Hunger and Fullness Cues in Eating Disorder Recovery
Written by CCTC Staff Writer
Hunger and fullness cues are important signals that our body uses to tell us when to eat and when to stop. For people with eating disorders, these signals can be distorted or ignored altogether. In this blog post, we will discuss hunger and fullness cues in eating disorder recovery, and how you can tune into your body's natural signals to help maintain your health and well-being.
Read on to learn more about:
How an eating disorder impacts hunger and fullness cues
What other factors impact our hunger and fullness cues
Physical and emotional hunger
The hunger and fullness scale
Relying on support in recovery
How to begin tuning into hunger and fullness cues
How an eating disorder impacts hunger and fullness cues
When someone is struggling with an eating disorder, their relationship with food changes. This means that hunger and fullness cues may be ignored, disregarded, or even seen as dangerous.
For someone with anorexia nervosa, for example, the fear of eating and gaining weight can override any feelings of hunger. Or, someone with bulimia nervosa might eat large amounts of food in a short period and then purge (through vomiting or using laxatives as examples) to get rid of the calories. This can lead to a cycle of bingeing and purging that makes it difficult to tune into natural hunger and fullness cues.
What other factors impact our hunger and fullness cues
When a child begins eating on their own, they are learning to tune into their hunger and fullness cues. But as we get older, several other factors can impact our relationship with food and our ability to tune into those hunger and fullness cues.
For example, dieting or restriction can lead to feelings of constant hunger. Or, if we're used to eating large meals, we might not feel full until we've eaten a certain amount of food. Other factors such as stress, anxiety, or depression can also impact our hunger and fullness cues.
Diet culture can also create an environment where we're constantly thinking about food and our bodies. Many of us begin to look at food as 'good' and 'bad' or things that are acceptable or are bad. This can lead to an obsession with calorie counting, food tracking, and other weight-loss behaviors that can make it difficult to tune into natural hunger and fullness signals.
A good way to assess how your hunger and fullness cues may have been affected is to think about what your relationship would look like in the absence of outside influences and labeling. What foods would you eat? How would you assess when and what to eat? How would you know if something satisfied you? Once you give that some thought, think about your relationship with food now. How are these external factors stopping you from tuning in and trusting your body?
Physical hunger & emotional hunger
Eating disorders are extremely connected to our emotions and the way we cope with them. When we're feeling overwhelmed, sad, anxious, or angry, we might turn to food as a way to cope. This is often referred to as emotional eating.
Emotional eating can lead us to ignore our physical hunger cues and eat even when we're not hungry. It's important to be able to distinguish between physical hunger and emotional hunger. Physical hunger is when your body is physically causing you to eat, while emotional hunger is when you're eating in response to an emotion.
The feeling of hunger is a biological signal, when it is ignored then your body begins to lose trust that you will feed it when it cues you. This can continue the cycle of disordered eating.
Hunger & fullness scale
In many eating disorder programs or when working with a dietitian, a hunger and fullness scale is commonly used to help people begin to determine their hunger levels. There are many different types of scales but all have a similar idea with numbers assigned from intense hunger to extreme fullness.
An example of this is a scale that goes from 1-10.
1 - Intense/painful hunger --> Feeling dizzy, nauseous, physically ill
2 - Extreme hunger --> Sensing emptiness in stomach, headache, irritability or moody, anxious, everything sounds/looks good
3 - Very hungry --> Growling in stomach, distracted by food, inability to focus, low energy
4 - Hungry --> Sense of emptiness in stomach, ready to eat but with the absence of urgency
5 - Neutral --> Not full or hungry, neutral
6 - Slightly full --> Some signs of fullness, not satisfied and can eat more
7 - Satisfied & comfortably full --> Feeling of satisfaction, comfortably full
8 - Slightly overfull --> A little bit too full, feeling uncomfortable
9 - Very full --> Uncomfortable and stuffed
10 -Intense/painfully full --> Feeling sick, nauseous, or ill
Relying on support in recovery
When you are in recovery from an eating disorder or are working on your relationship with food after chronic dieting, the hunger and fullness scale may be hard to use at first. This is when relying on the support of a dietitian can be extremely helpful. They can help create structure and regulate your eating habits for consistency through a meal plan. That consistent eating will aid in allowing you to develop stronger cues and the ability to identify where you are on the scale.
How to start tuning into hunger and fullness cues
The first step in tuning into your hunger and fullness cues is to become aware of them. This may sound obvious, but it can be difficult to do if you've been ignoring or suppressing these signals for a long time. Start by paying attention to when you feel hunger pangs or an empty stomach. These are physical cues that your body is ready for food.
Another way to become more in tune with your hunger and fullness cues is to eat without distractions. This means no TV, phone, or book. Sit down at the table and focus on your food. Pay attention to the taste, texture, and smell of your food. This will help you to really savor your meal and be more aware of when you're getting full.
The final way to start tuning into hunger and fullness cues is to eat slowly. This can be difficult if you're used to eating quickly or on the go. But it's important to take the time to savor your food and really pay attention to how it makes your body feel. Eating slowly will help you to be more in tune with your hunger and fullness cues and prevent you from overeating.
Related: 5 Tips For Meal Time in Eating Disorder Recovery
Tuning into your hunger and fullness cues is an important part of eating disorder recovery. It can help you to develop a healthier relationship with food and your body. If you're having trouble tuning into your hunger and fullness cues, seek out the help of a dietitian or other eating disorder professional.
At Central Coast Treatment Center, our goal is to help our clients build a healthy relationship with food. If you are interested in learning more about our holistic treatment programs, contact us today to discuss how we can help you on the journey to recovery.