Physical Hunger and Emotional Hunger are two completely different things.
Both; however, can affect your health and weight.
Here’s a quick summary of physical hunger and emotional hunger.
Tips to knowing the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger:
If you’re not certain, eat a piece of fruit or a veggie…
If you’re not feeling as hungry then it was physical hunger.
If you’re still craving something then you’re leaning towards emotional hunger.
If you think you’re reaching for something to eat because of an emotional/mental need:
go for a short walk
drink a glass of water
take the dog for a walk (or play with the cat)
go check your email
read a blog
do anything to take your mind away from it’s current train of thought
Tell me what you eat, I’ll tell you who you are.
~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Really think before you eat…
and know why you’re eating what you’re eating.
If you need assistance with your eating habits or want to transition to clean eating, consider hiring a coach to help you.
Eat to live, not live to eat
~ Marcus Cicero
Question of the day
What do you do to keep yourself busy instead of randomly grabbing things to eat?
Usually I just need to give myself a few minutes of thinking to question whether I am truly hungry or just eating to eat. If I think about it, I’ll typically drink a glass of water, and if I’m still hungry afterwards, then I’ll go for it 🙂
great post! I am a “bordem” eater and I def need to get that under control!
Love this!! I totally need to try eating a piece of fruit or some veggies when I’m not sure! I’ve tried drinking water and that never works haha
Great post – it is SO easy to fall into the emotional or mindless eating trap, and sometimes it can be damn near impossible to squash the urge to mindlessly munch if you aren’t paying super close attention to your body cues. I have battled it for a long time but have finally gotten it under control (for the MOST part, when PMS strikes, it’s much more difficult for me!). For me, I try to down a bunch of water if I am not actually hungry but am inching towards the mindless munch, or I’ll make some tea. OR I’ll do like you said and switch my focus – read some blogs, go for a walk, do some laundry, ANYTHING to get my mind off of food and onto something else.
This is a problem many people have. They do not even recognize when they are hungry or just thirsty.
I make sure I drink a couple of glasses of water and try to find something to keep me busy. If I still want something 15 minutes later, I eat something small. Usually though, I’ve managed to head it off. I’m a huge emotional eater – when I’m sad, when I’m bored, when I’m angry… I have to work really hard to not do it.
The one I suffer the most is the emotional hunger. I am always craving for something sweet, and it gets worst on winter time. The colder it gets the more I want some comfort food!
Great post Tara. I still find myself struggling with emotional eating; most often it’s ‘that time of the month’ related. Being able to recognize it and call it what it is helps a lot with walking out of the kitchen!
I don’t think my problem is knowing the difference between the physical hunger and emotional hunger but the problem is really say NO to the emotional hunger. I am not very good at this.i always give in. Tonight it is rye bread toast. Ugh
such an important post, Tara.
great post! i used to struggle with emotional eating, well i know any people do. it can be hard with stress and just the ups and downs of life to eat emotionally. i keep myself busy with work and that usually helps me stop eating 😉