Am I Hungry?

This issue might seem trivial at first, but despite the fact that hunger and satiety signals are innate, it is possible to lose sight of them over time if you ignore them.

There are various types of hunger, and not all of them are genuine. Some factors influence our sense of hunger and compel us to eat more.

Physiological hunger is what we should all feel and want to satisfy when we feel the need to eat. Conversely, psychological hunger is often triggered by an external factor such as stress, habits, emotions, boredom, and our current surroundings.

Once you have identified the type of hunger you are feeling, you need to learn when to stop eating. The satiety scale could come handy:

1- I am still hungry: gurgles, feeling of emptiness, energy drop;
2- I am satisfied: renewed energy, foods seem less appetizing, overall sense of well-being;
3- I ate too much: sense of heaviness, discomfort, bloating, and tiredness.

To calm your hunger while observing your satiety signals, you have to stop eating when you reach level 1 or 2 on the satiety scale. Here are two little tips: eat slowly and take regular breaks to assess your hunger. It usually takes twenty minutes before you begin to feel the effects of satiety.

It takes time before you can properly understand and feel these signals, so don’t be too hard on yourself. This method will enable you to eat whatever you want in reasonable quantities without any guilt, because you will eat only when you feel genuine hunger, and you will not exceed your needs!

I hope you apply these tips successfully!

By Marie-Ève Nadeau

Am I Hungry? is a post from Nautilus Plus. The Nautilus Plus blog aims to help people in their journey to fitness through articles on training, nutrition, motivation, exercise and healthy recipes.
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