It’s funny, because lately I’ve noticed that the food that we have in the house has very much lost it’s appeal. It’s like come lunch and dinner the last thing I want is anything we currently have in the fridge or pantry. The steak Steve is grilling doesn’t sound good, nor does the leftover homemade soup, and, wait the chicken stir fry, leftover pizza, and eggs and toast sound gross as well.

At first I thought this was because I was in a grocery buying food rut (you know buying the same stuff over and over) but recently I realized (lightbulb moment) that I wasn’t letting myself get hungry enough for food to be appealing before eating.

No really, this has been a bit of a problem lately. I think part of it has been that this was a very sad week (the baby’s funeral was today) and I definitely have a tendency to turn to food for comfort.

The other problem I identified in eating before I am hungry is that when you don’t get hungry before you eat, you don’t know when to stop eating. There really is no, natural stopping.

Now, I am all about eating a snack, say, between lunch and dinner to help you make it to dinner without being ravenous, grumpy, and headachy. But, there is a big difference between a nice healthy snack –when you are actually hungry—and a “oh gee, it’s 3:00, I had a huge lunch, but hey, it’s TIME to eat again.” Or “hmmm, let’s see what is in this pantry (I’d rather do that then sit at my desk and finish my editing assignment!). And then, Ooooo, I feel like something salty and crunchy, mmmm, I forgot we had those in there…” and pretty soon you’ve eaten through the last half of a mint cookie power bar, a handful of chips, large scoop of trails mix…you know the drill.

Well, ladies (and gents)…there is hope at the end of the tunnel. And it doesn’t consist of hours slaving away on the treadmill.

Check back tomorrow for Intuitive Eating Part 2: The 5 Common Types of Hungerless Eating and Intuitive Eating Part 3: Relearning how and what to eat.