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Respecting Your Body’s Natural Hunger And Fullness Cues
As seen on BCTV May 4/99
RESPECTING YOUR BODY’S NATURAL HUNGER AND FULLNESS CUES
Ask yourself this question: Do you stop eating when you’re full or when the food is gone?
80% of the people I counsel say the latter, when the food is gone.
In looking at staying healthy it is important to tune into our fullness cues. Not doing so can result in such problems as pain/discomfort, heartburn or belching, bloating and gas, weight problems, energy problems and even guilt.
Here are a few tips to tune into your body’s cues:
(1) Rate hunger and fullness on a scale of 1 to 10. Level 1 would be the point where you are so hungry you have a headache. Level 10 is the point where you are so full you need to lie down and have serious gastric regret. The goal is to stop at Level 5. At this point your body has enough fuel to keep going and you are physically and psychologically satisfied.
(2) Realize that your stomach capacity is about 2 to 3 cups of food. Consistently eating volumes larger than this can be a problem if it leaves you over-stuffed.
(3) Portion out reasonable amounts of food and tell yourself that you can always have more if you need more. We eat with our eyes as much as with our stomach sometimes.
(4) Don’t treat your body like a garbage can by finishing off small or large amounts of food that you either don’t feel are worth saving or don’t want to waste.
Good Luck!
Watch for the Eating for Energy segment every Tuesday on BCTV’s Noon News Hour!
Article written by Patricia Chuey and reprinted with permission