Mindful eating is paying attention to whether you eat because of physiological hunger or head hunger. Physiological hunger is the need to eat. It’s your body’s way to let you know it’s time to fuel up. Signals for physiological hunger include stomach grumbling or growling, feeling shaky, lack of focus, drop in energy, irritability, headaches or food becoming a dominant thought.
Head hunger is when you want to eat without physiological hunger. This is also called non-hunger eating. Triggers for head hunger include stress, emotions, aromas, coping, comfort, reward, mood, taste, social situations, boredom, habit, coping, visual cues (“I see it, I want it”), grazing, or watching TV or a movie.
If you haven’t had surgery yet, start asking yourself if you need to eat or want to eat when you reach for food. This will take some time to practice if you are in the habit of mindless eating. When you reach for food and you don’t know what type of hungry you are, give yourself 5-10 minutes to assess why you are reaching out for food. Ask yourself when was the last time you had something to eat? What triggered you to reach for food?
If you have had surgery, this can be more difficult because you don’t have much hunger after surgery. Developing a schedule of meals and snacks to meet your protein goal is an essential strategy. Patients report that a drop in energy, becoming irritable, feeling shaky and not being able to focus are cues to eat after surgery.
Are you finding yourself eating as a way to cope with difficult situations? This would be a good time to work with your psychologist and dietitian to learn healthier coping skills.
Information provided by Rene Norman, RD/LD, bariatric dietitian.