10 ways to handle your hunger

culled from:tescohealthandwellbeing.com

Is hunger your best friend or your worst enemy? Denying hunger or eating to prevent hunger can both lead to weight gain. So learning to listen for hunger and acting on its signal is the first step in forging healthy eating habits. Hunger is nothing more than your body telling you it needs fuel.
Just as the warning light on your car dashboard lights up when your petrol tank is low, your body lets you know when your fuel tank is low. When that light on your dashboard goes on, do you question that the car needs fuel? No!
When the tank is 3/4 full do you stop at the petrol station and fill the car up? No!
Furthermore, do you keep filling the tank when it’s full? No.
When we continue to eat past the point of satisfaction, the food cannot run onto the street like the gas, but it can and will run onto our hips.

Here are some simple guidelines that can help you handle your hunger.

1. Hunger can begin with stomach pangs and grumbles. It can be a light-headed sensation, a feeling of being irritable and impatient, or a feeling of being tired or sluggish.
2. Hunger begins with a little knock. It usually starts with the feeling that you need food. It says, “Hi, I’m here and I will need some food pretty soon.” This is not an emergency situation. It's just an awareness that you should start to prepare to eat shortly. As you become more accustomed to listening to your bodily hunger sensations, you will be better able to hear that little knock. At this point, it may be hard to decide what type of food your body wants as fuel.
3. Real hunger is an undeniable sensation. At this point it says, “Hello, I’m starting to really need food. Please provide some fuel for me soon.” At this point, you really need to eat. It becomes clear what kind of food your body is asking for - a particular food will sound pleasing to you.
4. Hunger will escalate to the point where it starts to shout, “HELLO! I need food or else! I need it NOW!” This is the point where verbally you say, “I am going to fall over if I don’t eat now.” We all have the threshold at which we have this sensation. At this point, you cannot decipher what food choice your body is asking for because this signal becomes muted when you become ravenous.
5. Learning to listen to and act on your hunger between the knock and the request will allow you to find the point of satisfaction easier and, therefore, you won’t be as likely to overeat. Also, eating between the knock and the request will allow you to be able to make a body-wise healthy choice. Have you ever had the sensation that you were so hungry you would uncontrollably eat whatever food was in front of you? This is what happens when we deny the signal of hunger.
   When we are ravenous, we cannot make healthy food choices and we cannot recognise when we have eaten enough to be satisfied. Learn to listen to hunger and recognise early on that the light on your dashboard is flashing. It will help you to know when it’s time to fill your tank before the car runs out.
6. Hunger is erratic. Real hunger doesn’t appear just because it’s time for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It appears when our fuel tank is low which doesn’t always correspond with meal times. Eating at any other time other than when you are hungry is putting more fuel into your body and this fuel only goes into storage (aka fat). Eat when you are truly hungry... not because the clock says it is time to eat.
7. Eat when you are hungry and the food will taste sensational. If you want to have incredible eating experiences you need to wait until you are truly hungry. You can savour every bite, taste each bite of food in your mouth and truly enjoy eating. Eating then becomes pleasurable and fun.
8. Since hunger is unpredictable and sometimes inconvenient, carry a snack with you in your pocket or bag. Something small that can tide you over for a while like a piece of fruit, a low-fat cheese stick, or a cereal bar.
9. Begin to realise that eating is a social experience and there may be times when social situations revolve around food. Ask yourself, “Is it the food or the company that is important?” Often, we gather with our friends or family to enjoy their presence but the gathering is centred around food. Remind yourself that food is only secondary and enjoy the time spent with others.
10. Begin to listen for hunger and act on it every time it arrives. Take care of your body in the best way possible.