When was the last time you felt hungry? Maybe it was just a few hours ago… but for some, this is a much more complicated question. If you have spent years dieting or restricting your eating, there is a good chance you’ve become quite disconnected from your body’s cues. Maybe your body doesn’t let you know it’s hungry unless it’s urgently, overwhelmingly hungry or ravenous.
Everyone experiences hunger in a different way. An essential part of becoming an intuitive eater is learning how your own body alerts you to hunger. A hunger cue is any message from our body telling us we are in need of energy, or food. Early signs of hunger often include a growling stomach, a slight stomach gnawing, the stomach starting to feel empty and even a gnawing of the throat. All of these are cues from our body that it’s time to start thinking about food.
When we do not respond to these cues within the next hour or so, it will most likely result in a drop in our blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Glucose is our body’s main source of energy, which comes from the food we eat. Our blood then carries the glucose to our cells throughout our body to use for energy. There are varying levels of hypoglycemia, but it should be taken as a sign it is time to eat something.
When our blood sugar is dropping, our hunger cues will present as lack of concentration, headache, low energy, light-headedness and dizziness, stomach pain, nausea and irritability and crankiness. You may have heard the term “hangry.” This is a term my family often describes me as when I skip my afternoon snack :)
There are more extreme signs of hypoglycemia as well, but these mostly occur in folks with impaired metabolic hormone regulation, as in diabetes. These signs can include sweating, chills, clamminess, fast heartbeat, confusion, pale complexion, tingling lips, tongue or cheeks, impaired vision and even seizures.
Lastly, I want to mention that all of our senses can influence our hunger, including eyes, nose, mouth/tongue, touch and sound. Our bodies crave variety in taste, texture and flavors. Mouth hunger or taste hunger is particularly important, as it is the sensory desire to taste and experience food. This type of hunger can be present with or without biological hunger. By eating satisfying foods, we can fulfill taste hunger.
You might find yourself constantly thinking about food most of the day. This is extremely common and is often a sign that you are not eating enough. This could mean you are not eating enough in general or at a particular meal.
When honoring your hunger, choose foods and meals that are adequate in energy to sustain your body. In general, it is best not to go longer than four to five hours without eating. However, some people feel hunger signals after two to three hours of eating, which is also normal.
A general eating pattern that works is to have at least three meals and two to three snacks per day. This is only a suggestion, not a specific plan to follow. Finding an eating pattern that works for your body and your schedule is important.
To help you start learning more about hunger in your own body. Explore these questions below.
Do you currently feel hunger sensations in your body? If so, where do you feel them? If you currently do not feel hunger sensations in your body, can you remember the last time you did?
How does hunger affect your mood?
Is your hunger different on weekdays vs. weekends?
Is there a particular time of day when your hunger is more intense?
Ask yourself how your hunger feels overall - does it feel pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? If it feels unpleasant, what can you do differently?
I want to end this post by stating this - hunger cues are the body's biological and normal response to inform us it’s time to eat. It is a body signal that should be welcomed, not ignored or pushed away for “just a few more hours.” It may take time for your body to start sending you these signals again, but it is absolutely possible. There are great tools to help with this including the satiety scale, which I will talk about in my next post - stay tuned!
