Mindful eating- step two!

I've previously blogged about the general concept of mindful eating along with one way to practice eating more in the moment. The next step you can take involves learning the difference between eating due to hunger versus other influences.

So so so many clients struggle with eating when they are not hungry which can trigger feelings of guilt and shame. Understanding whether you are eating due to hunger or other reasons begins with being mindful before taking the first bite.

Before you take a bite of food, take a minute to listen to your body. Ask yourself- "am I truly hungry?" The task at hand is not to resist the urge to eat or be a "good person" for not eating- but to simply listen or check in with your body. 

It is important that you do this in a non-judgemental way. If you are scared of how you might feel if you are not hungry but want to eat anyways, you may eat out of rebellion or anger. Allowing yourself the option to eat anyways and congratulate yourself on taking the time to listen to your body's hunger and fullness levels will help you avoid feeling guilty.

Step one would be to step away from the food. Go to a quiet place free from the smells and influence of food. This could be in  your car before heading into the house or in the bathroom before eating dinner. You can close your eyes or focus on an object while evaluating your physical signs of hunger. 

Some people find it useful to write down a list of physical signs of hunger- tummy rumbling, gnawing feeling, etc. Refer to that list while you are trying to judge if you are hungry. 

Step two: Once you've determined if you are actually hungry- try to figure out how hungry you are. A lot? a little? Hunger is not all or nothing- there is a scale or progression that will help determine how much food you need. You can use a scale from 1-5 or 1-10 to help you evaluate it. 



Step three: once you know how hungry you really are- decide how much food you need to eat to fill the gap BEFORE starting to eat. You can always decide to eat more or less once you are eating, but letting your hunger decide how much you need versus the food can help you be more mindful. 

If you feel confident in listening to your hunger signals and determining how hungry you are- there is a fourth step. Once you have eaten about half the plate of food- take a mini break. Reconnect with your body to reevaluate your hunger levels. Check in to see how much more you need to eat to feel satisfied. 

Practicing listening to your hunger cues and evaluating your level of hunger or fullness is a big concept to master. It is not that difficult with practice and is INVALUABLE for weight management.

Tackling the triggers that influence you to eat when not actually hungry is another exercise to increase mindfulness. This one is a bit more difficult to do on your own and can stir up some emotions. Triggers can be in your environment (donuts in the breakroom), feelings (like stress or sadness) even old habits (snacking while watching tv). But that's for another post!

Hungry for the truth?

Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. These guidelines may be easy to understand but are definitely harder to follow. The idea of "eating mindfully" is a new trend in the weight management world. The concept draws on our innate ability to listen to our body's signals of hunger and fullness. However, many of us have stopped listening to these signals a long time ago and have a hard time unscrambling the messages.

One step towards clearly hearing and understanding these signals is to first recognize what they are in their physical form. What exactly do I physically feel when I am truly hungry? Some examples are feeling irritable, an emptiness in your stomach, a gnawing feeling, grumbling in your stomach, headache, shakiness and inability to concentrate.

When we are stimulated into feeling hungry by an outside stimulus, such as the smell of dinner cooking, or seeing donuts in the break room or watching someone else eat, we can have the illusion we are hungry. It may be more a stimulation of our appetite than a true hunger. Removing yourself from the situation for a moment to evaluate your physical symptoms of hunger can help you to determine if the motivation to eat is based on our eyes or your stomach. Some useful tips are to determine your level of true hunger before encountering the stimulus:
-sitting in the car before walking into the house for supper
-take a moment to walk out of the kitchen to determine how hungry you are (ex. in the bathroom) and thus honestly determining how big you portions should be for the meal.
-being honest with yourself regarding the last time you ate (was it only an hour ago?)

If you are still not sure if you are truly hungry, wait 20 minutes before eating. If the symptoms do not go away and get worse, you body is likely asking to be fed.

Knowing the signs of fullness is also important. How do you know when you are full? Again, observing yourself and recording your personal physical signs can be quite eye opening. Feeling full and satisfied after a meal is not the same as feeling bloated or stuffed and ideally, by listening to fullness signals, those signs of overeating will be avoided.
If you are not sure if you are full with the quantities you have eaten, give yourself time to digest. It is likely that in 20 minutes you will feel satisfied. REMEMBER, if you are hungry later, you have the right to eat.
Take the time to measure your level of fullness halfway through the meal.

Only by practicing listening to your body do the messages of hunger and fullness become decoded. It takes practice but in the end, your body is the best determinant of how much food you need!

NEW MONTREAL WEIGHT MANAGEMENT GROUP