Sneaky Hunger Cues? Here’s How to Find Them

Intuitive Eating is sometimes simplified to the idea of “just listening to your body”... but what if you can’t hear what it’s trying to say?

Are you struggling to know what hunger feels like for you? Convinced your hunger cues are long gone after years of not trusting your body? Or maybe you don’t feel them until you are ravenously hungry, leading you to overeat, and the cycle of distrust continues.  

Principle 2 of Intuitive Eating is “Honor Your Hunger” (check out this past blog post!). However, it can be difficult to do this when you’re unsure what gentle hunger feels like, or if you can trust it. You’re not alone, and you can get those gentle hunger cues back!

Why Do Hunger Cues Disappear?

I’m going to throw some science at you with how appetite regulation works:

Our body naturally wants to stay in a balanced state, called homeostasis. The area of the brain that helps maintain this internal balance is the hypothalamus (the “control center” of the brain). The hypothalamus helps regulate sleep, body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, mood, thirst, and hunger - all of the things that help our body stay happy in homeostasis!

Zooming in on hunger - when energy deficiency is detected (like an empty stomach, for example), hormones such as ghrelin communicate with the hypothalamus, signaling to you that it’s time to eat! (1)

If you’ve stopped listening (either intentionally or unintentionally) to these natural biological hunger signals, they’ve probably stopped trying to communicate with you - just like if you were to not respond to any of your friend’s texts… she’ll probably stop reaching out. In the same way, chronic restriction dulls hunger cues: the messengers stop working, and the body compensates with a slowed metabolism and decreased energy. 

Other sneaky things that can dull hunger cues include: stress, some medications, sleep patterns, intense exercise, and caffeine!

Benefits of Reconnecting with your Hunger Cues:

• Rebuilds trust with yourself and your body

• Gives you consistent energy to do all the things you love

• Food is so much more pleasurable when you can tap into your gentle hunger cues, rather than waiting for the ravenous hunger signals to kick in full force

• Improved mood!! (A recent study showed that women who restricted food intake were more likely to have negative emotions such as anger, fatigue, and confusion… aka scientific proof that “hangry” does exist!) (2)

Three Steps to Rediscover your Hunger Cues:

1. Follow Intuitive Eating Principle 1 - Reject the Diet Mentality

Diet culture tells us that we “should” eat x number of calories each day, spread out over x amount of meals (or whichever new fad is trending and telling you how much and when to eat). All of these external rules might feel safe at first and provide a sense of control, but they bring us out of touch with our own needs that change every day!

2. Eat Consistently

In order to gain your body’s trust, you need to let it know that you’re once again able and willing to give it consistent energy (you can’t expect your friend to text you back until you start reaching back out!). Below are some general guidelines where you may find success:

• Having breakfast within 90 minutes of waking leads to body trust to start the day! You’re letting it know that you’re off on the right foot, getting energy, and waking up your metabolism to begin and continue sending you hunger cues throughout the day. 

• Eating a meal or snack every 3 - 5 hours continues sending those messages to build back trust, helps to balance your blood sugars, and gives you consistent energy! 

• Emphasize carbs and protein!! Carbs are not only delicious, but are your body’s go-to fuel source, and help protein do its job. Carbs are stored in the liver, and this reserve runs out every 3 - 6 hours! Protein is essential to repair and rebuild muscle - moderate amounts spread throughout the day promote greater benefits than eating the same amount in one sitting. (3)

• Focus on easier to digest foods if eating consistently is new and uncomfortable. Some examples could be a smoothie, a yogurt bowl, cereal with milk, toast with avocado and eggs - the key is finding what works for you!

3. Use your Body and Brain Knowledge

Body knowledge requires being in the moment to rediscover hunger cues throughout the body. Gentle hunger cues are unique to each person, and can include anything from low energy, feeling sleepy, difficulty focusing, having a headache, irritability, a mild gnawing in the stomach, or even thinking about food! These are all signals that the body is sending to distract you from what you’re doing until you give it what it needs to continue.

Brain knowledge requires acknowledging that your body needs and deserves joy and consistent energy from food, even in the absence of hunger cues as you work to bring them back. 

Get curious… how might it feel to reconnect with your body to feel your hunger cues? Remember, this process takes time, and is far from a linear path. Allow patience and give yourself grace as you rediscover your hunger (there’s no such thing as perfection!). 

1. Augustine, V., Lee, S., & Oka, Y. (2020). Neural Control and Modulation of Thirst, Sodium Appetite, and Hunger. Cell, 180(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.11.040

2. Ackermans, M. A., Jonker, N. C., Bennik, E. C., & de Jong, P. J. (2022). Hunger increases negative and decreases positive emotions in women with a healthy weight. Appetite, 168, 105746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105746

3. Mamerow, M. M., Mettler, J. A., English, K. L., Casperson, S. L., Arentson-Lantz, E., Sheffield-Moore, M., Layman, D. K., & Paddon-Jones, D. (2014). Dietary protein distribution positively influences 24-h muscle protein synthesis in healthy adults. The Journal of nutrition, 144(6), 876–880. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.113.185280

---

Written by Tori Rinsem

Hi, I’m Tori! Current NYC-based master’s student, dietetic intern and RD-to-be. I love finding the joy and ditching the stress in two things we do each day - eat and move! I’m SO happy to be sharing this space with you, and continuing to find joy as we learn and grow. 

Learn more about me and the HSH offerings here.