Emotional Hunger vs. Physical Hunger
A lot of people struggle knowing when they’re truly hungry or if it’s more emotional hunger. Especially if you’ve been a chronic dieter, have a lot stress, or restrict certain foods, it can be easy to emotionally eat. Here are some differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger so that you can better understand what you’re feeling!
Emotional: Your hunger comes on very quickly and intensely. Instead of going from a 2 to 3 to 4, etc. It goes from 0 to 10 extremely fast.
Physical: You notice your hunger cues gradually increase between meals/snacks. You slowly go from 4 to 5 to 6.
Emotional: Food suggestions bring on cravings. If someone suggests a certain food, that food suddenly sounds really good and you may ruminate on that food.
Physical: You're open to several types of foods with the goal of satisfying your hunger and still enjoying your food.
Emotional: Your desire to eat increases with certain emotions, like stress, anxiety, boredom, or frustration.
Physical: You notice physical hunger signs, like an empty or growling stomach, salivating mouth, or noticing smells.
Emotional: You eat mindlessly. You don't notice when you're filling up and may not notice how much you've eaten until you feel overfull. You may eat mechanically, for instance, eating from a bag of chips and continuously grabbing another chip without thinking about it.
Physical: You notice your body's fullness cues coming on as you eat. You begin to feel satisfied and the food may start to taste boring as you finish up.
Emotional: You often think that you will feel guilty after you've eaten.
Physical: You understand that your body needs nourishment and are able to eat to provide energy while also being able to enjoy your food. You can leave your meal without looking back.
Emotional: It's hard to feel a sense of satisfaction, no matter how much you've eaten. Even when you're extremely full, you still feel unsatisfied.
Physical: As you eat, you slowly become more satisfied and are able to enjoy your food. You are able to stop when you're full.
If you struggle with emotional eating frequently and have a hard time recognizing physical hunger, our therapists and dietitian can help! Therapists can help teach you coping skills to deal with stress and anxiety that often can lead to emotional eating. Our dietitian can help you learn how to recognize real hunger and practice mindfulness around food.