I found the following on Pinterest and thought that it was a useful diagram. I know nothing about the source and therefore am not offering any endorsement, rather just allowing for credit.

As you can see, it is a diagram to help decide when to eat and when you have other needs that should be met.

In learning about hunger, I also learned about levels of hunger. The following describes them well. Again, no endorsement is being offered for the source. Source information is included to give credit for its use.

The goal is to eat when you are a 3 or 4 and to stop eating at 7.  One clue that you have reached a 7 may be that food has begun to taste less yummy (sensory-specific satiety). This may be a biological cue to stop eating. However, it is unlikely to be effective if you began eating when you were still a 5 or 6.

I have been working to really key in to when my body feels hungry and identifying how hungry I feel. As I eat, I have been focusing on what the food looks like, how it smells, texture, and taste. My struggle has been to identify when I am full enough. I can tell when I am no longer hungry (5); however, I am still learning the difference between 6 and 7. Because of that, I am trying to use the cues from sensory-specific satiety. Does the food taste as good as it did when I began or has it lost most of its flavor? Is the texture still pleasing? And what about the aroma?

You can imagine that it would be very hard to keep track of all of this sensory data if I were watching television or reading while eating. Even talking can get in the way for me. It has taught me to do what I already knew I should be doing…just eat, mindfully, fully, and with intention.

Biggest struggles this week:

1. Chatty Kathy and her BS about me gaining weight if I eat intuitively.

2. Body comparisons – comparing my body to others.

3. Body checking – inspecting my own flaws rather than celebrating my beauty.

4. Figuring out when I am full enough.

5. Working to stop categorizing food as good and bad.

6. Using movement for fun and health, not because I ate cookies yesterday.

Successes:

1! I am eating when I am hungry on a more regular basis and not eating when I am not.

2! I had fun riding my bike today – first time in a very long time (had to wash the dust off the bike to ride it)

3! I made cookies yesterday and ate two, or was it three?