One of the key components of intuitive eating, as outlined in the Intuitive Eating book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, is learning to recognize and respond to your body’s natural hunger and fullness signals. A powerful tool for doing this is the hunger scale, a guide designed to help you assess how hungry or full you are on a scale from 1 to 10. This scale is meant to help you tune into your body’s cues to know when it’s time to eat and when to stop.
However, while the hunger scale is a great starting point, learning to trust and understand your own hunger cues is an individualized process. No two bodies are exactly the same, and you’ll need to create your own unique hunger scale based on what works for you. Below, we’ll explore how to personalize this scale to fit your body’s needs, helping you cultivate a more mindful relationship with food.
Understanding the Hunger and Fullness Scale
The hunger and fullness scale from the Intuitive Eating book ranges from 1 (extremely hungry) to 10 (uncomfortably full). Here’s a breakdown of how the scale works:
- 1: Ravenous, starving, possibly feeling dizzy, weak, or shaky.
- 2: Very hungry, with a gnawing emptiness in your stomach.
- 3: Hungry and ready to eat, but not desperate.
- 4: Slightly hungry, your stomach is just starting to feel empty.
- 5: Neutral, neither hungry nor full.
- 6: Satisfied but could eat a little more.
- 7: Full, comfortably satisfied.
- 8: A little too full, starting to feel uncomfortable.
- 9: Very full, uncomfortable.
- 10: Overly full, possibly feeling sick or bloated.
This scale provides a framework for recognizing where you are in terms of hunger and fullness, but it’s important to remember that these numbers are just guidelines. The goal is not to perfectly fit yourself into this scale but to use it as a tool to help you better understand your body’s signals.
How to Personalize Your Hunger Scale
While the intuitive eating hunger scale offers a general guide, creating your own version requires paying close attention to your body and the unique ways it signals hunger and fullness. Here’s how you can customize the scale for yourself.
1. Assign Personal Cues to Each Level of Hunger
To start, take the 1-10 hunger scale and personalize it by identifying the physical and emotional signals your body gives at each point on the scale. Write down a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the hungriest you could be and 10 is the fullest you could feel. Then, begin to map out your body’s specific cues.
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For Hunger: At the lower end of the scale (1-3), think about what physical sensations you experience when you’re extremely hungry. Do you feel lightheaded or shaky? Does your stomach make audible growling sounds? Maybe you get irritable, fatigued, or dizzy. As you move higher on the hunger scale (3-5), note when your hunger feels milder but persistent, such as when you start thinking about food or feel a slight emptiness in your stomach.
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For Fullness: On the higher end of the scale (6-10), what do you notice when you’re getting full? Do you slow down your eating without realizing it? Do you start to lose interest in your food? When you’re overfull (8-10), do you feel bloated, uncomfortable, or sick? Write down these sensations so you can start associating them with the appropriate levels on the hunger scale.
By assigning your own personal signals to the scale, you’ll develop a more accurate sense of where you are in terms of hunger and fullness, allowing you to make better decisions about when to start and stop eating.
2. Notice Emotional and Mental Hunger
Hunger isn’t just physical; it can also be emotional or mental. For example, you might feel “hungry” when you’re bored, stressed, or craving comfort. While these feelings are valid, it’s important to recognize when hunger is emotionally driven rather than physiologically necessary.
To refine your hunger scale, pay attention to your thoughts and emotions when you think you’re hungry. Ask yourself, “Am I actually physically hungry, or am I craving something for emotional reasons?” This awareness can help you differentiate between true physical hunger and other forms of hunger, allowing you to respond to your body’s needs more mindfully.
3. Allow Flexibility as You Learn
It’s important to recognize that learning your own hunger cues is not a linear or perfect process. There will be days when you eat past fullness or when you don’t recognize hunger until it’s very strong. That’s okay. Your body is constantly changing, and the way it communicates hunger and fullness can vary based on factors like stress, activity levels, and even hormonal fluctuations.
Be patient with yourself and allow room for flexibility. The goal is not to follow the hunger scale rigidly, but to use it as a tool for greater self-awareness. The more you practice, the more intuitive your eating habits will become, and you’ll begin to trust your body’s signals.
Keeping a Journal to Understand Hunger Cues
A useful tool for learning your hunger cues is keeping a journal. Unlike traditional food diaries that track calories or portion sizes, this journal is about recording how you feel before, during, and after a meal. Here’s how to do it without falling back into diet mentality:
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Before a Meal: Write down how you feel in terms of hunger. Are you starving (a 1 or 2 on the scale), or just starting to feel slightly hungry (a 4 or 5)? Are there physical sensations, like a growling stomach or lightheadedness, that signal your hunger?
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During a Meal: Check in with yourself as you eat. Are you eating slowly, savoring your food, or rushing through it? As you approach fullness, what signals does your body give you? Do you feel content (6 or 7 on the scale), or are you starting to feel overfull (8 or higher)?
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After a Meal: Reflect on how you feel after eating. Did you stop when you felt satisfied, or did you eat past fullness? How does your body feel—energized, sluggish, or somewhere in between?
By documenting these feelings, you can start to notice patterns over time. For example, you might discover that eating too quickly often leads to overeating or that skipping breakfast makes you ravenously hungry later in the day. This kind of awareness is invaluable in developing a more intuitive relationship with food.
Tips for Honing Your Hunger Scale Over Time
1. Take Time to Reflect
At first, it may be difficult to distinguish between different levels of hunger or fullness, but with practice, you’ll become more in tune with your body’s signals. After each meal, take a few moments to reflect on your hunger and fullness levels and what you noticed about your body’s response to food.
2. Recognize the Influence of External Factors
Sometimes, external factors like stress, boredom, or social situations can interfere with your hunger and fullness cues. For instance, you may eat more when you’re at a party or social gathering, even if you’re not particularly hungry. Conversely, stress might suppress your hunger, even when your body needs food. As you refine your hunger scale, be mindful of these influences and learn to recognize when external factors are playing a role in your eating.
3. Practice Mindful Eating
One of the best ways to develop a more intuitive relationship with food is through mindful eating. This means paying close attention to the flavors, textures, and sensations of your food as you eat, as well as tuning into your body’s signals. Eating slowly and without distractions (like TV or your phone) can help you stay connected to your hunger and fullness cues.
Trusting Your Body to Guide You
Creating your own hunger scale is a powerful step toward trusting your body and developing a healthier relationship with food. By personalizing the scale to reflect your own physical and emotional cues, you can learn to honor your hunger and respect your fullness in a way that feels natural and sustainable.
Remember, intuitive eating is not about perfection. It’s about learning to listen to your body and respond to its needs in a compassionate and flexible way. As you practice using your hunger scale, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your body’s rhythms and develop the confidence to nourish yourself without the constraints of dieting.