The Dos and Don'ts of Learning Your Hunger Signals

If you are an overeater you know that hunger signals are very hard to read. Becoming a healthier you who is in control of your eating habits takes time and practice. Many of us are emotional eaters and have 'programmed' ourselves not to pay attention to real hunger signals. But there is hope; you can learn the Dos and Don'ts of your hunger signals and be well on your way to controlling your habits for a healthier you.

Don't become famished

The danger in letting yourself become famished (or very hungry) is that you will overeat. If you come home from a long day at work starving, chances are you aren't going to wait for a healthy, well-balanced meal to be whipped up; you are going to reach for chips, candy, and anything that is quick. You are probably not thinking what you are eating or how much. Usually this becomes a binge session and you don't feel good emotionally or physically afterwards.

Instead of letting yourself get to this dangerous range of hunger, keep small snacks (healthy ones!) on you at work. This will help curb your hunger to a reasonable level so you can put together a quick, yet decent, meal for dinner.

Don't skip meals

Skipping meals is just about the worst thing you can do. If you are prone to skip breakfast, than your metabolism never gets a proper start on your day. If you skip lunch, you are likely starved by the time you get to dinner. Although this follows a similar pattern as the last Don't, it is a little different in what it does to your mental state. Skipping meals makes you think that you can eat whatever you want for the other meals. The problem with this is that it simply isn't true. You still have to pay attention to your hunger signals and only eat till you are satisfied, not full. Most people will have in their head that they didn't eat anything all day so they can splurge on their next meal and go for dessert. If they track their calories and fat intake they will likely find that this splurge will cost them more than their daily calorie allotment.

Try not to skip meals. Even if you only eat something light, like fruit, for breakfast or lunch, it can drastically change your concept of how much food you should eat for later meals. Again, make sure you aren't getting to a famished state at any point of the day that will lead to overeating when you have the time.

Do know how 'satisfied' feels

So how do you know when you are 'satisfied'? To be satisfied doesn't mean you are really hungry, and it doesn't mean you are full either. All it means is that your hunger has subsided for the time being. You should try to stay in the range of a little hungry to hungry all day. You should never let yourself feel stuffed or bloated, and you should feel starved. Eat your while sitting down without distractions (TV, computer, etc), and eat slowly. Pay attention to taste, texture, and don't spoon too much in at once. The slower you eat the more likely you can recognize when you are satisfied. Distractions can also distract our stomach to brain communication and cause us to forget how much we've eaten or eaten at all. Try an experiment. For one meal, eat it while watching TV or surfing the web. After you are done, do you feel like you've eaten a solid meal? Now try the same thing for another meal, with the TV and computer off; sit down at a dinner table and be sure there is nothing like a magazine to distract your vision. Eat this meal slowly. Which meal did you feel more satisfied with? Chances are the later one was more satisfying, while the other one you hardly remember eating at all.

Do know how to evaluate your hunger

Because it takes a little while for your stomach to communicate to your brain that you are hungry, you should allow it some time. When you are sitting down to eat a meal, you should stop at two different points. After your plate is almost half cleared, you should set your utensil aside and evaluate whether you need more. Sometimes the flavor of a food will motivate us to continue to eat even when we are satisfied. Do you need more? Are you still hungry or do you just want to clear the plate to clear it? Decide how satisfied you are and continue to eat if you are still hungry. Do this again when you have a quarter left. It might seem silly to put away a small amount of food, but if you aren't hungry anymore, why not save it for later? Evaluating your hunger is the best way to keep healthy, because your body inherently knows when it has had enough. Years of overeating can make us out of touch with these hunger signals, but with time and practice you can learn to know your hunger signals and listen to them for better health.