Real Hunger

Happy Wednesday. So I was planning on posting everything I ate yesterday, but I dropped my camera. It now is broken. One positive is that I ate the same exact meals yesterday as I did Monday. I was looking back at my food journal and I really did eat the same meals. Maybe an extra cucumber in my salad, but that is it. I guess I am just a creature of habit. I also don't like having opened containers lying around, so if I open a can of beans, I eat them in all my meals until they are gone. I just finished my oatmeal and waffle with Fage yogurt breakfast and letting my food settle before I hit the gym for a treadmill session.



Lately I have been noticing that I want to snack often. Even more so at night. At first I had a hard time deciphering "real hunger" from just boredom or thirst. I finally found a few tricks to help me determine what it is I am really feeling.

1. Drink a glass of water. I drink Diet Coke all the time. I do drink a bottle of water between each soda, but I think often times I mistake hunger and thirst. Before I reach for a snack I drink a bottle of water and wait 10min. Often times I find that is all it takes for the craving to subside. If I still feel it after 10min, then I will eat something.


2. Am is stressed? I am an emotional eater. I find myself reaching for cookies and carbs when I am stressed out. One way I can tell is that I will grab something and stuff it in my mouth while standing in the kitchen. I am very good about eating all of my meals on a plate, sitting down, so if I find myself trying to stuff a piece of bread in my mouth before sitting down at the table, I usually can tell it is emotional eating. I have this sense of urgency in my eating when it is emotional.


3. The easiest way for me to tell real hunger is by what I want to eat. If I am truly hungry, I will eat veggies, broccoli, fruit, anything sounds good. If it is emotions or boredom I usually only want carby, sugary food. If I am craving only these items, it is never true hunger. Usually it is fatigue or boredom.

Now I don't always follow this thought process. Sometimes that cookie makes it into my mouth before I even have time to think about anything. But I am trying to be a more mindful eater. By asking myself these questions I am able to have more control over what and when I eat.

I am off to the gym. Have a great Wednesday.