Tapping into your Hunger and Fullness Cues
Last week we looked into the realities of dieting and the damage it can cause to our metabolism and the way we eat. In order to prevent that primal drive to overeat, it’s important to keep the body fed with enough energy and carbohydrates. If you are used to dieting, you are probably accustomed to following food rules that manage your eating and you may feel like you can’t trust yourself around food left to your own devices. However, the reality is that we already have the skills to manage eating, we just need to tap in to them. One of these skills are your hunger and fullness cues.
From the day we are born we are given the skill of intuitive eating. Babies cry to be fed, they feed, and then turn away when they are full. Hunger and fullness are body cues that kicks in when your body is in need of energy and when to stop eating. Food and energy are essential for survival and when we are not eating enough, it sets off a biological fuse that increases your drive to eat, both physically and mentally. The intensity of the biological drive to eat will more often than not override your sense of ‘willpower’. Your brain is able to sense how much energy you are needing at all times and regulates your appetite accordingly. Other common body cues coordinated by the brain include:
- A dry mouth when you need to drink water
- The urge to empty your bladder when you need to urinate
Despite these biological systems put in place, it’s common in today’s society for people to follow rules around eating rather than listening to their hunger. “Do I deserve to eat; I haven’t worked out as yet? How can I still be hungry if I just ate? Is it fat-free? Is it ‘clean’? The problem with constantly denying your hunger state can lead to periods of overeating.
Hunger isn’t trying to trick you; as mentioned before it’s a signal from your brain letting you know more energy is needed. If you had the urge to empty your bladder, you wouldn’t wait another hour just because you had urinated an hour ago, right? The same concept applies to hunger.
Various factors including hormonal changes, physical activity, how much you ate, sleep, stress level, etc. can impact your level of hunger. In general, we should aim to eat a meal or snack every 3–4 hours. On days where you are more active, or if you had a very light last meal, you may find yourself eating after 2 hours. If you ate a large and/ or rich meal you may eat after 5 hours.
If this feels unfamiliar to you, it’s possibly due to years of dieting and following rules of when and how to eat rather than listening to your body. It’s common for different diets to recommend going for a walk or drinking a glass of water when hungry. Over time, this can dull your signs of hunger. The good news is that you can get back in touch with these cues.
The Hunger & Fullness Scale
This scale is a helpful tool to help you figure out how you’re feeling. It’s helpful to do this not just before you eat but throughout the day when possible. Ideally, you want to start eating between a 3 and a 4 as your blood sugars aren’t too low. If you wait until you’re at a 1 or 2, you may find yourself eating everything on sight due to that primal urge of hunger. Of course, we are all human and it happens if we’ve been on the road for the day or got side tracked at work and now realising how hungry you are. When you find yourself in this situation of primal hunger, aim to slow down and practice mindfulness with your meal.
In terms of feeling your fullness, a 7 is a great place to stop eating most of the time. This should be a satisfactory feeling of fullness without feeling stuffed. Again, this may not apply all the time and that’s okay. Some days you may eat a larger meal than usual because you know you won’t have the opportunity to eat for a while and you may be at an 8.
Try doing this for a week and see what patterns emerge. Often, clients will mention that when they waited until a 2 to eat, they experienced eating until they were uncomfortably full. By getting in the habit of checking in with themselves throughout the day they felt more prepared of when to eat and over time, how much food was good for them without the need to overeat.
Information this week by: Kirstyn Church, an Associate Nutritionist with Nutrition Consulting Services. Tru Valu Supermarket is one of the leading grocery chains in Trinidad and Tobago with five stores and the best customers. Have a question? Email us truvalusupermarkets@gmail.com.
