Head Hunger
Those of us who overeat are responding to distorted signals. When we consume food that harms rather than helps our bodies, we are eating in response to some irrational demand in our head rather than because of legitimate physical hunger. The mental obsession with food is an illusion, but one to which we cling with great tenacity.
When we feel "hungry," we need to stop and evaluate the signal. Is it coming from our stomach or from our head? Often, it is after a meal that we most strongly crave something more to eat. This is either because we ate so fast that our stomach has not had time to register satisfaction or because eating has awakened a giant, insatiable appetite for more. It is frequently our mind that wants more, even after our body has had quite enough.
Emotions such as fear, anger, and anxiety can trigger "head hunger." We need perception and insight to know whether the hunger comes from our body or our mind.
May I learn to respond to the legitimate needs of my body.
From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L.
©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.Those of us who overeat are responding to distorted signals. When we consume food that harms rather than helps our bodies, we are eating in response to some irrational demand in our head rather than because of legitimate physical hunger. The mental obsession with food is an illusion, but one to which we cling with great tenacity.
When we feel "hungry," we need to stop and evaluate the signal. Is it coming from our stomach or from our head? Often, it is after a meal that we most strongly crave something more to eat. This is either because we ate so fast that our stomach has not had time to register satisfaction or because eating has awakened a giant, insatiable appetite for more. It is frequently our mind that wants more, even after our body has had quite enough.
Emotions such as fear, anger, and anxiety can trigger "head hunger." We need perception and insight to know whether the hunger comes from our body or our mind.
May I learn to respond to the legitimate needs of my body.
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Most often, I have the desire to continue eating after I've had a meal. I've awakened a giant, insatiable appetite for 'more', that also extends to 'more' in other areas of my life. Excess never manages to fill the false need, and my desires frequently outweigh my actual needs.
When I live inside my head, my thoughts propel me into action. What makes me think I must respond to every thought that pops into my mind??? They are just thoughts.........not demands for action!
I rarely experience true stomach hunger, since I eat small meals throughout the day. If one of my meals is off schedule, then I DO feel true hunger, which is not an emergency! For most of my life, I've treated the slightest bit of hunger AS an emergency, often eating far more than my body needed, in an effort to squash down the panic.
Nowadays, I've learned to respond to the legitimate needs of my body, rather than responding to the chronic mind chatter that tells me to eat eat eat. When my stomach feels full, I can stop eating, push the plate away, and recognize 'enough'. Food is used to fuel my body instead of to shut up the voices in my mind urging me to eat to the point of feeling sick.
I still have my moments of mind hunger though. And sometimes I give in to it. No amount of food on earth will satisfy my mind, however, and that's the risk I take when I attempt to do that.
For today, I will feed my body with healthy food at regular intervals. When my mind urges me to have a taste of a food that is dangerous to my abstinence, I will recognize mind hunger & not confuse it with physical hunger.
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