>> Tuning Into Your Body's Signals, one of the reasons we tend to gain weight is
because we stopped listening to what our body is telling us.
Many of us unlearn this intuitive skill at a very young age because we are told
to clean what's on our plates, to eat three more bites or that it's family dinner time
so it's time to eat whether you're hungry or not.
We're going to explore what hunger and fullness feel like using the Hunger Scale.
For a moment, I want you to think about how you feel when you're hungry.
Are you cranky?
Low energy, sleepy, stressed, panicky, unable to focus?
What else might you feel when you're hungry?
Now, think about how you feel when you're full.
Do you feel satisfied?
Energized?
Uncomfortable?
Guilty? Upset?
Do you want to lay on the couch?
Or do you want to go for a walk?
Using the Hunger Scale will help us
to explore the spectrum a bit further on a scale from zero to 10.
Zero to two shows us the danger zone when we feel really hungry.
Can you imagine why it's called the danger zone?
Think about what happens when you're feeling really hungry?
Three to seven is the comfort zone where you're feeling slight hunger, balanced and satisfied.
And the misery zone is when you're feeling too full on a scale from eight to 10.
You can imagine why this is called the misery zone.
Being too full makes us uncomfortable.
Next, we're going to look at each one of these stages of the hunger scale to understand them
and start to connect the scale to how our own bodies feel throughout the day
and before and after eating times.
Put yourself in this situation.
An hour ago, you ate a well-balanced meal and you ate until you were just satisfied.
About an hour after a meal, you may feel a five.
You feel balanced.
Your mind is on things other than food and you don't feel hunger.
There is no real drive to eat.
At a four, you're feeling a little hungry.
This may be about two hours after a meal.
You might want to start planning your next meal.
Those first feelings of hungry sensations may settle in but you're not uncomfortable
or distracted by the thoughts of food or hunger.
At a three, you're feeling slight hunger.
You're at the end of the comfort zone.
You're not starving.
This may be about three hours after a balanced meal and you should feel ready to eat.
Hunger sensations settle in but they're not uncomfortable.
Maybe some light stomach growling.
Food will start to smell and taste good.
And you're thinking about food every five to 10 minutes.
You may have a desire but not a need to eat.
You can make healthy decisions about your food at this time.
At a two, you've hit the danger zone.
This may be four or five hours after a meal and you're uncomfortably hungry.
So hungry that you want food quickly and it's challenging to make a healthy food decision.
Hunger sensations are uncomfortable.
You may feel the start of a low blood sugar.
You may get shaky and lightheaded.
Everything looks and smells good and it's hard to focus on what you need to do
because you're thinking about food every one to two minutes.
And you're starting to get irritable.
At a one, you're as hungry as a bear.
This may be five to seven hours after a meal.
Stomach growling may become constant.
Symptoms of low blood sugar are present such as feeling shaky, lightheaded and tired.
You are constantly thinking about food and very irritable or emotional.
At a zero, you're starving or famished.
Seven or more hours after your last meal, your stomach is in pain.
Your body is running on empty.
You may feel very shaky, lightheaded, fatigued and even nauseated.
Your main focus at this point in time is just surviving.
When you get to the danger zone, what usually happens next?
Most of the time, when we're very hungry, it's easiest to go for something quick and easy
like fast food, processed foods and foods that are high in fat and sugar.
It's challenging to make decisions about food and we often eat very quickly.
Think about ways you can avoid getting too hungry.
The best way to avoid getting too hungry is to be prepared to eat every three to four hours.
Meal prepping, having snacks available and thinking ahead
to make sure you can eat every three to four hours can be challenging and does take time.
But it is very helpful in making sure you are nourishing your body throughout the day instead
of eating too much at one meal or grazing into the evenings.
So now, let's imagine we didn't get into the danger zone.
We just got to a three on that Hunger Scale and we started eating a well-balanced meal.
At a six, you've just started eating and you're starting to feel the food in your stomach.
This may be just about 100 to 200 calories into your meal.
So you haven't yet had enough fuel to satisfy you or your body
for the next three to four hours.
You're still eating for pleasure and energy and you're still able to taste flavors and smells.
Fun fact, when we are mindfully eating and enjoying our food,
we only really taste the first three bites.
After those three bites, our taste buds experience taste fatigue and the enjoyment
or intensity of the flavors decrease.
Think about this the next time you want to indulge in a rich food.
Put the food on your plate.
Look at it.
Enjoy the smells and slowly enjoy three bites while using all of your senses.
At a seven, you're feeling satisfied, light and comfortable.
This may be 300 to 600 calories into a meal or a snack.
This is the top of the comfort zone and where we will learn to stop eating.
At this time, you feel food in your stomach but no pressure.
You have a diminished taste and smell and you feel satisfied.
You still have the energy to go out for a walk or carry on with your day.
Start thinking about ways you can stop eating at this point in time.
Think about what toddlers do when they're feeling satisfied from their food.
They end up shutting their mouths tightly
and may even throw the rest of the food in front of them.
How can you start pushing your food away when satisfied?
And how do you recognize when you're satisfied?
At an eight, you've reached the misery zone and you're overly full.
Maybe after eating about 600 to a thousand calories or so, you feel discomfort
and pressure beginning in the stomach.
You may lean back to make room or take deep breaths.
Clothing may be getting to get tight and you may feel tired.
Eating is no longer for physical needs or maybe you ate very quickly because you got too hungry.
You may feel guilty and it's hard to carry on with the rest of your day.
At a nine, you feel very full.
You're very uncomfortable.
You feel pressure in your belly.
You may feel bloated and tired and don't want to get off the couch.
This may be after eating about a thousand to 2000 calories at a mealtime.
It's likely you're no longer eating for physical reasons,
rather eating to satisfy certain emotions.
You may feel guilty, self-loathing, and lack motivation to continue on.
At a 10, you feel Thanksgiving dinner full or like you could go into a food coma.
This may be after eating about 2000 calories or after a binge eating episode.
Pressure is painful in your belly.
Your body may feel achy, bloated, very tired, and you may even consider vomiting for relief.
Movement may feel impossible.
If you are regularly getting to a 10, it may be time to seek therapy for binge eating
or you need to assess what is triggering you to overeat.