Tune into Hunger for Weight Loss
With swimsuit season just around the corner the emails have been pouring in for quick ways to lose weight and get in shape. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re looking for a quick fix… you’re not going to find it here. Permanent weight loss takes time and patience. There is however, some fine-tuning you can do to tighten up your diet, eliminate excess eating, and be well on your way to a healthy weight.
Tune into REAL Hunger
You should be feeling hungry each time you eat. If you’re a regular reader of the blog, I know I may sound like a broken record, but when you consistently eat when you’re not hungry, you will gain weight. Tuning into your true hunger is key. Using the hunger scale is a great guide to help you identify your true hunger.
The Hunger scale ranges from 0-10. Zero is extreme hunger… you feel so hungry you might pass out. The opposite end of the scale is 10. I call this the Thanksgiving Dinner Syndrome. You ate some much food you feel physically ill. Right smack in the middle of the scale is “5″. This is a neutral feeling. You’re not hungry or full. You basically have no desire to eat. When you’re at a five, you should feel hungry in about 2-3 hours. The key time you should be eating is between a 3 and 4 on the scale. This is what I call a comfortable hunger. You feel the grumbling in your stomach and slight hunger pangs. At this level of hunger you can consciously make a healthy decision on what to eat without letting the hunger control you. Anything lower than a “3″ and the hunger will control you. From a “2″ down, you are so physically hungry that it doesn’t matter what you eat, how much you eat, or where you eat. At this extreme level of hunger it’s common to overeat. It’s very important to not let yourself get overly hungry.
Eat Only Until Satisfied
Never eat until you’re full, stuffed, or sick. Only eat until you’re satisfied. This means eating until you’ve reached a “7″ on the hunger scale. This is where portion control comes in. Only YOU know when you feel satisfied. You also know how you feel when you ate too much. A meal that satisfies one person may not satisfy you. The amount of food you need to satisfy yourself is sort of a trial and error deal. You need to take your time when you eat. If halfway through your meal you feel satisfied, then stop eating.
Rules to Get You Started
- Eat three meals per day and one or two snacks only. No snacking between meals unless you’re truly hungry. If you feel hungry between meals, this is a sign you didn’t eat enough at your last meal.
- Space your meals 4 hours apart, no longer than 5 hours between meals.
- Plan your snack when you know you will be going longer than 5 hours until your next meal.
- Cut off eating after dinner. This is a way to eliminate mindless snacking or boredom eating. If you feel a little hungry before you go to bed, chug some water. You could easily be thirsty rather than hungry. If you’re feeling a little hungry, think back to the time you had dinner. If you had a light dinner at 5:30pm and you’re hungry at 9pm, you may need a little something to keep you from feeling overly hungry when you sleep… Make sure this is true hunger and not boredom eating… use the hunger scale to gage you’re hunger level. You want to look for a grumble in your stomach.
- Avoid “clean the plate syndrome”! Make it a rule to always leave some food on your plate. When you eat out at a restaurant, only eat half of what’s served… doggie bag the rest.
- Exercise!!!! Do whatever kind of exercise you enjoy!! Get outside and move your body. If you’re new to exercise, start out with 30 minutes per day.
Tags: hunger scale, weight loss
April 17th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I definitely agree with using the hunger scale — it works! However, snacking is necessary if you really follow it. When I eat just enough to satisfy me, I’m quite hungry 3-4 hours later. I eat breakfast at 5:30am (before exercising) and can’t eat lunch until 1pm. There’s no way I could eat enough food at breakfast to last me until lunch.
Saying that it’s okay to go to bed hungry — no way. That’s what I thought when I was in the worst part of disordered eating. If I’m hungry, my body is asking for food.
April 17th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Hi Susan,
The rules in the article are just basic rules. Everyone’s body is different. If someone eats breakfast at 5:30am, there is no way I would expect them to go until 1pm without food. The rules need to be taken as just basic rules. If you’re hungry 3 hours later, then eat. I wrote those rules because we often find ourselves eating according to the clock… so giving people a certain amount of time between meals is to keep mindless eating at a minimum. As far as going to bed hungry… no one should be going to bed starving. If you are experiencing true physical hunger, then you need to eat a little something. Again… that rule was put in to prevent mindless eating after dinner.
If you are a true intuitive eater that means you know your body better than anyone. Stick to what you know best. These rules are best used for those still trying to figure it all out. If there are any readers with disordered eating, you need to do what’s best for your body… and go by the rules you make for yourself. Denying your body food when hungry is never a good idea.
April 19th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I’m surprised you would advocate a cut off time. I would rather see something like “Close the kitchen after dinner” instead of 7:30pm. While I realize your point here is nighttime noshing, I feel like a lot of people see this to mean that if they don’t have dinner ready until 8:00pm they should skip it, which is not your point!
April 19th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Kath,
Thanks for the comment… you’re right! As mentioned in my previous comment, the point is to prevent mindless eating after dinner. If someone hasn’t eaten dinner and is hungry at 8pm, they need to eat! I can see how this can be read, AND taken the wrong way.
April 19th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
: )
April 20th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Great summary rules to adopt – thanks for sharing these tips!
April 21st, 2009 at 3:22 am
One of my biggest problems with dieting is selecting what to eat. I thought I had it under control until I read an article on one of my favorite weight loss websites OptimalBodyWeight.com.
According to them you can easily fool yourself into thinking you are eating healthy while you are actually piling up the calories. Their article Eat This Not That to lose weight explains it much better than I can.
Good Luck, hope it helps.
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Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
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Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
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This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
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