Monitor Your Hunger + a FREE snack list!

Sometimes I find myself so hungry that all logic goes out the window... I'm sure you've been there. You have a house full of fresh groceries and maybe even have some meals prepped food for the week, but you're driving home and every restaurant or fast food drive thru is calling your name. We blame ourselves for "lacking self control" but it's likely not self control that's the problem.

Weight Loss Tip #21 - Monitor Your Hunger

I talk to my clients a lot about hunger. If you can avoid extreme shifts in hunger, you will feel more in control and have more power over your food choices, portion sizes and energy level.

Let's look at hunger on a scale of 1-10:

We've all been at a 1 on this scale before... Maybe work gets so busy you forget to eat lunch or your running errands all day and realize is 2:00PM and you haven't eaten a thing. ​ When we get to this point on the hunger scale our bodies enter a fight or flight mode. This is often where we feel we lack self control to make the right food choices. The quickest energy source for your body is carbs, so this is typically what will sound the best in the moment. This is when we end up in the drive thru and, not only eating food that we didn't plan for, but we typically eat it WAY too fast (more on this next week).

This is how we can find ourselves moving from a 1 on this scale to a 10 in 10 minutes or less.

Our goal with hunger is to avoid the extremes. My suggestion is to try to stick between 3 and 6 on the scale above.

If you take our scenario above - let's say I ate a light lunch at 1:00PM that didn't really leave me feeling fully satisfied. At 3:30 I start feeling like a 3 or 4 on the hunger scale, but I know dinner isn't until 7:00 and I think "I'll just push through and wait until dinner". At 5:30 when I head out the door from work, my hunger may already be at a 2 - I'm quite hungry and starting to get a little "hangry". This is where temptation often strikes. We start thinking "I can't wait until 7 to eat... I still have to thaw the chicken and start cooking. Not to mention helping the kids with homework, finish the laundry, go for a walk, etc". This is often the time we decide we'll grab take out for dinner and just try again tomorrow.

Sound familiar? So, how do we get out of this cycle? ​ I suggest referring back to my previous blog post about eating more satisfying meals to ensure lunch is filling enough to hold you over. If you're still struggling, check in on this hunger scale more often. If you notice yourself getting hungry (true hunger not head hunger - check for stomach growling, slow steady increase in hunger overtime instead of cravings) mid afternoon and you know dinner is not for a few more hours - have a small snack! ​Click here for a FREE SNACK LIST​

My challenge to you this week is to start checking in on your hunger throughout the day. ​ What number are you at when you first wake up? What about 2 hours after breakfast? Right before lunch? On your way home from work? After dinner or right before bed?

Do your best to stay between 3 and 6. Recognize when you are feeling too hungry or too full. Ignoring hunger cues can lead to a "dulling" of these signals which can make it very hard to listen to your body in the future. ​

I'm here for you and I believe in you! See you next week.