A little while ago we talked about eating habits (I think it was at one of our weekly Q&As). So I thought it would be fun to practice the “eating when hungry” habit together - for those interested, of course!
You might be thinking… but wait, isn’t it obvious that we eat when we are hungry? Not always! Often times we eat when we are bored, anxious, sad, nervous… Or when the clock “says” it’s time to eat (it’s 12 o’clock!! Lunch “time”!)
You might be surprised to see how your eating habits might change when you tune in to hunger signals and eat when you are truly, physically hungry. The tummy is grumbling, you have that feeling of emptiness, or a hole in the stomach.
So here is the habit if you want to start practicing it:
- Eat when you are physically hungry (I use the mantra “hunger is not an emergency”
) - On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not hungry at all, and 10 being “I’d eat tree bark I’m so hungry”, eat when you are at a 7 or higher.
I was doing this for a while and lost weight on that alone, but then fell back into my old habits of eating at times when I am not truly hungry. To help me keep track, I will write down my hunger scale when I eat for the first week (either on a small notebook or the notes on my phone). It doesn’t have to be 100% compliance, and simply taking note of it every time is progress!
Exceptions to the habit above happen when:
- Fuelling for a workout, ride or event, or eating right after those for recovery. At those times, we might not be that hungry, but need to eat for performance.
- Schedule restrictions depending on work, for example.
Who’s in??
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