“Stuffed” — How did I get here…again?
The ‘eating boundary’ scale is a helpful tool used in Intuitive Eating for gauging hunger and fullness.
Being at a level “1” can be described as feeling ravenous, weak, so hungry you can barely climb a flight of stairs. While a level “10” equates to severely stuffed, so full it’s hard to move, let alone — keep the top button of your jeans fastened. I think we’ve all been to both sides of the spectrum at least a couple of times. 😅 Am I right?
In brief summary, the hunger-fullness scale provides a description for numbers 0-10:
Extreme hunger (0-2)
Moderate hunger (3-4)
Neutral, not hungry or full (5-6)
Moderate satiety (7)
Slightly uncomfortable satiety (8)
Extreme/uncomfortable satiety (9-10)
At what level of fullness do YOU find yourself eating to most often?
For many people, uncomfortable levels of satiety are actually the most familiar! In fact, it can take a lot of intention and practice to become well acquainted with a level 7.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying there’s a hard rule, that you must stop at a “7,” every time you eat. Let’s keep it real. 💯 For instance, if you’re out for a fancy dinner at a high end restaurant, it’s not unlikely to want to intentionally eat a bit extra, both for the enjoyability and the unique experience. Or let’s say it’s Thanksgiving Day and Grandma’s famous apple pie is fresh out of the oven… Even after the big holiday feast, you may likely still indulge in that dessert, and that’s OK.
While there are exceptions for eating to an 8-9, allow me to say – It feels REALLY GOOD to get into a habit of practicing awareness and timely response to your body’s built in satiety signals. After all, they’re there for good reason!
7 common causes for eating to uncomfortable levels of fullness:
You might be…
Eating at too rapid a pace. 🏃♀️
Not eating enough of calories or a particular macronutrient earlier in the day. 🚫🥖
Distracted or multi-tasking while you eat. (T.V., phone, working at your desk or from the car, etc.) 📲
Planning to restrict or diet in the near future, which inspires a “last supper” mentality. 💭
Eating a “forbidden food,” something you wouldn’t normally allow yourself to enjoy (i.e. “cheat days”). 🍪
Experiencing social anxiety. 😨
Turning to food as a means of emotional comfort or distraction. 😭
Which of these examples do you relate to most?
Maybe you’re familiar with language like, “food coma” or “binge eating,” but perhaps you’ve never really considered your behavior around food on a deeper level. Sometimes we’re so focused on making behavioral changes such as “eating less” that we don’t explore the reason for the current behavior.
Intuitive Eating approaches nutrition with curiosity and exploration... Two very important factors to help you get to the ROOT of what’s actually going on between YOU (your brain and body) and food.
Feeling a sense of awareness and being in control (from a place of peace, not fear) of your behavior around food is a beautiful part of the “food freedom” journey! 🙌
Are you ready to enter your ‘food freedom’ era?
Have you spent most of adolescent and adult years trying to shrink or shape your body without really connecting to what your body may be communicating? From hunger-fullness, satisfaction, energy, mood, emotion, hormones, macronutrients, and MORE – there is much to be discovered about your body’s nutritional needs.
If you’d like to learn more about the Intuitive Eating approach, I invite you to join me for a 12-week deep-dive journey! Able Together is a group program designed to help you establish a better and healthier relationship with food & body for the long haul.
There’s no better time! Winter-Spring program begins in just 1 week on January 31, 2023. Click here to schedule a FREE 30-minute chat today.
I’d be honored to guide and support you on this very personal journey towards peace with food & body. Let’s gooo! 👏
♡♡
Grace Lopez, RD, LD/N, CLC, CPT
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist