How to Understand Hunger and Use the Hunger Scale with Mindful Eating

What comes to your mind when you think of hunger?

Something physical? A negative thought like, “I should not be hungry.”

This is not medical advice, AND I am not an eating disorder specialist nor am I a doctor.

If you are listening to this episode and find yourself triggered, and need help, or are experiencing ED behaviour, please contact your licensed healthcare professional.

Click this right here, if you are struggling with an eating disorder and need resources.

A diet does not help you use the hunger scale.

That’s because a diet is trying to have you disassociate with your hunger. Body cues, like hunger, and fullness are part of survival.

They are also part of the practice of mindful and intuitive eating

We all have them, these cues.

Yet we consciously, or unconsciously, ignore these cues for a variety of reasons:

• We’re too busy to eat

• We’re too stressed to eat

• We drank too much coffee

• We are trying to lose weight

We may lose the ability to honor these cues along the way.

In menopause, and post menopause, the decline in sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone can cause an imbalance in the body. Homeostasis is what the body constantly tries to maintain. (1)

Homeostasis = balance.

Some of the challenge to homeostasis is a decrease in insulin sensitivity as we age. We also have a change in leptin secretion.

Many women in perimenopause and menopause say they feel increased hunger. Some do feel physical hunger more often than another!

This is the specialness of being different and human.

And the specialness of menopause.

This episode will help you:

• Understand Hunger.

• Use the Hunger Scale with Mindful Eating.

• Help you identify your own hunger.

• Introduce the Hunger Scale.

Hunger and fullness cues are integral to the practice of Mindful and Intuitive eating.

Understand Hunger: Emotional or Physical?

In this episode, we chat about NOTICING. Do you notice when your stomach growls? Do you notice when your stomach feels full?

Mindful Eating is internally directed eating. It is directed by what is happening inside you. Your physical sensations and your emotions as well.

In this episode, I created a place to pause the audio, and ask yourself, “What do you feel?” when it comes to your level of physical hunger.

Understanding Hunger: Tuning in to Your Body Cues

Everyone feels hunger differently. Diets teach you to ignore hunger. This can lead to overeating.

What do you feel when you are hungry?

• Empty stomach?

• Gurgling?

• Uncomfortable?

• Stomachache?

• Jittery?

• Hangry?

Where do you feel hunger? In the stomach, throat or chest? Does a negative thought enter your head when you feel hungry?

“You should not be hungry!”

Yet, hunger and fullness cues are integral to SURVIVAL. We all have these cues. Yet some women ignore them with diets.

My Mindful Eating content and courses are informed by my training in the MB-EAT Program (Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training).

You will get a more detailed fillable sheet when you join me in The Cravings Consultation or The Fullness Method.

Understanding Hunger: The Hunger Scale

Get to know your subtle cues of hunger with this scale. They can range between 1-10, with so many phases of hunger in between.

Using this scale helps YOU become the expert in your own hunger, not a diet. Use the scale to notice your hunger and match the levels to your cravings, desire to eat, and physical sensations.

This is a time for curiosity, not judgement of the foods you WANT to eat.

Noticing is the first step to changing habits or behaviour. Noticing is the first step in deciding you’re fine the way you are, too!