An Experiment in Hunger

Firstly, a Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate.  Wishing everyone good health, happiness and fortune in the upcoming year.  

Now for my weekly blog:

I recently found myself eating more than I am used to.  

Once I became aware of this, I sat down to ask myself a couple questions: 1. What are some possible explanations for this? 2.  Do I want this behaviour to continue?  

Looking at question 1: I had been exercising and lifting more weight, perhaps my body needed more calories.  Maybe my body is stressed and I am eating to compensate.  I could also be eating in the place of feeling my emotions.  Other possibilities included extra Halloween candy and eating out too much.  After this examination, I decided more awareness is in order.

I started a 1 week experiment with my focus on listening to my hunger.  I wanted to know what my hunger is really telling me.  I started by putting off my breakfast time.  I hypothesized that this would allow me to distinguish between true hunger versus eating out of habit.  

My stomach started to feel like it needed to eat around the same time in the morning that I usually eat everyday.  However, when I drank water and waited another 5 mins, that feeling passed.  

Next, we had a rush of people come into the office at once and things got a little stressful.  Even though it was the morning, I found myself craving the chocolate in my drawer….hmmm, another clue.  I drank more water and went back to work.  

By mid morning, my stomach started to make noises and I knew what actual hunger felt like for me.  When I listened to this cue I noticed that I ate slower and was full sooner than usual.  I compared this with my stress eating where I would eat chocolate bars and chips and they are eaten so quickly that I don’t even realise until the entire pack is done.

Other awarenesses I noticed during the week were:

• eating slowly and away from the computer gets me fuller faster
  
• eating slower allows me to enjoy the bite of each food
  
• when I ate food that was good for my body, I was more awake throughout the day and my focus increased
  
• when I ate food that was not suitable for me, I felt sleepy within 30 minutes of eating and could get grumpy.  I also did not stay as full when I ate bad food.  
  

In all of this, I was reminded what a pleasure it is to eat food.  With this experiment, I can now understand what my body needs and how to properly nourish myself.  Give this a try and let your body guide you.