Session 7 Hunger and barriers

This session will talk about:

1. Hunger: different types of hunger 

2. Food cues: what makes us want to eat, even if our bodies don’t need it

3. Managing barriers

Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.          -       Alfred A. Montapert

Hunger

Hunger isn’t always the same. There are 2 main types of hunger you probably experience during the day. 

Know your hunger

1	Completely Starving: headaches, nausea, irritable
2	Very hungry: any food will do, preoccupied with hunger and unable to concentrate
3	Fairly Hungry: stomach growling, hunger pangs, would like to eat now
4	Hungry: noticing hunger, can have time to think about what to eat
5	Neutral: neither hungry or full
6	Satisfied: had something to eat, could eat more if you tried
7	Full: Had enough food
8	Very Full: Maybe food does not look appealing anymore
9	Very Uncomfortably Full: Feeling stuffed to the brim
10	Extremely Full: can be a bit painful, feeling sick or nauseous

Keeping between 3 and 7 is a helpful range. If we become too hungry, we are more likely to overeat and make poor decisions on what to eat. If we’ve become too full, we’ve likely eaten more than our bodies need which makes it hard to manage our weight.  

Eating Cues

Imagine that every time you heard a bell, you got given a piece of chocolate. Eventually, you would learn to expect to have some chocolate each time you heard that bell. Perhaps when you hear the bell, you start to get ready to enjoy that chocolate; maybe start craving it a little, until you get that piece of chocolate. 

Humans are really good at learning these sorts of signals; because food is so important to us surviving, we get very clued in to what signals equal food. This is natural. The problem is, today’s world is completely full of eating signals, so that we are constantly being encouraged to eat! To make things harder, the food signals around us are rarely for healthy foods; think about how often you see an advertisement for a burger, compared to some carrots. 

Part of having healthy eating habits is identifying what eating signals or cues we have around us, and changing some of them. These signals can occur across our 5 senses; they may be things that we see, and also things we may smell, touch, hear, or taste. 

What eating signals can you think of that you would normally experience? Think about things you see, hear about, smell, feel or taste. Write them in the left box below.

Pick some of the eating signals you wrote down, and think of ways of changing them. Write that down in the right box above. For example:

Making new cues

Eating cues aren’t always bad – they can also be used to promote healthy behaviours. For example, signs encouraging people to eat 2 fruits a day are an example of a helpful cue. 

Create some new cues for yourself to engage in healthy behaviours: here are some ideas you can use:

1. Signs and notes for yourself on the fridge/pantry

2. Fruit on the counter at home or at work, rather than lollies or snacks

3. A timer on the dinner table

4. Phone alarms, such as reminders to drink water regularly

What will you do to make cues for healthy behaviours?

Internal eating cues

The eating cues we have aren’t always outside of us. Often, our own thoughts and feelings can be linked to wanting to eat and looking for food. Feeling stressed out, tired or bored are common internal eating cues. 

Are there any internal eating signals that you would normally respond to? Write them in the red box below.

What could you do to manage these signals? What are different ways to dealing with these thoughts and feelings that don’t involve food?

Goal Setting

What’s your next nutrition goal? 

Look back at the nutrition non-negotiables and pick the next one you will achieve this week.

What’s your physical activity goal? 

What can you do from this week’s information? 

What can you try from this week?

Summary

By next week…

By next week, you will have…

1. Worked on your next nutrition goal 

2. Worked on your physical activity goal 

3. Worked on something you learned from this week’s information, such as monitoring our hunger levels, or recognising our own eating cues and intercepting them

4. Continued with monitoring your food and activity levels 

5. Continued working on your social goal