Hungry again already? Nutrition tips to maximise satisfaction

You’ve had your morning porridge and you find yourself hungry an hour or two later, and you’re thinking hmm that can’t be right, I can’t need to eat again. What do you do?

Here’s some tips as a registered nutritionist:

Firstly, if you’re hungry, please eat - there are no rules on when you should be eating and if you’re hungry an hour after a meal it’s just a sign that maybe that meal you had needs a few adjustments.

Oats are a great source of complex carbohydrates meaning they give you energy and they are also really good at making you feel full when you’re eating them, however they aren’t that filling long-term.

Protein is our most satisfying macronutrient meaning it will keep you feeling full for a long time, and oats generally are quite lacking in protein.

What you can do to make this meal more balanced is to firstly include a good source of protein. My favourite is textured vegetable protein (TVP) which I just soak and then cook with the oats, but you could also add protein powder, or a couple of eggs or some Greek yoghurt on the side.

Now you’ve got your carbs and your protein, now let’s add a little more fibre and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Any fruit is great for this, I like to add banana whilst it’s cooking to give it a really nice sweetness, and I also love adding some frozen berries on top.

Finally, to really tick all the nutrition boxes you can add a source of healthy fats - nuts, seeds and nut butters are a great choice, or if you’re making savoury oats avocado would work too.

Here’s mine!

What could you do to make your porridge more balanced?

Do you have any other nutrition tips to share?

Let me know in the comments.