Planning better Meal Times: Listen to your Body for Hunger/Fullness

Often, we have set meals planned. For example, breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm and dinner at 6pm. We don’t really go against it, whether we’re hungry or not. Have you ever eaten a breakfast or dinner when you’re not hungry? (Not caused by stress or anxiety, but because you’re simply not hungry).

Very important thing to remember:

Listen to your body.

Try and avoid eating if you’re not hungry, particularly feeling as if this is a meal you have to eat. Though when I say that, I don’t mean for people who have eating disorders, because the hunger/fullness is usually very accurate. But normally, our bodies are pretty smart in telling us whether you need food or not.

Eating when you’re not hungry or not eating when you are hungry can cause the liver stress and make your body overwork itself, which may even shorten lifespan.

There is also no need to finish your food when you are full, you can put it away and eat it later or even tomorrow. Just because you don’t finish the food, it doesn’t mean you have to waste it. Another tip is you may want to cook less so that there isn’t food available to be overeaten. That’s usually my perfect way of making sure I don’t eat till I’m so stuffed that I can’t even stand up.

What you can do:

Eat a meal around when you feel hungry, rather than set times for a specific meal.

Of course, if you are cooking for an entire family, you can find out the best time when everyone is usually hungry, or cook the food but leave it there and only eat it when you are hungry.

If you find yourself hungry after a meal, try and eat it slowly or get your mind off it. Often, I will feel hungry at first but after a while, I feel much fuller. Your body takes longer than you would think to get that fullness feeling, and most times we end up overeating because of it. If we eat slower and allow our bodies time, we give ourselves much more time to feel full. If you get really hungry at night, try snacking on some fruits or a tiny bit of nut butter.

Remember that a body free from constant exhaustion by overworking may just find its way around the world a lot longer!