Mindful eating is not something our culture uses often although we certainly should. We are most likely to snatch and grab fast and fatty foods, eating on the run, eating in our cars or even walking to another appointment while cramming in French fries and double cheeseburgers. Is it surprising that we have lost touch of our hunger and have no idea what is going on with our weight loss goals?
Is it any wonder that we are not aware of our hunger until we are falling over from weakness and bursting into tears for no reason? Not being aware of hunger levels can wreak havoc on even the best laid plans for weight loss.
If you can learn to eat mindfully by using the hunger awareness scale you will be much closer to achieving the weight loss you want. Using this tool daily you should lose steadily and slowly enough that you can keep the weight off for a lifetime.
THE HUNGER AWARENESS SCALE 1-10:
- You are dizzy and possibly lightheaded. You may be obsessing on food and can think of nothing but eating. You may feel emotionally upset, weepy or angry and irritable.
- You are very hungry and need to eat however you are still in control of your food choices.
- You feel hungry and are ready to eat. This is the optimum time to begin eating a meal.
- You are ambivalently hungry. You could eat but you can’t say definitively that you are hungry.
- You are neither hungry nor full. If you are eating, you are not really satisfied yet and want to eat more.
- You are very nearly full at this stage and are not likely thinking about what you’re eating by now.
- Now you are satisfied. Your body feels content from your food and you can easily stop eating.
- This stage is a bite or two over full but not painful although there may be slight discomfort.
- You are overly full, it does not feel good here, and you may need to loosen your clothing.
- You are extremely miserable and far too full. This is a hard place to be if you are prone to disordered eating or binge/purge cycles as it could be hard to resist vomiting.
Eating mindfully means chewing your food, sitting down with minimal distractions and certainly no open bags of popcorn or chips in your lap while watching afternoon soap operas! Mindful eating means putting your fork down between bites and really focusing on the textures and appearance and flavors of your food.
You may be quite pleasantly surprised at how much flavor your food has when chewed very slowly and thoughtfully. The more aware you are while eating and with your hunger, the less you need to worry about overeating.
If you have weight loss goals that you are truly committed to obtaining a great and completely free place to start is to simply focus on eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full. This simple awareness can create a lifestyle change that lasts throughout your entire life.
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Tags: Hunger Awareness Scale for Weight Loss, hunger scale, Weight Loss
