1. Eat when your body is physically hungry either a 3 or 4 on the hunger scale.
If you are overeating and not eating when you are hungry, you’ll be out of practice in feeling what it feels like to be physically hungry. Become aware of your body in the present moment and how it feels.
Tune into your body and feel how physically hungry your body is using the nine descriptions on the hunger scale:
1. Starving – “I could eat a horse!”
2. Very Hungry – “I must eat now or else!”
3. Hungry – “It’s definitely time to eat.”
4. Slightly Hungry – “I could eat now or wait a while.”
5. Content – “I am not hungry and I feel satisfied.”
6. Slightly Full – I am aware of food in my stomach.”
7. Full – “I ate too much food and I am uncomfortable.”
8. Very Full – “I overate and feel very uncomfortable!”
9. Stuffed – “I binged on food and feel extremely uncomfortable!”
Notice that physical hunger is different than emotional hunger, which is an emotional emptiness inside or a need for emotional eating to change the way you feel or to fill an emotional hole inside, which no amount of food can satisfy.
2. Eat what you want and not what you think you are supposed to eat
Most overweight people don’t eat to feed their bodies; they eat to comfort and feed their emotions. Much of the food is empty calories and lacks nutrition. Even though you are eating all this food, your body is still craving what it needs. One of the reasons you are hungry all the time is that your body is starving for nutrients. Give your body the nutrients it wants. Also, when people diet, they restrict and deprive themselves of food and nourishment. They only eat what they think they should even though their body may crave other food. Then they find that they eat what they should eat according to old parental and societal rules and then eat again what they want and crave. Simply just eat what you want the first time and you’ll eat less and be more satisfied and content.
3. Eat slowly and consciously and enjoy every bite
Most people who are overweight obsess about food and spend all their time thinking about it, imagining it, and planning for it. They don’t eat to live. They live to eat. Yet they spend the least amount of time eating it. They eat so fast and mindless that they don’t even realize what they ate or how it tasted.
Take a breath and bring your attention into the present moment being aware of your body and what you are doing. Eat really slowly and consciously tasting the flavor and texture of the food one incredible bite at a time. Take your time and enjoy the pleasure of dining and the sensations you experience when you savor your food.
Notice how much more satisfied you are and how much better your food tastes when you eat consciously. Also notice how much more in control you feel when you are eating like a naturally thin person.
4. Stop eating when your body is no longer physically hungry at a 5 on the hunger scale.
When you continue to eat and eat so fast, you don’t even realize that you are full until there is no more food left on the plate, in the box, or at the bottom of the bag. Then you feel so uncomfortable, stuffed, sick, and sometimes even nauseous as well as feel bad and guilty for overeating and binging out of control.
Remember that cleaning your plate is an old parental or societal rule about food and eating that you adopted early on. It was a way for your parents to get you to eat your vegetables. However it was also a way to make you overeat to get your parent’s approval and to override your own body’s signals.
When you eat intuitively and consciously in the present moment, you are aware of your body and what you are doing and feeling. When you think your body is no longer hungry, pleasantly satisfied or content stop eating. You will feel so much better!
