Hunger Scale and Emotional Eating - Are you Really Hungry?

The majority of the time when people eat, they are not truly hungry.  This may sound crazy, but the facts are that many times, people “think” they are hungry because they are bored, sad, happy, etc.  They like to go for the refrigerator when they simply do not know what else to do or how to gain control of their eating habits.  See also our Can't Stop Eating article.

The Hunger Scale was created to help you determine to what degree you are hungry.  This scale was developed by Barbara Craighead, PhD.  The Hunger Scale is very simple to follow and is a tool you can use to help you gain control of your hunger.

The Hunger Scale ranges from 1 to 7.  Here is the breakdown of the scale:

1 - Very hungry2 - Moderately hungry3 - Mildly hungry4 - Neutral (no feeling)5 – Mildly full6 – Very full7 – Much too full

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The Hunger Scale can help you determine if you are eating for reasons other than that you are hungry.  How can the Hunger Scale help you do this?  It will force you to determine if you are truly hungry.  By referring to the Hunger Scale, you will focus your attention to your stomach.  You can tell if your stomach is starving or if it is actually full.

If you are trying to eat food when your stomach feels just a little full or more, then there is likely some other reason why you are eating.  This is called emotional eating.  Emotional eating is when your emotions, not your hunger triggers you to eat.  Often times, when a person is eating in response to feelings rather than hunger, they will binge their food at one sitting, which can lead to overeating.

Everyone is different; however, there are some similar triggers that can be customized to your individual situation.  To determine what triggers you to eat, you must pay close attention to the time and things that are happening around the time you have the urge to eat.  The first thing you will want to do is to refer to the Hunger Scale.  The Hunger Scale will help you to decide if you are eating because you truly are hungry.  If you find that you are not “truly” hungry, then it is time to dig deeper.

It is advised that you start a food diary.  In this diary, you will want to write down the time you feel the urge to eat, what you ate, and how you were feeling at the time.  This is the best way to narrow down the reasons of why you are eating when your Hunger Scale tells you that you are not hungry.

Think about how you are feeling.  Are you sad or mad?  Are you bored or just hanging out with friends?  After you eat something, do you feel guilty that you ate?  Do advertisements work on you?  Do you actually feel better when you are depressed because it keeps your focus off of your true problems?

Keeping a food diary will help you decide why you eat when you are not hungry.  Once you determine these reasons, it is time to take control.  To gain control, you will need to face the problems you are having or make changes to your routine.  If you eat because you are bored, you need to find other things to occupy your time.  If you are eating because you are sad or mad, you must figure out a way to fix the problems in your life or find other ways to vent.

The Hunger Scale is an excellent tool and should be part of your everyday eating routine.  Simply paying attention to what your stomach is telling you will be the key to maintaining and losing weight.

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