I’ve been using the Hunger Scale over the past few weeks and this has been a really interesting exercise. I used to eat breakfast around 9:15am which was the latest I could eat before heading off to work.

So, I decided not to have breakfast before going to work. I just waited until I got hungry before taking a break at work to have breakfast. At first this was about 11:30am and then it slowly moved out until 12:30pm.

Then after having a late breakfast, I would also have a mid-afternoon snack and dinner. Now I’m skipping breakfast altogether and just having my lunch around 1pm to 1:30pm. I’ve cut out the afternoon snack and I’m just having two main meals a day.

I feel like I’m really listening to my body and just eating when I’m hungry. This does tend to be around that early afternoon time and then again in the evening around 6:30pm.

I’m absolutely loving eating this way! It’s been so great not having to buy and prepare a third meal! I’ve now also got extra time in the morning to work on my business which is really exciting for me.

At first I was quite nervous about not eating and getting hungry because I’ve experienced low sugar symptoms in the past. However, eating a Low Carb, Healthy Fat (LCHF) diet has allowed my body to become fat adapted.

I still generally get hungry around 10am to 10:30am. My tummy starts to grumble and it’s really loud (and a little embarrassing). But all I do is make sure that I’m keeping hydrated and the hunger eventually goes away.

So why does this happen? Well, when you get hungry and your hormones are balanced, your hunger generally comes in waves. This is what’s happening to me. I get a hunger wave and then it goes away.

The exciting thing is that when this happens, your body is actually starting to access its own fat storage for fuel. This is what I want because it’s going to help me release weight and burn my own body fat.

What I like to tell myself when this happens is something I picked up from Brooke Castillo’s Stop Overeating Program. Brooke calls it ‘dining in’. I really love this idea and it really resonates with me. Now when I get hungry and I let the hunger wave pass and think, YAY! Now I’m dining in! Obviously this is great as it’s really going to help me with my weight release.

My body is literally eating away at its own fat stores.

You can do this too! You just have to cut out the sugar, flour and processed foods from your diet and focus on eating a real food diet.

So you might be wondering why this is necessary? Well, it’s all to do with insulin, which is a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin allows your body to use sugar from the carbohydrates you’ve eaten by turning it into glucose. The body then uses the glucose for energy or it saves it as fat for future use.

Insulin also turns off your body’s fat burning ability. This is because the body wants to get the glucose out it’s system as quickly as possible so it ignores all the other fuel sources and just focuses on getting rid of that glucose.

Therefore, your body can’t access it’s own fat stores if there’s too much insulin present. This means you can’t be burning fat and losing weight if you’re eating a diet high in sugar, flour and processed foods. Insulin also throws off your hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin which are meant to control your feelings of hunger and satiety.

This is why I suggest you cut out sugar, flour and processed foods from your diet because these foods will raise your insulin levels and reduce your fat burning ability. The aim is to try and keep insulin low as it helps your hunger hormones to resensitise and work as they should.

Now, I do want to warn you that if you cut out sugar, flour and processed foods from your diet, you are going to get withdrawal symptoms. I’m going to explain why this happens in my next blog, so keep an eye out for it.

Do your thoughts drive you to eat?

I’ve also been focusing on becoming aware of my thoughts when I get hungry. When I’m at work the thought tends to be that I’m bored. I just notice the thought and allow it. Sometimes I make myself a herbal tea as a way to get up from my chair and take a break.

In the weekends I’ve noticed that I don’t get as hungry because I’m busy doing things I enjoy. It’s been interesting becoming aware of my thoughts and I’ve been writing them down to keep track of them.

Check out my next blog Why it’s so hard to give up sugar and flour where I dive into why we have cravings and desires for certain foods, even when we’re not hungry. I also explore why we experience withdrawal from foods made with sugar and flour and why relying on willpower to release weight isn’t the best long term solution.

Now I want to hear from you. Do you wait until you’re hungry before you eat? What does hunger feel like to you? What thoughts do you have around hunger? Can you relate to what I’ve shared?

If so, please leave a comment below. Share with me how you feel about going through this and how you overcame it. The more we talk about our struggles and wins with each other, the more support we feel. This also helps us all to achieve our health goals.

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