’m certainly not what you’d call a ‘foodie’. I have the metabolism of a dead wombat so my main priority when it comes to food is to get as much bang for my buck as possible. High protein, low calorie and anything that will keep me the fullest for the longest. One thing I really struggle with when it comes to food is stopping when I’m full (I do everything very quickly including eating) and habit/boredom/stress eating. I’ve certainly developed better habits over the years of dealing with these issues but sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that I might not actually be hungry when I have a bowl of cereal in the afternoon or a piece of toast after dinner.
I started doing the 5:2 diet about a year ago and it’s really taught me a lot about hunger, how it works and how being hungry is not going to kill me. Here’s how to tell if you’re actually hungry – ask yourself these three questions…
Are you hungry enough to eat a bowl of steamed greens?
If you find yourself sneaking into the fridge to grab a slice of cheese or breaking into the biscuits at 10am this is the question you need to ask yourself. Are you hungry enough to eat a bowl of steamed greens? If the answer is yes, you should probably make yourself a bowl of steamed greens. If you’re genuinely hungry, you should eat real food. Biscuits and cheese snacks are fine in moderation but if you start eating these foods when you’re in need of a proper meal, one biscuit turns into 5 very quickly, so make sure you treat real hunger seriously.
Are you upset/stressed/bored or procrastinating?
This type of eating generally occurs in the afternoons, when people start to lose their steam from working all day. If you find yourself at the fridge, just staring into it for no reason, it’s highly unlikely that you’re actually hungry and what you need is a break, not food. If you’re upset, stressed, bored or procrastinating you should go for a walk, have a cup of tea or a coffee, read a book or magazine (no screens) or call a friend for a chat.
Are you thirsty?
My body loves to confuse hunger with thirst so I make sure I drink at least one glass of water every hour. There are several water reminder apps available (I use Drink Water because it’s compatible with my Apple Watch and it taps me on the wrist and reminds to drink water) or you can set manual alarms on your phone or desktop. I used to work in an office with a mate of mine and we had a kitchen timer that we’d set for 60 minutes to remind us to drink water. Water is hunger’s friend so make sure they hang out often.
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Do you have issues trying to figure out if you’re hungry? Do you have any fixes you’d like to share?
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