Using your hunger meter.

Using Your Hunger Meter

Article By: Melissa Sperl



Your body sends you signals when it's hungry and when it's had enough food — the trick is learning to recognize them. Here's an exercise that will help you learn to spot your satiety level and find success.


In general, seemingly naturally thin people eat when they're hungry and stop when they're satisfied. That's part of the reason staying thin comes easier to them than it may feel like it does for you.

The secret is that you, too, can train yourself to recognize your hunger and satisfaction rates. You've probably heard your Leader or other meeting members discussing it: By being conscious of your body's hunger pangs and satisfaction signals, you, too, will be able to limit eating to when your body's hungry, and to stop when it has had enough.

Consider the following questions:



On a scale of 1 to 5, would you say your body's hunger signals are easy to recognize (1), or hard to spot (5)? Or somewhere in between?

How often would you say you eat when you aren't hungry?

Never.
Sometimes.
Always.

How do you usually feel when you decide to stop eating?

Comfortable.
Stuffed.
Ill or pained.
Now that you have a little insight into the state of your hunger meter, try this exercise: Regularly use your Hunger Signals chart to in the Plan Manager, or in your paper Tracker, to record how hungry (1) or not hungry (5) you are when you start eating. Pay attention to how these ratings change, and over time, you'll learn to recognize your body's hunger language with increasing accuracy — a surefire step toward success.

In your next meeting, chat with some other members about how they monitor their hunger meter. Other meeting members (and your leader!) are always a terrific source of ideas and tips that actually work.