hunger

Is There A Way To Know When I Should Eat?

April 11, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

When should I eat? That’s the age-old question that many of us ask ourselves most days of the week! What would you say: “when I’m hungry” or maybe “when I want to”?

It’s not always an easy question to answer even though it seems like it should be intuitive. It can be, if you learn to listen to your body’s cues. You can also learn to stop, check in with yourself, and use a tool like the hunger scale to help you evaluate how hungry you really are.

Your Need For Fuel

Physical hunger is a basic survival mechanism. It lets your brain know that your body needs nourishment and energy and then prompts you to eat for fuel. We’re born with this ability; think about babies and how they cry when they need food and how they stop eating when they’re full.

But many of us eat so frequently that we never get to the point of letting our bodies knock on the door to tell us that they’re hungry and really need to be fed. We just eat.

Those of us who struggle with our weight might not even know – or remember – what hunger feels like. If you eat just to eat – rather than in response to hunger cues — you can become disconnected from the signals that let you know when you’re actually hungry and when you’re full.

The Hunger Scale

There’s a hunger scale you can use to help identify how hungry you are and when it’s reasonable to eat. The scale goes from 1 to 10 with 1 being ravenous and 10 being so full that you feel sick.

The Scale:

You’re ravenous and too hungry to give a hoot about what you eat
You’re starving and absolutely must eat immediately because you’re irritable, cranky, and have no energy
You’re hungry and the urge to eat is strong
Your hunger pangs are signaling the first signs of hunger; you’re a little hungry
You’re satisfied – not hungry but not full and you’re not aware of food in your stomach
You’re fully satisfied and are aware of food in your stomach
You’re very full, your stomach feels stretched, and you’re past the point of satisfaction but can still find room for more
You’re uncomfortable because your stomach is too full and you really wish you hadn’t had those last few bites
You’re stuffed, very uncomfortable, and your clothes feel very tight – that belt buckle or snap on your jeans doesn’t stand a chance
You’re beyond full and feel sick, miserable, and you don’t want to move

Calorie Savers

Try asking yourself, “What number am I at?”

If you’re above a number 5 you’re not physically hungry and something else is triggering your eating.
If you’re at number 4 you can wait to eat or eat a little bit.
If you’re at a 3 – it could go to 2 — it’s a good time to heat – have you noticed that food tastes pretty good when you’re hungry?
If you’re at number 1 you really need to eat — but pay attention to what you’re doing. When you’re starving you don’t care too much about what or how much you eat – and usually end up shoveling food in as quickly as possible – which can result in overeating (pigging out) and ending up at a 7 and up.
You should generally stop eating if you’re at a 6, sometimes a 7.
Gauge your hunger. If you’re only a little hungry, only eat a little. Preventive eating – or eating because you might be hungry in a little while – can cause you to pack in a lot of calories.

You’ll be able to find 49 more calorie saving tips in my soon to be released book. Sign up in the box on the right to be notified by email when it becomes available and get your free copy of “How To Decode A Restaurant Menu’s Words And Phrases” as a bonus.

Are You Really Hungry Or Is It All In Your Head?

May 15, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Argument. Stress. Overwhelm. Fatigue.

Cookies in the shopping cart. Candy bar from the gas station. Chips from the vending machine. Raiding the refrigerator for leftovers followed by ice cream.

Sound familiar?

You could be stuffed to the gills but all you can think about is getting that cookie, candy bar, chips, or leftovers and chowing down – even though you’re not hungry and probably won’t enjoy what you’re about to eat.

There’s Real Hunger And There’s Head Hunger

Real hunger or physiological hunger is your body’s way of telling you that it’s time to eat food because your body needs nourishment. It’s when you have that empty, rumbling feeling in your stomach, a headache, maybe some lightheadedness and difficulty concentrating. It usually starts around four hours (plus or minus) after your last meal.

Head hunger or psychological hunger doesn’t really have physical symptoms and can happen at any time. It can be triggered by emotional situations, habits you associate with food or eating (like watching TV, working on the computer or driving in the car), by food cravings, or can be a form of procrastination. Whatever triggers your head hunger can make you think you’re hungry when you’re really not.

Emotions: Common Triggers For Eating

Emotions are common triggers for eating. Head hunger is a form of emotional eating that is usually in response to stress, sadness, loneliness, anger, fear, fatigue, overwhelm, or boredom.

Head hunger also serves as a distraction because the eating it provokes can be a way to distract yourself from difficult situations, projects, and encounters.

