Physical Hunger & Emotional Hunger: What’s The Difference?
Did you know that there are essentially 2 types of hunger?
Physical Hunger and Emotional Hunger
After I did a Facebook Live recently on the topic of developing a better relationship with food, I received some questions having to do with hunger; and how to tell the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger.
So, that’s the focus of this post. I wanted to take some time and answer that because it definitely IS something to make sure we understand.
This was one of the topics that I learned when training as Health Coach.
First of all, Physical Hunger:
• Comes on gradually
• Feel physical sensations or physical manifestations (stomach growls, or gurgles, feels empty, maybe you get a headache)
• Happens several hours after a meal
• Hunger can wait (I can wait, I’m making dinner so, I know I’ll be eating soon)
• A variety of foods sound good (snacking on an apple or some carrots or on some nuts and seeds)
• Stops when you’re full
• Eating doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself
Emotional Hunger:
• Comes on suddenly
• Feels like you just have to eat right now
• Is unrelated to when the last time you ate
• Craves specific comfort foods
• Doesn’t stop with a full stomach
• Triggers feelings of guilt, shame & powerlessness
One important thing to keep in mind is that what hunger feels like might be different for everyone.
Take a pause, take some time to allow yourself to get hungry and make note of the physical sensations you experience.
Another question that I was asked was, “Is it physical hunger if I eat dinner and about an hour later, I’m still hungry?” Very good question right?
Here again, what hunger FEELS like might be different for everyone. And, it DOES take some time to learn what our individual hunger sensations, physical hunger sensations, are.
It takes time and practice to start to notice what type of hunger we may be experiencing. This is especially the case if you’re not used to doing this.
So here’s something you might want to try the next time you’re feeling hungry but not really able to identify the specific type of hunger.
You want to be able to tune-in to your body.
Now, if you’re the kind of person who’s constantly busy and rushing around, and really, that’s all of us to some degree, this tuning in to your body can be a little difficult to do at first because it’s something we’re probably just not used to doing.
So, this is why for the first few times, I always ask my clients to tune out the external noise by asking them to close their eyes.
So, go ahead and close your eyes and mentally scan your body. Scan your body for any sensations, any physical sensations. This is an important part of paying attention and learning to listen to our bodies.
If you find that there are really no physical sensations of hunger in your body, then this will be a good indicator to turn your attention to your thoughts.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are feeling emotional hunger, no amount of food is going to really satisfy that. Food is not going to fulfill emotional hunger; it can mask it for a while, but it won’t fulfill it.
This is when you want to just get curious. Really try to identify what you’re feeling.
For example, ask yourself, “Am I bored, upset?”
“Am I sad or frustrated or angry?”
“Am I stressed or anxious?”
“Am I excited and happy?”
So, identify that feeling. It may take some time, but with continued practice, it’ll get easier. Once you know and have identified that feeling, the next step is to ask yourself “why?” “Why am I feeling such-and-such?” So, “why am I feeling stressed or sad right now?”
I’d like to take a moment here and just remind you that you may have been using food as a distraction from something else. So, it really is important to be patient and understanding with yourself. Think of this as a journey. You’ll want to focus and be curious at each step of the journey and not necessarily view this as getting to the end result as soon as possible so you can move on to something else.
This is a process and you can’t rush a process. I like to think of it as you’re getting to know yourself, you’re dating or courting yourself. And that takes time right?
Sometimes, we learn that hunger might NOT be the problem but rather, it just might be a symptom of something else. Something else that we need.
So, when you realize that you’re not physically hungry but rather you’re feeling emotionally hungry, and you’ve identified the feeling/feelings that you’re experiencing, the next step is to have a drink of water take a pause and think about why.
Why are you feeling such-and-such. Why are you feeling sad or upset, or whatever that feeling is for you.
Have you been stressed at work? How?
What have been the triggers?
Are there any people who are getting to you and stressing you out?
Have you been working longer hours?
Have the kids been sick?
By doing this, and maybe even putting it down in writing in a journal, and then taking a look at how you’re feeling, and the possible reasons why, you can then get a clearer picture, a clearer understanding of what you really need — of what you’re truly “hungering” for.
So, let’s say that by doing this exercise, you see that you’re feeling stressed out and that it’s most likely because of longer days at work. You’ve been extremely busy with no time for yourself. Now, armed with that information, you can address what you really need — you don’t need physical food but rather, you may need some time for yourself, some time to unwind.
Now, you can think of ways to address that need. Maybe you can take a walk. Maybe call up a friend and catch up. Maybe you can listen to a podcast, or take a nap. What’s wrong with that right?
I think you can see here that if it’s your emotions and emotional well-being that need to be fulfilled, you can’t do it with any amount of food.
Understanding that there are 2 types of hunger and being able to identify which of these types you’re dealing with is such a vital tool when it comes to implementing this on a consistent basis. So the
next time you’re hungry, and you’ve already eaten, try this out.
Press the pause button, scan your body to see if you can identify some physical sensations and see how this might impact your ability to make healthier choices for yourself.