An important part of the intuitive eating (or mindful eating) process is learning to eat when hungry. Hunger is one of the first needs we learn to express as humans; feelings of hunger are so ingrained into the primal core of our minds and bodies that as infants, we just know what to do when it happens. When we are babies, we feel hunger and cry to let our mothers know that it is time for us to be fed. With persistent crying, we don’t give up until this essential need is met. Another interesting fact is that we also instinctively know to only eat when hungry and to express this by turning our heads or gesturing with our hands.
Somewhere along the way, through our upbringing, societal cues or the vicious diet and binge cycle we learn to ignore these innate signals. We forget what true hunger feels like and we learn to question our body’s wisdom. We trust outside influences rather than our own and those primal signals become lost. The good news is that with patience and dedication to regaining your bodies trust, you can learn to eat when hungry again just as you did as an infant.
Tips for Learning to Eat When Hungry
- True physical hunger comes on gently. It progresses over time and starts as a gentle whisper and progresses all the way to the other end of the spectrum which is what I call primal hunger.
- The physical sensations of hunger range from a mild gnawing feeling of emptiness all the way to feeling light headed and shaking. Eating when you begin to feel gentle hunger will likely feel best in the long run.
- Being too hungry may lead to overeating or making choices that aren’t in line with your bodies needs at the time.
- Trust that your body will only send you physical hunger signals when you are actually hungry. Experiment with different food combination and watch as your body sends you hunger signals in different ways and at different times.
- Each person’s signals may be a little different and learning the right point to eat for you only comes with trial and error. Make notes about what your signals are; it can be helpful to track them on a scale of -10 to +10. -10 is so hungry you would eat pretty much anything and +10 is you ate 4 servings of Thanksgiving dinner plus dessert.
- Notice your thought patterns around your hunger signals. You may be very surprised at the thoughts that are driving your decisions of what and when to eat. Watch out for emotional hunger.
- Once you recognize your hunger signals, they will become as ingrained into your body as needing to use the restroom – you either do or you don’t.
- In order to catch all of these signals from your body, you are going to have to pay attention. I recommend keeping a food journal where you focus on tracking your hunger signals.
Learning to eat when hungry can be challenging but if you are patient and willing to put your needs at the top of the list, you can do it.
If you struggle with learning to eat when hungry and with your weight, sign up for my getting started guide to dropping the struggle:
