~*26 The Hunger Scale

The Hunger Scale

1. You’re so hungry you feel light-headed
2. You need to eat, you feel irritable
3. Your tummy is rumbling a bit
4. You’re starting to feel like food
5. You feel just right – perfectly comfortable
6. You’re a little full
7. You’re a bit uncomfortable
8. You feel very full and bloated
9. Your stomach is so full it hurts a little
10. You’ve eaten so much you’re going to die

I’ve heard about using this before and thought it was stupid.  How can someone be so dumb as to need a scale of 1 to 10 to get them to stop eating?  I had a guest speaker come for my lecture today on eating disorders.  She explained that anoretics usually spend a long time in the 1 or 2 hunger range before eating and  that bulimics and binge eaters will spend a little while in the 1 or 2 range and then binge to the 8-10 phase.  She explained it in terms of air, thirst, and sleep.  If you don’t sleep for two days, are you going to take a nap or sleep for 12 hours?  If you’re really thirsty are you going to just have a sip?  If you’re drowning are you just going to take a little breath when you reach the surface of the water?  The same goes for eating.  If you eat at a three you will be more likely to make better food choices and stop at a 6. 
She talked about how many anoretics later develop binge eating disorder or bulimia.  I developed bulimia first then quit purging and was left with binge eating.  She said you can’t lose weight until you overcome your disorder, but I can’t quit trying. 
She makes her patients keep hunger diaries, and suggests that they eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day about 3 hours apart.  I think I am going to start doing this.