We’ve all been there… it’s been a bit too long since our last meal and we are getting hangry! So how do we avoid this while practicing intuitive eating?
Before we dive into this post we’d like to start off by providing a scenario from one of our clients:
What if I wake up in the morning and I’m not hungry, and because I’m listening to my body I don’t have breakfast. However, I go into work and get so busy that I can’t eat until lunch time. I’m now overly hungry and I tend to over eat. Do I eat if I am not hungry in the morning?
Have you had this question before? Well know that you are not alone. Our lives are busy!
Yes, intuitive eating is about listening to your body, honoring your hunger, and respecting your fullness. Intuitive eating is also about fueling the body properly throughout the day in order to allow ourselves to tune into our bodies later, without the noise of primal hunger.
If you are not familiar with the Hunger & Fullness scale, when we get to a 1 or 2, it becomes very difficult to tune into our hunger cues while we’re eating because we are SO hangry. This may cause us to overeat.
Hunger and Fullness Scale
- Starving! Totally empty. Primal hunger kicks in and you want to eat anything in sight. May feel weak or dizzy.
- Very hungry. May feel irritable, low energy, nauseated, or have difficulty concentrating. Can’t stop thinking about food.
- Pretty hungry. Stomach may be growling. Strong desire to eat and may feel shaky.
- Beginning to feel hungry. Starting to think more about food.
- Neutral. Neither hungry nor full.
- Satisfied. Pleasantly full.
- Moving past satisfied and feeling a little full. May feel slightly uncomfortable.
- Feeling stuffed. May feel uncomfortable.
- Very uncomfortable. May have a stomach ache. May feel sleepy.
- So full you feel sick. Stomach hurts. Don’t even want to think about food.
Just know that if you do get overly hungry and end up overeating- that is OKAY! You don’t need to feel guilt or shame. Intuitive eating is a learning process and you cannot fail.
Now, when we eat when we’re not hungry, it may not be as fulfilling, it may not taste as good, it may not be something we actually enjoy- but sometimes we just need to fuel our body. This is respecting your body and understanding that in this situation, “I’m not going to be able to eat for a very long time, so having a snack right now will help me later on.” Having that snack when you’re not hungry is okay – you can do that!
In a perfect world we would be able to stop what we’re doing and eat when we’re hungry- but that’s not reality. Meetings, classes, social engagements, appointments may require us to think about our future hunger.
If you enjoyed this post, I know you’ll love our blog titled Tips for Perfectionist Thinking
Want to learn more about intuitive eating?
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