Craig Primack MD, FACP, FAAP, FOMA,
Diplomate, American Board of Obesity Medicine
As you progress through your weight loss program, one of the most important questions you can ask is, โhow much should I eat?โ Or โwhen should I stop eating,โ sometimes โhave I eaten enough?โ It seems like a simple question, but itโs not. Sometimes weโre hungry when we eat, other times we eat because our plate is full.
As a general rule in the US, when someone asks you โwhen do you stop eating?โ the answer is likely, โwhen I am full.โ Maybe full is too much. Maybe we should stop when weโre satisfied. Maybe like in some cultures, about 90% full is just right.
Understanding your hungry and being mindful of your eating patterns is a great skill to have during your weight loss program. You have to decide, am I really hungry? Or am I bored, tired, or stressed? Am I happy, sad, or is it Taco Tuesday? Once you determine that youโre hungry, it doesnโt come naturally to gauge how much hunger you have.
How to Use a Hunger Scale
We recommend practicing gauging your hunger on a hunger scale. On a hunger scale, you ask, โHow hungry am I?โ 10 is the worst hunger youโve ever had, and zero no hunger at all. It doesnโt come easily or naturally to use a hunger scale. But they do help determine how much we should eat.
Consider using a hunger scale three times during a meal:
- When you first sit down at the table, before you have eaten even your first bite of food
- When youโre about halfway through with your meal.
- When youโre at the end of your meal or toward the end of what should be a normal meal portion-size.
The easiest way to describe how much you should eat is when your hunger is about 8 out of 10. At eight, you should feel hungry enough to eat but you are not starving. Consider eating your hunger down to about three or four when you feel satisfied enough to not eat.
Practice Grading Hunger
Grading our hunger doesnโt happen in the standard diet and it doesnโt come easy to us. It takes practice until you get proficient at it. Next time youโre about to eat, ask yourself these questions:
How much should I eat?
Why am I eating?
When should I stop?
Am I bored, stressed, or celebrating?
Remember, itโs best to grade your hunger at the beginning, middle, and near the end of your meal.
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