Holiday Hunger—We’ve Got You Covered
Bite-Size Reads for Your Health and Your Waistline
With the holidays upon us, there is no way that food is NOT a main focus. After long days of work and time away from family, a good meal with the ones you love sounds like the cherry on top of this season, no matter what it looks like (#2020). But we also know once that great family time passes and our bellies are full, often relentless guilt and shame of what we just ate set in. Now, the focus turns to lose 10 pounds before the new year. Or maybe we say screw it and deal with it in January. Either way, we find ourselves in a cycle that’s hard to navigate through. This gets easier if we can pay attention to our true hunger. I KNOW this isn’t simple either but you’re in luck! Keep reading to learn how to identify hunger and how to navigate those moments you are craving all the craves and don’t know how to stop!
Are you the kind of person who eats the same things at the same times every day, and never has to think about it more than that? Cool. I’m not. I’m in the camp with many others who often overthink this basic necessity of survival. Despite what the media or outside sources tell you, it is important to always listen to what your body is telling you. If you happen to feel an emptiness in your stomach, maybe even a dull pain, a desire for food, a mood/focus/energy shift, you are most likely experiencing hunger. Everyone experiences something different, but here is an exercise that can help all of us become more familiar with what works for us on an individual level.
I always suggest to my clients to keep track of their hunger ratings in a journal. This exercise is a powerful tool in developing our self-awareness. Here’s how it works:
The first step is to write down a scale between 0–10 and assign a feeling/description to each number. For example, 0 would be so unbelievably starving that you would eat the wood table itself, along with the food on it. While 10 would be so full, you have to unbutton your pants and breathe deeply. In the middle, 5 would be a nice, happy medium where you feel satisfied and content. Make sure to put words to each number progressing from 0 to 5 and then 5 to 10. Remember to do this before you start tracking! It allows us to think less in the moment. We just look at the list and pick a number and it creates consistency from day to day of what each number means.
To put it into action, each time you eat, every day, write down your hunger rating before and after, along with what you ate. After implementing this practice, you will be able to see the trends in what you eat, how much you eat, and how each meal made you feel. However, if this feels like a daunting task right now and you are just beginning your wellness journey, feel free to just get the food logging aspect down and add this in later!
It’s super important to remember that all of this, tracking food and hunger ratings, has nothing to do with judgment. Rather, it’s about collecting the data. When we start to notice our tendencies, we can devise solutions to challenges. Look at which meals gave you the best energy. What rating did you rate yourself before and after? What did you eat at that time? You may notice some meals fill you up for longer, offer you better energy or some may even make you feel sick afterward. This allows you to create a list of go-tos and plan strategically. Perhaps you have a particularly packed day. Choose the meals that last you a long time, give you energy and keep you feeling satisfied. Conversely, you may notice a particular time of day where you eat even though you’re not really hungry. This is an indication to plan another activity at that time to give you what you’re truly looking for; to fill the void that’s not actually hunger. Perhaps a walk or a phone call with a friend would do the trick.
But what about cravings? Cravings are a little different than hunger. If you’re totally unsure of what you’re craving and can only think of one thing, this typically means it isn’t “true” hunger. If broccoli even sounds good, you’re hungry. So check-in with your thoughts and see what you are actually wanting. When in doubt, drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes. Sometimes, we confuse the feeling of thirst for hunger, and we end up eating even if not really that hungry.
Another common challenge is emotional eating. Again, look at the craving, look at the hunger rating and check-in with your emotions. Often emotions trigger us to indulge in less healthy foods. If we can identify the emotion, we can choose an activity that will actually address it. Sorry, eating for emotions often covers/buries the emotion instead of helping us handle it productively, and it pops back up again.
Overall, a good rule of thumb is to remember that meals should last you roughly 4-ish hours while snacks can last about 1–2 hours. Ideally we’re eating when our hunger is about a 2 or 3 and eating until we feel like a 5 or 6. Most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself, especially in this holiday season and keep these simple tips and tricks in your back pocket. Remember, each day, each meal, is a learning experience as you grow into a happier, healthier and more self-aware you. And truly, what’s a better gift to yourself than that?!
