"Hunger is your compass! It is a positive feeling to be hungry at different points of the day; as it is a healthy response to satisfy your hunger. There is an internal debate with food that occurs in most of us. We can talk ourselves into anything we want in life. It just so happens that we have opportunities with food everyday."
- Suzie Solenberger, MS, RD
When you sit down to a meal you want to be hungry, but not ravenous. Going to a table ravenous will only increase the likelihood of overeating or binge eating. One of the best ways to prevent overeating or binge eating is to understand your body’s hunger and fullness cues. Then learn how to respect and honor them.
The top three principles of hunger management include:
1. Identify foods that satisfy (or satiate you)
2. Recognize the difference between desire to eat and actual physical hunger
3. Learn when to stop eating once no longer hungry
Steps to implement these three principles:
Step 1: Keep a food log.
Journal what you eat and note how hungry you were before and after your meal. How long did the snack or meal sustain you? Take a test:
- Test 1: Eat a 150 calorie “nutrition bar” such as Nutrigrain, Fiber One, or Kashi. Note if you are satisfied after you eat it and/or how long it sustains you.
- Test 2: Eat a 1/2 turkey sandwich - make with 1 slice whole wheat bread, 2 - 3 oz turkey and a sliver of avocado (or another source of fat). Now note if you are satisfied and how long this holds you over.
Identify how your environment influences what you eat, how fast you eat, how much you eat, etc.
Step 2: Ensure a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat at each meal and snack.
Generally speaking, you’ll be satisfied if you have a balance of adequate carbohydrate, protein, and fat in a meal.
Having adequate protein with healthy fat at meals and snacks will help ward off hunger. Eating quality carbohydrates with protein and fat will help with the fullness sensation.
Step 3: Pay extra attention to hunger and fullness sensation.
- Keep a food journal and use the hunger and fullness scale in the next article to rate your hunger and fullness.
- Ask yourself these questions when keeping your hunger and fullness journal:
- When was the last time I ate? Was it less than 2-3 hours ago? If yes, then was my meal balanced with carbohydrates, protein, and fat?
- Am I really hungry, or do I want to eat out of habit?
Recipe by Quaker Oats www.quakeroats.com - modified to lower sugar and saturated fat by replacing ½ the butter with applesauce and reducing brown sugar from ⅔ cup in the original recipe to ½ cup.
Servings: Makes 24 bars, Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1-¼ cups wheat flour
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1-1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 small bananas)
- 1-1/2 cup Quaker® oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
- 2/3 cup chopped pitted dates or golden raisins
- 2/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Preparation:
Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 13 x 9 x 2-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Stir together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; mix well. Set aside. In large bowl, beat butter, applesauce and brown sugar with electric mixer until well blended. Add egg and bananas; mix well. (Mixture will look curdled.) Add flour mixture; beat on low just until well blended. Stir in oats, dates and walnuts. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered at room temperature up to 2 days or place in airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Defrost uncovered at room temperature.
“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six pieces.” Yogi Berra
Learning to decipher between hunger and habit is a huge step in breaking free from diets and learning to listen and honor what your body needs. Using a food journal and recording hunger and fullness cues is a great way to start identifying if you’re eating out of hunger or habit. Rate your hunger level before and after every meal. What did you discover? Hit reply and let me know.
0 - Extremely Hungry - You are empty, extremely hungry, maybe even dizzy and could eat anything.
1 - Very Hungry - You are very hungry and even irritable.
2 - Hungry - You have strong physical signals to eat.
3 - Physically Hungry - You have the first physical signs to eat; this is a great time to start planning to eat a meal or a snack.
4-6 Neutral - You do not feel hunger or fullness.
7 - No Longer Hungry - You do not feel hunger or fullness and probably still want to eat some more.
8 - Full - You feel a small sensation of fullness, are satisfied and unable to be enticed for more food.
9 - Very Full- You cleared your plate and are now physically uncomfortable.
10 - Extremely Full - You just ate a feast and are miserably full.