The feelings and situations that create head hunger are a part of your life. Eating won’t make them go away. Eating in response to head hunger often keeps you from figuring out what’s causing the feeling in the first place.

“I want chocolate” might really mean “I need comfort” or “I worked my tail off and I really need to be recognized for it.” Those trips back and forth to the fridge or the vending machine might be the ultimate form of procrastination – is there a project that needs to get done that you’re struggling with?

What To Do

Wouldn’t it be great if it was as simple as figuring out what’s causing your head hunger and dealing with it. Actually, that’s the answer. Eating can’t really satisfy your emotional needs. Left unmet, those needs will trigger your head hunger over and over. So, you overeat, you mentally beat yourself up, you feel awful, and the whole process is triggered all over again.

To break the pattern, first stop beating yourself up when you do eat in response to head hunger (as opposed to eating because you’re starving and your stomach is growling like crazy).

Devise a plan to figure out what caused you to eat in the first place. Try keeping a written record of what happened and how you felt before your head hunger took control. Looking back at a series of entries might give you a clue. Once you get a handle on your triggers, come up with a plan to deal with them and make a “go-to” list of ways to reward, calm, comfort, and/or distract yourself without resorting to eating when you’re not actually physically hungry.

Allow yourself to figure out what “real” hunger actually feels like and the feelings that accompany true hunger.

Superbowl: Eating Or Watching Or Both?

February 2, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Seriously. Hand to mouth munching on chips, dips, and wings. A swig or two or three. A cookie here and there. And then there’s the “real food” at halftime – or maybe there was pizza first followed by a selection of subs.

By the end of the game do you have a clue about how much – or even what — you have popped into your mouth?

You may – or may not – be riveted to the TV screen rooting hard for your team, but you may also be going along for the ride – happy to be at a party where there’s plenty of food and shouting and enthusiasm – a classic set-up for mindless and distracted eating which is what can happen when there’s no “structured meal,” a lack planning, and when you give into “head hunger” and “see it and eat it,” as opposed to actual physical hunger.

What Makes Us Eat Too Much?

Hunger doesn’t prompt most of us to overeat. Family, friends, plate size, packaging, lighting, candles, smells, distractions, environments, and feelings all do. We make about 200+ food related decisions a day – like deciding between pizza or wings; a sandwich or salad; chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie; light beer or diet coke; kitchen table or chair in front of the TV. That’s about 200+ daily opportunities to be mindful or mindless – and probably a whole lot more when faced with a flow of food and an exciting game.

Food And Football

It’s amazing how food has become associated with football — from tailgating to Superbowl parties. There are plenty of choices for eating deliciously well if you are more mindful than mindless about your selection of food.

Stick with grilled meat, veggies, baked chips rather than fried, plain bread, a pita, or wrap rather than biscuits or cornbread. Go for salsa and skip the guacamole. Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.

Examples Of Potential Pitfalls And Some Saving Graces:

Tostada with guacamole: 2 pieces (9.3 oz), 360 calories, 23g fat, 32g carbs, 12g protein

Salsa: 1 tablespoon 4 calories, .04g fat, 1g carbs, .2g protein

Nacho flavored tortilla chips, reduced fat: 1 oz, 126 calories, 4g fat, 20g carbs, 2g protein

Nacho flavored tortilla chips: 1oz, 141 calories, 7g fat, 18g carbs, 1g protein

Potato chips: 1oz, 152 calories, 10g fat, 15g carbs, 2g protein

Potato chips, reduced fat: 1 oz, 134 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 2g protein

Raw baby carrots: 1 medium, 4 calories, 0 fat, .8g carbs, 0 protein

Pizza Hut cheese pizza: 1 slice (1/8 of a 12” medium pan pizza), 240 calories, 10g fat, 27g carbs, 11g protein

Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza: 1 slice (1/8 of a 12” medium pan pizza), 250 calories, 12g fat, 26g carbs, 11g protein

Grilled chicken breast: one 4.2 oz breast, 180 calories, 4g fate, 0 carbs, 35g protein

KFC Fiery hot Buffalo wing: one 1oz wing, 80 calories, 5g fat, g carbs, 4g protein

KFC extra crispy drumstick: one 2oz piece, 150 calories, 6g carbs, 11g protein

Chili (Wendy’s, with saltine crackers): 8 oz, 187 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 14g protein

Wheat bread: 1 slice, .9 oz., 65 calories, 1g fat,, 12g carbs, 2g protein

Italian combo on ciabatta (Panera): 1 sandwich, 1lb. 7 oz, 1050 calories, 47g fat, 94g carbs, 61g protein

Subway 6g of fat or less turkey breast & ham on wheat sandwich: 8.3oz, 296 calories, 4g fat, 48g carbs, 19g protein

Chocolate chip cookie: 2-1/4” from refrigerated dough. 59 calories, 3g fat, 8g carbs, 0.6g protein

Chocolate ice cream, Cold Stone Creamery: 5oz (like it), 326 calories, 20g fat, 33g carbs, 5g protein

Apple: medium, 95 calories, .4g fat, 25g carbs, .5g protein

What’s on your menu?

