Types Of Hunger
- Gabrielle Morreale
- Jul 4, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: May 29
Gabby Morreale MA LPC.
Hey there! Did you know there are four different types of hunger? As an eating disorder therapist it is usually surprising to clients to find out that we often eat (75% of the time!) based on hunger that isn’t even physically driven. This may seem really confusing because eating in the absence of hunger seems.... unnatural? But we promise, this is normal! And we will show you why!
When working with clients to understand hunger and fullness we tend to go over the hunger scale. Clients often report finding this helpful. Additionally, as someone who is recovered and as an eating disorder professional this is one of my favorite tools to use. For clients struggling with eating disorders or disordered eating habits, loss of understanding or having hunger and fullness cues is normal. Don’t worry though, healing is possible! It is normal to need to reestablish hunger and fullness cues in recovery.
The Fullness Scale
Also, you don’t have to do it alone. As an eating disorder therapist, I often hear, “I don’t know where to start.” That’s ok! That’s what I or any of the amazing members of my team are here for. Let’s work together. Below is the example we like to use with our clients. One of my favorites comes from the Intuitive Eating Mindset website which we will include at the bottom.
As you can see, this is a ten point scale, one being starving and the most hungry you can be and ten being the most full that you could be. Each point on the scale is labeled by what each ranking means, and underneath you can see there is a deeper explanation of what you might be thinking or feeling along each point on the scale. We find that most people stick to a 3 for hunger and a 7-8 for fullness to be comfortable. Past that can also be “normal” in certain circumstances, and nothing to worry about. You are allowed to eat past fullness we promise.
For those recovering, even understanding where they fall on this scale can be confusing, and that is okay. What we like to do with clients, when using the hunger and fullness scale is to recall positive times you may have felt each one. We also can take time to process negative experiences with different ones if needed as well. This is hard work my friends, but so important for recovery and you are so capable!
The Four Types of Hunger
Also, another intervention we like to use to promote some mind body awareness is work through the 4 types of hunger. As stated earlier in the article, there are four types of hunger. The four types of hunger are: Physical, Taste, Emotional, and Practical. Physical may be the type that many associate natural hunger to!
Physical is the one that we are “taught” to identify and listen to most, but also told to ignore and disobey by diet culture. It is never a good idea to ignore our hunger. The more we can listen to our body the more we can gain body trust and out hunger cues will restore. Physical hunger is based entirely on the presence of hunger cues from the body like growling or fluttering in your stomach, maybe a headache for some, anxiety, or shakiness in your body.
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The next type of hunger isTaste. Taste hunger we like to call plainly as cravings! Taste hunger comes from craving a specific food and wanting it, even in the absence of physical hunger! YES. Eating in the absence of physical hunger is completely normal! Also sometimes the foods we crave can be an indicator of what our body may need. Taste is a great tool to help us begin to heal our relationship with food and hunger and fullness.
The third type of hunger we will discuss is Emotional. This is a very hard one to trust, and one that we have been taught is problematic or wrong in diet culture Great news through you are allowed to eat for comfort, joy, community. Emotional eating is not the enemy. Emotional eating is completely normal! Not a crime or a sin or whatever other silly thing someone told you it was! This idea that emotional eating is “bad” is quite problematic and can lead to disordered eating and eating disorders.
The secret here is that food is allowed to be enjoyed. Now, we will say, if this is the ONLY way you're finding comfort these days, or the only way you find yourself coping, then we would want to talk about adding in some additional ways to cope and find joy. At Recovered and Restored we like options.
Lastly, we have practical hunger and can fall under mechanical eating which is a very important part of recovery. This hunger is one that many of our clients struggle with understanding is a completely normal and helpful in recovery. Responding to practical hunger usually comes from anticipating physical hunger in the future that you may not be able to satisfy in the moment, and it can also happen in the absence of physical cues! Some examples of how this may show up in real life are:
You are taking a long trip with your family and your flight leaves sometime after lunch. You’re assuming you won’t be able to eat until after dinner time next, so you and your family have a large lunch and pack snacks in your backpack, so you aren't left at a 1 or 0 on the hunger scale along your trip! Also please note we know trips can be hard and showing up for yourself and recovery in this way is beautiful.
You have a stressful day ahead, so you set timers on your phone to make sure you are not missing meals or snacks.
These are just 2 examples of how to work on practical hunger and how mechanical eating can aid you as you reestablish hunger cues in recovery. Also please note we know taking these types of steps and accepting practice hunger can be hard. If you are pushing through recovery, please know we see you and you are showing up for yourself in this way is amazing! Go YOU!!!!
Ultimately, when it comes to hunger and fullness, we know this can be a challenge and…you CAN do hard things. If you are finding you need more support please know our team is currently accepting new clients and would LOVE to work with YOU!! Click the link here to learn more about our team! https://www.recoveredandrestoredtherapy.com/meet-the-team
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Recovered and Restored is an eating disorder therapy center founded by Gabrielle Morreale, LPC. We specialize in helping teens and young women heal from eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia, and binge eating disorder and treat disordered eating, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. We provide eating disorder therapy in the towns of Horsham, Upper Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd, North Wales, Lansdale, Hatfield, Blue Bell, Doylestown, and nearby towns with eating disorder therapy. Also providing virtual eating disorder therapy in New Jersey, Delaware, and Florida. Some towns served virtually but are not limited to Pittsburg, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Center City, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Mount Laurel, Cape May, Avalon, Brick, Dover, New Castle, Bethany Beach, Marydel, and Oceanview
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