Understanding Hunger and What to Do About It

Learning how to tell if you are actually hungry is an important skill.

Knowing when you are actually hungry and when your mind is actually playing games on you can be a huge challenge. Learning how to tell if you are actually hungry is an important skill.

Hunger depends a lot on the person. Hunger can vary depending on many things like your nutritional needs, your activity levels, etc. The key is to listen to your body and try to understand those cues. If you are actually hungry you will experience hunger cues like stomach growling, low energy and headaches. It is always good to keep a food diary to identify the habits that may have been a misinterpretation of hunger or some other feeling like boredom or being exposed to food frequently.

“It is always good to keep a food diary to identify the habits that may have been a misinterpretation of hunger or some other feeling like boredom or being exposed to food frequently.”

Then you can identify and make a list of triggers that cue you to eat.

Common triggers could be,

• Seeing your favourite snack in the cupboard or fridge

• Being stressed

• Frequent exposure to food like sweet treats at the workplace or from a kind neighbour

• Urge to snack out of boredom or tiredness

Also, make a note of actual hunger cues and try to form an eating pattern around those cues.

Planning ahead is very important. If you watch a Friday night movie and tend to get hungry late at night, plan a healthy snack.

Habits take a long time to develop, so take a small step at a time. Be patient with your body and yourself.