Mindful Eating

I was having dinner with a friend the other night, and she mentioned that she had been participating in a health-insurance sponsored weight-loss program.  Among other guidelines, the crux of the program was based upon a hunger scale, where you are only allowed to eat when you ready a certain number.

Intrigued, the next morning I googled hunger scales and was surprised to find that the scale I suspect is being used in this program is actually based upon the tenets of mindful eating.

Eating mindfully typically involves slowing down and being present during mealtimes, truly focusing on the smell, taste and other sensations that are engaged while eating.  It only makes sense to extend this mindful attention to hunger and other sensations in our bodies.

The Pritikin Hunger scale (https://www.pritikin.com/your-health/healthy-living/eating-right/1838-hunger-scale-mindful-eating-weight-loss.html)  is pretty simple.  It rates the stages of hunger and satiation on a scale of 1 through 10, 1 being ravenous and 10 being Thanksgiving Dinner Over-Stuffed.  The idea is that you only eat when you reach a 3, when you are very hungry but not uncomfortably so and you always stop at a 6, when you are satisfied and light but *could* still eat more with the negative consequence of feeling bloated or overly full.  Easy, right?!

When we mindfully tune in to the feedback systems of our body, we are given the information we need to make healthy choices.  

So I’ve been test-driving this part of the Pritikin system for a few days now and I’ve found the results really interesting.  

First off, I’m not actually hungry in the morning.  This shouldn’t be surprising to me, as I notoriously skipped breakfast through most of my teens, (and paid the consequences when food wasn’t available at the time I actually became hungry while in school!)  I then jumped on the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” bandwagon and have been forcing down food every morning since.  My natural rhythm has me eating for the first time around 10:30 am or even later.  Having permission to wait until later to eat has been actually been a relief.

Second, I’ve realized that I’ve created some anxious beliefs about hunger that aren’t necessarily true.  

When I was pregnant, I would become nauseous every time my stomach became a little bit empty and would wake up in the middle of the night needing to eat to be able to sleep.  As a result, I adjusted my habits to pretty much graze around the clock knowing that that was the only way I could be even moderately functional.  

Not being pregnant, circumstances have obviously changed but the anxiety about letting myself get hungry seems to have persisted even though the negative consequence no longer exists.  Waiting to get to a three on the hunger scale before eating has made me aware that I’ve been eating more from anxiety cues than from hunger.  

So if you’re struggling with achieving a healthy weight or you’re hoping to become more mindful of the feedback systems in your body, give this system a try.  The more we live in rhythm with our bodies and our emotions, the greater levels of health and wellness we are able to achieve.