A post earlier in the week dealt with how to conquer certain cravings. If you haven’t yet checked it out, you might want to do so now. If you are all caught up, let’s elaborate a little more on how to hone in on hunger. How can you tell if your belly is grumbling for food or water? Or better yet, what if it’s just a craving? I acknowledge that the “your BEST self” series discusses principles of natural eating, but a reader left a comment about how she hones in on hunger and I felt it was an excellent point to address!
Before I developed a healthy relationship with food, I don’t think I knew what being hungry was. I ate because it was “time” and not necessarily because I was hungry. So how did I finally normalize my eating pattern? Let’s reiterate some previously mentioned points:
- I stopped eating by the clock. As soon as I decided that I wanted to give intuitive eating a try, I had to throw time out the window. If it got to be “lunch time” and I just wasn’t hungry, I had to wait. I had to trust in myself that hunger WILL come. When I did start to feel those twangs of hunger, I noticed it was much easier to decide what kind of foods I wanted. My body was hungry for sustenance and 95% of the time, I ate healthy!
- I started to let myself FEEL hunger. What does hunger feel like? We are all familiar with those obnoxious grumblings, but how often do we let ourselves get to that little point of discomfort? Before every meal or snack, tune in to your body. Is that belly empty? It’ll start talking to you if it is!! Believe me!
- I began leaving food on my plate. Once I began eating when I was actually hungry and not because it was “time,” I also started to feel when my body reached the point of satisfaction. I began eating slower because I was enjoying my food and noticed that I didn’t need to eat EVERYTHING in sight. I became comfortable with leaving a little food here and there because I KNEW that when I was hungry again, I could eat at any time. Such a powerful feeling.
So what is the best way to hone in on hunger? How do you know if you are REALLY hungry? The next time you think you’re hungry and you have already checked your hydration status, ask yourself; what sounds good to eat? If literally anything sounds good (and I mean carrot sticks, celery, an apple) then you can rest assured that you are hungry. On the flip side, if the only thing that sounds good is a brownie sundae, maybe you are just having a craving.
Looks pretty tasty though huh?
What is your method for honing in on hunger?
I gave up dieting and began tuning into my body several years ago. I used to be afraid of my hunger, but now I have learned to embrace it. I have learned to eat when I am hungry and stop when I am satisfied. No more eating by the clock for me. Recently I am working to limit the between meal snacking so I am hungry at more regular intervals. The awareness that I have developed doing yoga has really helped.
Just found your blog via Faith, Fitness, Fun and love this post. I recently wrote a post about trying to stop eating by the clock and I found it incredibly difficult! I’m still working on eating more intuitively and following my hunger cues.
Stopping in for a visit after you stopped by Single Mom in the South last week for Cameron’s guest post on marriage. You’ve got lots of great information here…I’ll definitely be back. I’m working on really eating ONLY when I’m hungry and drinking lots of water. I have to work on it with my kids, though. As preschoolers, they wanted to snack all day, so I started instituting snacks at 10 and 3. Now they are on me like clockwork and I want to start teaching them to eat if they are hungry and not just because it’s snack time.
I think the tip to stop eating by the clock is so important. I am fortunate enough to be in a job where I can break for lunch when I want. Sometimes that’s at 11 and sometimes that’s at 2. I go to lunch when I get hungry. Same with dinner. I don’t think we ate until 8:30 last night and that’s simply because we both ran last night and it takes a good 1 1/2-2 hours for my appetite to rev up after a run. Great post!!!
I have thrown out the clock too! It has helped me listen to my body and to eat when I’m really hungry. Thanks for sharing more good advice…you are a wellspring!
I love these. The not paying attention to the clock is so important, you realize how your body will adjust and you’ll be able to listen to it better when you aren’t eating at the same time.
I’ve always heard that if a steak sounded good, then you’re hungry.
thats eems to be my biggest fail: going by the clock. I really need to not follow it so much!!
oh my goodness, such a great post. When I finally quit dieting and actually just living and eating intuitively my weight poured off. Plus I feel healthier and better than I ever did losing weight on a diet. I’m so glad you shared this.
I love feeling hungry. Is that weird? For years, I never felt hungry, even if I didn’t eat all day. I think my body was just whacked from my poor eating habits. Now, I feel hungry like clockwork, and since I’ve been nursing my son, I’m always hungry!
This was a great post because often I’m ‘scared’ to let myself feel hungry! I need to be able to identify it to see if I’m REALLY hungry or just looking at a blog post that makes me think I’m hungry =P
I like that approach to decide if I’m hungry or not too. Usually I am though because after time I have finally learned to recognize hunger and only really crave food at those times. Unless of course there is a gorgeous baked good in front of me. LOL
Oh! I wanted to let you know I posted what I’m planning for the blog in September. I think you would be really interested in it. And I’m working on your guest post.
http://www.faithfitnessfun.com/?page_id=3454
I actually use that method to gauge my hunger. It’s very helpful.