It’s Okay to Be Hungry

It’s okay to be hungry.

It really is.

What’s your reaction to that, hmm?

Is it something like:

“She’s nuts.”

“Tell that to the starving people of the world.”

“It isn’t okay for ME to be hungry.”

How about this: “It’s okay to be hungry and to not eat.”

Did you roll your eyes? Do you feel resistance? Do you want to argue with me?

When I first heard someone in the stop-overeating world talking that way, my brain almost exploded! I thought all the things, just like you just did.

Yet, once I let those ideas settle in, I felt an opening. A shift. I started to believe it. “Yes! It IS okay to be hungry.”

Only, we never let ourselves get hungry. We never let ourselves FEEL hungry.

We pre-eat, for Pete’s sake!

Why?

Well, one reason is that over the years, we’ve developed eating habits that society has conditioned us to follow.

We eat how we think we’re “supposed to” eat.

We don’t wait until we’re hungry; we eat just because “it’s time.” For example, ever since my son was just a little chappy, he has headed straight for the kitchen almost immediately upon waking up. He makes a pitstop and then he’s ready to eat. Not because he is hungry, necessarily; he hasn’t even had time for hunger to register. In his mind, eating follows getting out of bed, no matter what. It’s automatic. A habit unrelated to hunger.

And, we think we need to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Three squares a day, we say.

Oh, and don’t forget the snacks!

–       Snacks mid-morning

–       Snacks mid-afternoon

–       Snacks before and after a workout

Mahjongg night? Gotta have snacks for the girls.

At parties, we always eat.

Family get-togethers? Oy, don’t even get me started.

Hunger? What’s that??

It’s not our fault. It’s the way humans have celebrated life for millennia. And there isn’t anything inherently wrong with it.

But, if you are someone who wants to stop overeating, allowing yourself to feel hungry again can be a very helpful tool.

I love to feel hungry.

I really do. I get excited when I feel hungry. I even CREATE the feeling of hunger intentionally. (I see you rolling your eyes again.)

Because I know It means my body is ready for fuel. And if I allow the hungry feeling and decide not to eat right away, my body starts using the fuel that’s already stored (raise your hand if you know what that fuel is… it has 3 letters, starts with an F and ends in a T).

And when I finally do decide to eat, I feel just a tiny bit justified because I waited until I felt hungry.

Here are some self-coaching ideas for you to try to start teaching yourself that it’s okay to be hungry.

A Taste of Self-Coaching

Ask your brain how you can start believing that being hungry is GOOD? Then listen for the answer.

Try on a new thought about it, like “I love to feel hungry,” and see if it lands for you. If it doesn’t, try a different thought.

Work on recognizing your “hunger bell.” When it rings, know that you get to choose how to respond.

Keep stretching the time between noticing you’re hungry and reaching for something to eat.

Before long, you may even look forward to feeling hungry, too.

Take responsibility for your actions. They are always caused by your thoughts and feelings. And, they create your life’s results.