Hunger Signs, Curiosity, and Letting Go of Judgment
I may be late to the party, but the “we listen and we don’t judge” trend has quickly become one of my favorite things.
It sounds simple. But when it comes to hunger, this phrase can make us question (in a very good way) all of the excuses and mental walls we’ve put up.
Diet culture likes to tell us how and when we should be experiencing hunger
Listening without judgment feels more doable when your stomach growls right before dinner. It fits with what you’ve been taught: “This is when I’m supposed to be hungry.” So giving yourself permission to eat in that moment might feel kind of okay. For many (if not most) people, the ideas that stem from diet culture are that we must control our hunger, and that our body’s natural signals will likely lead us astray.
But we all know how hunger strikes at random times
What about when you’re hungry mid-morning, even though you just had breakfast an hour before?
What about that random craving for mac and cheese at 3 pm?
Or ice cream after (or during) lunch?
What about when you’re not feeling physically hungry but there’s something emotionally loud in you saying, “Hi friend! Food would really help right now”?
Or those times that you’re still hungry for seconds but no one else is digging in for more?
What about those times you feel physically satisfied with your meal but can’t stop thinking about how delicious that leftover cake sounds?
Those are the moments when “we listen and we don’t judge” really gets puts everything diet culture has taught us about hunger to the test.
Who do you trust more… Your body? Or diet culture?
If you’ve spent a long time ignoring hunger or second-guessing your cravings, it makes sense that these less predictable cues feel uncomfortable. Diet culture has trained us to question our hunger instead of listening to it by asking things like:
“Do I really need food right now?”
“Is this just emotional?”
“Why do I always have such a sweet tooth?”
But diet culture is NOT your body, so how would it know what you actually need?
*a note on trusting your body’s cues
When amidst dieting, trying to follow a particular time regimen of eating, recovering from an eating disorder/disordered eating, or maybe on medication that can affect appetite; your body’s natural hunger/fullness signals can be quite impaired. Repairing these signals is one of the first steps we take with our clients, so that we can begin to build trust again. If you are reading this blog and it seems like a foreign/unrealistic concept for you…I’d encourage you to reach out and explore this with one of our dietitians!
How curiosity and listening changes everything
This is the perfect time to get curious with your thoughts and the hunger signals your body is sending!
But remember curiosity is NOT the same as criticism.
Curiosity says, “Huh, I wonder what my body’s asking for,” while criticism and diet culture say, “This is bad and I shouldn’t want it.”
Cravings, emotional eating, and unexpected hunger are NOT signs you’re doing something wrong. They’re just your body’s attempt to speaking up and let you know that it needs something!
It’s a sign that your body trusts you enough that it’s trying to communicate with you - do you trust your body enough to listen?
When we stop labeling some hunger as “good” and other hunger as “bad,” we create space to actually learn from the signals our body is sending and become more in tune with what it truly needs.
So yes—we listen, even when it’s inconvenient.
We don’t judge, even when old rules try to pop up.
Because just like building trust with a close friend, trust with your body doesn’t grow by always doing the “right” thing—it grows when you show up and listen with compassion, again and again.
