One of our lovely community members submitted a question—shoutout to you, our community members, who ask such wonderful questions, and are so supportive and engaging. This particular question was wondering about hunger cues in the morning.
In the question, this individual mentioned not being hungry for a few hours in the morning after waking up and starting their day, and wondered if we had any suggestions.
I thought this was such a great question to dive into for a blog post!
First, it’s important to share that there are no food rules you have to follow along your intuitive eating journey. That being said, we do know that the human body likes to be consistently fed. This helps keep our blood sugar level stable, prevent hanger—or whatever you have identified your personal hunger cues to be, and provide consistent energy.
However, this is not a rule to follow! Rather, a reiteration of what research has shown to be true about how the human body functions.
So, if you notice that your body is not naturally hungry until 9 AM, it is completely fine to eat at that point in the morning. When you find yourself eating for the first time in the morning, whatever time that may be, ask yourself:
“Am I really hungry?”
“Am I famished?”
“Am I pushing it so late in the morning that I feel out of control when I do begin to eat?”
If you answered, “no,” great!
Now, consider a scenario where you look at your schedule for the morning and you have a meeting at 10 AM. You may decide to wait to eat breakfast until after your meeting. You found yourself with the intention of eating at 9 AM but by the time you were able to get to food it was too late. By saying, “too late,” I mean, do you find yourself urgently eating? Are you shoving food in your mouth? Are you eating to a point past comfortable fullness?
When discussing the idea of there being no food rules in intuitive eating, you do not have to force yourself to sit down and eat a balanced, five-course breakfast at 6, 7, or 8 AM. But, think about how your first snack or meal of the day affects how the rest of your day unfolds.
The goal of intuitive eating is to feel mentally, physically, and emotionally pleasant. We also know that an act of self-care is fueling our body consistently, not because you have to “be good.” A focus of trying to “be good” in regard to eating would be a diet culture standard.
Consider the intention behind the choices you make regarding food and our body. With regard to breakfast, if you have meetings through the entirety of the morning time, sometimes that act of self-care we can partake in is eating something, even if it’s a tiny bit of something, to be able to go through the morning pleasantly.
When it comes to hunger and fullness, yes, listen to your body. Eat at 9 or 10 AM if that is when you are hungry but be able to recognize how that affects your eating experiences through the rest of the day. Be able to stop and mindfully check-in on how you are feeling.
Remember, diet culture is a compilation of external rules, such as…
“How many calories?”
“How many macros?”
“What can I eat?”
“What can’t I eat?”
These are all external thoughts. Once we shift our recognition to acknowledge that these are indeed external thoughts, we can begin to shift back towards trusting our body. We begin trusting our body to give us cues as to when we are hungry and to guide us to food that will offer us satisfaction. Also, reflect on factors such as the food available to you in the moment that will offer nourishment.
It ALL comes back around to our intentions. If eating at 9 or 10 AM is a choice made with the intention of honoring your body because it feels most physically pleasant to eat at that time, then there is nothing wrong with that.
Remember, this is your intuitive eating journey. There are no “right” or “wrong” choices in intuitive eating. Rather, each experience eating is an opportunity to understand ourselves and our body better, and respect that newfound connection.
If this blog post resonated with you, listen to our Facebook video answering this question to hear more! You can listen to our Find Food Freedom Facebook video here!
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