On Being Hungry

Last night I started reading Breaking Free from Emotional Eating and although I didn't get too deep into it (I was tired and fell asleep) one of my first take always was this: eat when you are hungry. The assumption behind that statement is that we eat when we're not hungry primary out of habit or of something mascaraing as hunger, e.g. depressions, boredom, schedule.

Perhaps it's explained later but my first thought was what's it supposed to feel like to be hungry? Is it this pinching feeling in my GI track that I've described? Is it when my stomach growls? Is it when my head says it's time to eat? My immediate next thought was what is being full supposed to feel like? I know what I feel like when I'm over full, but what's that stoppage point feel like?

Those are some really basic questions that get to the heart of eating and stopping the eating process. It's one thing to know what can help trigger and stop the hunger in terms of hormones and higher order processes, but if I'm to eat when hungry and stop when full it'll have to be based on body feelings that I'm not paying attention to right now.

Some other items she mentioned doing I'm doing in this blog: keeping a food log with dates and times. She suggested adding a hunger level along with that and writing down feelings and observations. Honesty in reporting is important also. I have to be honest with myself and others about what I'm doing with my eating.

The book had great reviews, which had a lot to do with why I purchased it. I'm interested in reading more.