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How Much Should I Eat: Using a Hunger Scale
By: Scottsdale Weight Loss Center
Published: December 7, 2020
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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, “how much should I eat?” Or “when should I stop eating,” sometimes “have I eaten enough?” It seems like a simple question, but it’s not. Sometimes we’re hungry when we eat, other times we eat because our plate is full.
As a general rule in the US, when someone asks you “when do you stop eating?” the answer is likely, “when I am full.” Maybe full is too much. Maybe we should stop when we’re 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 you’re hungry, it doesn’t 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, “How hungry am I?” 10 is the worst hunger you’ve ever had, and zero no hunger at all. It doesn’t 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 you’re about halfway through with your meal.
- When you’re 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 doesn’t happen in the standard diet and it doesn’t come easy to us. It takes practice until you get proficient at it. Next time you’re 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, it’s best to grade your hunger at the beginning, middle, and near the end of your meal.
Read our FREE e-book Chasing Diets and learn about the weight loss program that works.
Nick
Nick's Story
"I wish I would have come here first. We spend all our time reacting to the next great weight loss tip or program. It might work for a while, but does not last and we end up yo-yoing from one fad to the next – as we gain more weight." Read More
Gina
Lost 44.5 lbs
"I had no trouble adhering to the meals and they really helped catapult my progress! The classes were so beneficial to me because they helped change my thinking about how I viewed health, nutrition, and fitness.
I will always have my relationship with Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. They truly helped me change my life forever." Read More
Lauren
Lost 60 lbs
"Dr. Ziltzer and everyone who I have come in contact with at the Scottsdale Weight Loss office have been so encouraging and I look forward to seeing them each week. It is now a year and 2 months later since I started. I am down 60 lbs., which is the average amount a 9-year-old weighs, it is crazy to think I lost a whole person! I feel amazing, I hit my goal weight in November 2021 just before Thanksgiving. Nothing on my body hurts anymore..." Read More
Chuck
Lost 66 lbs
"The best thing I did was call the Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. I have a lot more energy, I'm not hungry, and it feels great.
You can take it from me that this is a program that produces results. The staff is always positive, supportive, and never judgmental.
Your visits always result in positive reinforcement, no matter if you had a good week or a bad week." Read More
Emily
Lost 101 lbs
"Here I am at the lowest I have been since high school weighing in at 155lbs. I have lost 101 lbs, BMI of 39 when I started, to 21.6, and of course at body fat % of 47.1 to 26.5%. I told myself by my 30th birthday I wanted to be confident in the way I look and I owe it all to SWLC. The entire staff is so welcoming and they are rooting for you just as much as you are rooting for yourself...." Read More
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Meet Our Team
Robert Ziltzer, MD, FACP, FAAP, FOMA
Obesity Medicine Certified Physician
Diana Bone, FNP-C
Specializing in Obesity Medicine
Craig Primack, MD, FACP, FAAP, MFOMA
Obesity Medicine Certified Physician
Kristen Ash, FNP-C, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
Alicia Earley, FNP-C
Family Nurse Practitioner
