So, how are you doing recognizing the difference between physical and emotional hunger? Have you uncovered any triggers that get you started eating or continuing to eat when you don’t really need to? Being able to separate these two kinds of hunger, and respond to each in a mindful manner, is the crux of ending unnecessary eating and achieving the weight that is right for you. I bring this topic up again now because this is probably the most important, and maybe most difficult, skill to master. One way to know the difference between these two hungers is this – when you are physically hungry you will gladly eat celery or a cucumber or even a kumquat. But when you are emotionally hungry you won’t. It is more likely that when you are emotionally hungry you want something sweet and gooey or hot and spicy. So, the next time you are feeling as if you “want to eat something” ask yourself if a carrot will do. If the answer is no, you are most likely looking to quash an emotion and the more mindful approach would be to figure out what it is. Keep working on this skill, I am confident that you will get good at it. Adapted from Mindful Bites – Joyful Life: 365 Days of Mindful Eating. Available in bookstores everywhere.
Is That Your Stomach Rumbling or Your Heart?
