The Hunger Fullness Scale

The main reason why people eat has very little, or nothing at all, to do with hunger. Many things drive us to eat such as:

- the time of day

- we’re bored

- we’re stressed

- we’re happy…etc.

And similarly we suppress our appetite for many reasons such as:

- it’s too late

- its too early

- we’re busy

- we’re mad…etc.

Think of your hunger and fullness on a scale from 1-10

1 - famished, dizzy nauseous, physically ill

2 - very hungry, hangry, moody, headache, gnawing emptiness in stomach, anything and everything looks good

3 - hungry, stomach growling, need energy

4 - "I could eat", stomach feeling slightly empty

5 - neutral

6 - mild fullness, stomach feels fuller but you don't feel satisfied

7 - pleasantly full, satisfied, anything more and you'll be uncomfortable

8 - uncomfortably full, feeling slightly uncomfortable

9 - stuffed, Thanksgiving Day stuffed, you have to undue your belt buckle, very uncomfortable

10 - painfully stuffed, physically ill, nauseous, sick

By using a hunger fullness scale, you can get in tune with your body’s signals and it can help you with your appetite awareness. Listening to your feelings of hunger and fullness can help you decide when and how much to eat.

Eating in response to factors other than your body’s signals may be linked to overeating and excessive energy intake.

The goal:

Start eating when you first get hungry (a 4 on the scale) and stop when you first get pleasantly full (a 7 on the scale). The reason we want to start eating when we first get hungry is because that’s the secret to stop when we are pleasantly full.

Think about what happens when we get too hungry. You’re probably sitting at a 2 on the scale and at this point you are in a state of vulnerability causing you to reach for foods that are convenient to immediately satisfy that hunger.

Your first instinct is to grab foods that are most convenient such as cookies, or chips because when you’re this hungry you’re not going to wait 45 min for a potato to cook in the oven, you’re going to grab the bag of potato chips because it requires no cooking and you can start eating right away.

Then when you do get those foods, you eat them WAY too fast because your body just wants some energy to stop feeling hungry. You'll also most likely eat too much of it because the most convenient foods like cookies and chips are low in fiber and won’t actually make you feel full.

By not letting yourself get to that state of vulnerability in the first place, you can prevent yourself from over consuming these foods.

What happens when you consistently stay between a 4 and a 7?

You tend to choose more nutritious foods and you start to stay in this nutritious cycle. The first part to being able to stay between a 4 and a 7 is to have a plan in place. Without a plan, it is much easier to slip below a 4 and reach that state of vulnerability leading to over consumption.

Knowing what you are going to eat in advance will make it easier to start eating as soon as you feel that you are at a 4 (sightly hungry). Even if you don’t have a plan or something already prepped, when you can recognize your hunger cues, you can understand your own personal buffer zone of when to start cooking something before you get too hungry.

When you start cooking before you’re a 4 you have a lot more patience for food to cook than if you were at a 2.

If you are used to the cycle of going below a 4 and then past a 7 consistently, you may feel like you won't be able to stop once you start eating. That's okay! This will take time to develop if you are not used to staying between a 4 and a 7. Being aware is the first step to learn.

Use these ideas to help you recognize your hunger cues:

• Rate your hunger before you have a meal. What does it feel like? Does it feel like your tummy is moving, tight, or small? What happens if you wait too long before eating? Do you get headaches or feel tired? By acknowledging these feelings you can start to learn your body's cues that tell you it's almost time to eat.

• After every couple of bites during a meal try to rate your fullness and see if you can stop when you are pleasantly full (a 7 on the scale).

• Try to minimize distractions while your eat such as watching TV, using your cell phone or reading. This will allow you to be more mindful of your cues while you eat.

• Rate your hunger after your have a meal. What does it feel like? Are you pleasantly full or too full where you have to undue your belt buckle?

• Notice your eating environment. Are you eating because you are physically hungry or because food is there?

• Randomly throughout the day, rate your hunger or fullness. This can help you acknowledge the different feelings that occur throughout the scale.

• Be aware that emotional eating can influence your choices. Do you tend to grab certain foods with certain emotions?