Learning to Become an Intuitive Eater - Hunger and Fullness Part 1

If I had to narrow down the definition of intuitive eating it would come down to learning to recognize your body's hunger and fullness cues. Doesn't that sound simple and easy? You may think so, but for anyone who has spent time dieting and following food rules, learning these cues can be a bit challenging. For example...

You've learned to calculate points, and since the goal is to stay under a certain point value, you choose foods that are filling, but low calories/points. You eat what you're allowed, often without checking in to see if you're hungry or full.
You've been led to believe that being a "little bit" hungry is good, and so have learned to ignore your body's signals, or trick it into feeling full with water, coffee or diet beverages
You eat according to the clock! Break at 10 and 3, lunch at noon. Time to eat right?
You feel guilty wasting food, or have been brought up to feel like you need to finish your plate before dessert.
See what I mean? It's not as straightforward as it should be! So first let's talk about HUNGER.

Physical Hunger

Most people have experienced the extremes of physical hunger, but many don't recognize the early signs of hunger, or feel confident differentiating between physical and emotional hunger. Physical hunger is obvious when our belly feels empty and starts to growl. Hunger can also be experienced as fatigue, thinking about food or headaches if left for too long. Physical hunger is also slow to build, but consistently gets worse over time. Eventually, it becomes uncomfortable to ignore physical hunger.

Are you waiting for your stomach to growl? That might mean you’re waiting too long and may find it hard to eat mindfully and intuitively. Try paying attention to these more subtle cues as signs that you might be getting hungry:

Feeling tired
Wanting coffee or tea as a “pick me up”
Noticing that others around you are eating
Wondering if it’s time to eat
Increased interest in food, or thinking about food in general

Emotional hunger & Taste Hunger

Unlike physical hunger, emotional hunger comes on quickly and is often for something specific. It may also be tied to emotions, or from a lack of satisfaction. Taste hunger is when we’re motivated to want something because it looks or smells good. Taste hunger is a valid type of hunger and can be a great source of pleasure and satisfaction. If you’re trying to dig in deeper to how you exerperience hunger, try asking yourself the following:

Am I experiencing a strong emotion such as sadness, anger or even joy?
Am I eating to celebrate or be social?
Do I want something because it smells or looks good?
Will having this add to, or take away from my satisfaction?

As part of learning to be an intuitive eater, we explore these different hunger cues and how you can learn to respond to them in a way that is both intuitive and nourishing.

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