GO GIANTS!

Remember to visit and Like MyFoodMAPs on Facebook.

A Dozen Reasons We Eat When We’re Not Hungry

July 7, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Eating when you’re not hungry, or when you’re bored, angry, tired, procrastinating, or celebrating can push your calorie intake way up. The biggest problem is that we often don’t realize that we’re shoving food into our mouths – either because we’re distracted, we don’t want to know, or we just plain old don’t care.

Here are a dozen reasons and triggers for “mindless” eating:

“Cheap” calories – the kind you find at all you can eat restaurants, those freebie tastes in markets, “value meals,” and three courses for the price of two.
Bread and extras like butter, olive oil, and olives on the table or peanuts or pretzels at a bar. Way too tempting to pass up – especially if you’re hungry or you’ve walked in with the attitude that you “deserve” it because you’ve had a rotten day.
Opening your cabinet or refrigerator door and having your favorite snacks staring you in the face.
Procrastinating or avoiding doing what you have to do by having a snack.
Family gatherings that serve traditional and/or highly caloric foods that you wouldn’t normally eat – and a whole bunch of angst that causes you to eat.
Watching TV with a bag of chips or a bowl of candy on your lap.
Parties and events — especially when you drink — causing you to lose count and control of what you’re grabbing to eat.
Sitting near a vending machine or the snack room at work – and the candy bowls on a lot of desks.
Buffets – anywhere and everywhere . Oh, the heaps and piles of good looking food. Enough said.
Feeling tired, bored, angry, or “out-of-sorts” and looking for food as a “pick-me-up.”
Having a stressful – or boring –meeting especially when there’s a table full of food nearby.
Getting home, having no plan for dinner, and just picking and nibbling a ton of calories all evening.

What are your reasons?

When Should I Eat?

May 5, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Hunger is a basic survival mechanism. It’s what signals our brains that our bodies need nourishment and energy — and it drives us to eat for fuel. We’re born with this ability – think about babies and how they cry when they need food – and how they stop eating when they’re full.

Those of us who struggle with our weight are sometimes disconnected from the signals that tell us when we’re hungry and when we’re full and satisfied. Some of us don’t even feel hungry because we eat so frequently that we never get to the point where our bodies knock on the door to let us know that they’re hungry.

The Hunger Scale

There is a hunger scale to help identify how hungry you are before, during and after eating. The scale goes from 1 to 10 with 1 being ravenous and 10 being so full that you feel sick.

The Scale:

You’re ravenous and too hungry to give a hoot about what you eat
You’re starving and absolutely must eat immediately because you’re irritable, cranky, and have no energy
You’re hungry and the urge to eat is strong
Your hunger pangs are signaling the first signs of hunger; you’re a little hungry
You’re satisfied – not hungry but not full and you’re not aware of food in your stomach
You’re fully satisfied and are aware of food in your stomach
You’re very full, your stomach feels stretched, and you’re past the point of satisfaction but can still find room for more
You’re uncomfortable because your stomach is too full and you really wish you hadn’t had those last few bites
You’re stuffed, very uncomfortable, and your clothes feel very tight – that belt buckle or snap on your jeans doesn’t stand a chance
You’re beyond full and feel sick, miserable, and you don’t want to move

What Number?

If you’re at number 5 or above you’re not physically hungry and something else is triggering your eating.
If you’re at number 4 you can wait to eat or eat a little bit.
If you’re at a 2 or 3 it’s a good time to heat – have you noticed that food tastes pretty good when you’re hungry?
If you’re at number 1 you need to eat — but pay attention to what you’re doing. When you’re starving you don’t care too much about what or how much you eat – and usually shovel food in as quickly as possible – which can result in overeating (pigging out) and ending up at a 7 and up.
Gauge your hunger. If you’re only a little hungry, only eat a little. Preventive eating – or eating because you might be hungry in a little while – can cause you to pack in a lot of calories.