Eat When You're Hungry - Easy Right?

Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full. Easy Right? It may sound easy but anyone who has ever struggled with food related addictions, behaviours, or obesity knows that it isn't. 

Most of us have been fortunate enough not to experience true hunger and more than that, we were taught as children to polish off everything on our plates. The guilt of leaving any food behind was a real thing growing up and even as an adult with my own children. I couldn't see food left on their plates without thinking it was such a waste and I'd end up eating it myself. Was I still hungry? Of course not but that didn't stop me.

Recently Nancy and I started doing some reading on the difference between feeling hungry and feeling full. Let's dig into this a bit and see what rings true for you. 

Recognizing Hunger. There are obvious signs of hunger - you feel week and dizzy. You might have low energy, get cranky - getting hangry is a real thing. Feeling your stomach actually grumble and growl. 

Hunger False Alarms - it happens. There are all sorts of things that trigger what we feel is hunger...but it isn't true hunger. 

Teeth Hunger for example is based on the action of chewing to relieve stress and anxiety. 

Mouth Hunger happens when your brain tricks you into believing you're hungry by introducing thoughts and images of delicious, mouth watering food. So much so that your mouth actually starts to water. 

Speaking of mouth watering...are you thirsty? That is another misconception that often leads us to eat when we really aren't hungry, but actually thirsty. Drinking water through the day is important for so many reasons. It is good for your circulation, helps to flush bacteria out of your system, its good for digestion and yes it can combat false hunger. When you think you might be hungry or feel like snacking reach for a glass of water first. 

Our emotions can play a huge part on how we manage food and hunger. Many of us use food as a way of stuffing down those emotions, hiding them away instead of dealing with them. Anger and stress can bring on an automatic reaction to reach for snacks or junk food almost as a way to retaliate against those feelings. But we only hurt ourselves more in the end. 

Did you know that it takes approximately 20 minutes for your brain to receive the signal that you are full? Think about that. 20 minutes. When you sit down to eat a meal how often would you say you take your time, really savour your food in comparison to the number of times you are done in 10mins and thinking about seconds? This isn't a new discussion. Along with our parents telling us to eat everything on our plates they also used to tell us "Chew your food!". As a society we are busy, or we think we are. We always feel rushed and this includes meal times. 

We are programmed to eat meals at certain times of day. We have breakfast in the morning, lunch in the afternoon and dinner in the evening. But are you actually hungry? I've recently started Intermittent Fasting. I eat only between the hours of 12pm and 8pm. I had a routine every morning, and I am a creature of habit. I used to wake up at 530am, do my workout, pack my lunch, have my breakfast and get ready for work. It all seemed quite normal and there was nothing wrong with that routine. When I thought about fasting I didn't think I would be able to disrupt that routine, I thought I would be starving by 9am if I didn't have my breakfast. Truth be told I realized I'm not hungry in the morning. I don't feel hunger. I am not in any way an expert in intermittent fasting. There is so much information out there and it can definitely be overwhelming when you start reading about it. I can only tell you what I have tried and how I feel. So far, I feel good, I've lost about 6lbs in the 2 weeks that I have been Intermittent fasting. Now...I am sure this is in part because like anything new, this is a bit of a shock to the system, a jumpstart so to speak. I am also eating less calories in the day because I am not eating breakfast. I am still working out daily so I am sure my calorie deficit is higher than it was before. 

So friends, listen to your body, don't eat just because it's "time" to eat. Ask yourself "Am I hungry?"