-4 minute active rest where you throw punches more sparingly?
Heck, if you love your iron, you can even turn your weight training workout into a HIIT workout with metabolic circuits including the big lifts like the deadlift, cleans, pullups, or whatever compound movement your imagination can think up.
Keeping the weights light, you can time your exercise instead of going for reps and sets, then take a few minutes of rest before going balls to the wall again. Much more fun than running on a conveyor belt and going nowhere, I’m sure you’ll agree.
The HIIT workout to suppress appetite
This workout assumes that you’ve already warmed up sufficiently before attacking it. Remember that there are some intense bouts of exercise here and you’ll need to properly warm yourself up. Otherwise your appetite won’t be suppressed through working out, you’ll probably feel sick through injury. Nobody wants that. Don’t be a hero – warm up for at least 5 minutes before your first bout of intensity.
The beginners appetite suppressant HIIT workout
| TIME | INTENSITY |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 4 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 4 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 4 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
The intermediates HIIT workout to suppress appetite
| TIME | INTENSITY |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 2 minutes | 50% VO2 Max |
…continue for 30 minutes
The hardcore HIIT workout that reduces appetite
| TIME | INTENSITY |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
| 1 minute | Max effort |
| 1 minute | 50% VO2 Max |
…continue for 30 minutes. If you had an appetite before this workout, you won’t afterwards. Advanced only.
Peel your tongue off the window and let the public enjoy their meals. Your time to enjoy your food will come, and you’ll be sporting a better-defined mid-section when that fork enters your mouth by using this HIIT-hack.
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Reference: International Journal of Obesity
