How to Get Your Hunger Cues Back
Intuitive eating often gets misconstrued as the “hunger and fullness diet”. While there is much more to what intuitive eating truly is, hunger and fullness are key components. If you don’t have strong hunger cues or if you feel like your hunger cues aren’t trustworthy, this can make intuitive eating feel difficult.
In this blog I will share seven reasons why your hunger may be stunted as well as tips to help you get your hunger cues back.
If you’re new here, hello and welcome! My name is Hannah and I am a non-diet dietitian here to help you improve your relationship with your food and finally find food freedom.
How appetite regulation works
Food is an essential requirement for survival. If we don't eat enough, our biology will respond so that we do. When you diet and feel hunger, it is not a "lack of willpower". It is a biological drive to protect you.
The brain monitors the energy needs of the body. It will send signals to tell us what types of foods and how much food it needs. Our body is the OG "calorie counter". It will regulate its energy needs on its own and tell you when and how much to eat to keep this energy in balance. MyFitnessPal could never know your body like that.
When cells need energy, they will produce a signal that induces hunger. This might feel like stomach growling, inability to focus on tasks in the moment, irritability/hanger, etc. Cells primarily get their energy from carbohydrates, but protein and fats also factor into the equation. All macronutrients provide calories that eventually end up as ATP (the cell's energy source).
Don't second-guess your biology! You may feel hungrier sooner than expected. You may have days where you feel hungrier than you typically do. You may ask yourself if you deserve to eat (You do! You never have to earn food).
Reasons why your hunger is stunted
If you are someone who feels like you don’t know what your hunger feels like or you just don’t seem to have any hunger cues, there is likely a reason for that.
Numbing: averting hunger pangs using calorie-free beverages or low calorie foods temporarily tricks the stomach into a sense of fullness.
Dieting: it becomes easy to tune out hunger after chronically dieting. Eventually, after being ignored long enough, the hunger cues stop.
Chaos: if you are constantly busy with life, it can be easy to suppress or ignore hunger.
Stress: the biological response of stress can blunt the sense of hunger.
Trauma history: you need to feel safe in order to feel hungry.
Skipping meals: skipping meals because it "makes you feel hungrier" always backfires.
Not meeting basic needs: if you are not getting enough sleep or time to recharge, this can disrupt connection to your body.
A few other possible reasons:
Certain medications
Illness
Intense exercise
Caffeine
Wonky sleep patterns
How to get your hunger cues back
Reject the diet mentality
As I described, dieting can be a really big reason why you don’t notice hunger. Even though intuitive eating is more than hunger and fullness, not being able to recognize hunger can make intuitive eating feel tough! This is why making peace with food, ditching the diets, and discovering the satisfaction factor are also important principles - these will help you to better navigate hunger and fullness.
Eat consistently
Even if you don’t feel physical hunger, your body still needs energy every 3-5 hours. Try to avoid skipping meals. Eat whatever sounds even a little bit appetizing. Gentle nutrition may not be the focus here, and that’s okay.
Use practical hunger
If your body is not telling you signals but your brain knows that you should eat, it might help to incorporate practical hunger. This involves eating when you may not have strong hunger cues. The intent here is that, over time, it will signal to your body that you are no longer restricting and the hunger cue messengers can trust you again. It’s like texting your friend back instead of ignoring her - she will likely keep texting you now that she knows you won’t just be ignoring her.
Bottom line
Intuitive eating can feel difficult if your hunger cues are not showing up regularly. There are various reasons why your hunger may be stunted, including chronic dieting and stress. The good news is that you can reconnect with your body so you know when it is trying to tell you that it is time to eat.
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