The Hunger Scale

Hey Friends, 

As we continue to practice listening to our bodies and learning what our bodies truly need after years of suppressing that intuitive ability due to the culture of “finishing our plates,” among other practices that have become habits, today I want to share a tool with you that can help us be more mindful and more successful in listening to our body and gaining that ability back. 

DRUM ROLL!!!!! Enter THE HUNGER SCALE!

Source Marshfield Clinic

I love this super easy tool you guys!

It can be so effective in helping us practice listening to our body, to be able to tell the difference between when we are truly hungry and when we are wanting to satisfy other needs through eating. 

The Hunger Scale was created to help you describe your level of hunger and to help you to recognize when the best times to start and stop eating occur throughout your day. This is a very individualized approach, and this will be different for everyone. Again, listen to YOUR body and remember EVERY BODY is different. Also remember to keep fluid levels up so that you can recognize and feel real hunger when it is not confused with thirst.

Most people enjoy their food and eat comfortably when they are between 3-6 on the scale. Remember we are eating, so we are no longer hungry and feeling satisfied, not necessarily “full.”

It is important to slow down and enjoy your meals and snacks. I know I have mentioned this before, it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to connect to your brain and say it is satisfied or full, etc. 

So don’t forget to take that much time to consume your meals before accessing your level on the Hunger Scale in order to fuel your body with how much it truly needs.

Another practice you can do to continue being more mindful and listening to your body is through the use of a Food Diary. You can make a note of thoughts or feelings are linked to your eating and record how hungry you are before, during and after eating. You may remember some of this from the mindful eating exercise from last week. 

I hope this helps you in your mindful and intuitive eating journey. Using this Hunger Scale has truly been one of the most successful tools for my clients as well as myself. I even teach my kids this as I don’t want to suppress, but rather encourage, that innate ability to know when they are hungry and when they are satisfied and I want to support them in building that confidence in themselves.

What do YOU think about the hunger scale? Do you think it will be a useful tool? Will you put it into practice? Let us know! 😊 

Cheers!

Ashley.