One of the Hills I’ll Die On
I recently posted a carousel on Instagram about the hills I’ll die on as an eating disorder dietitian. There were a few of them, but one I could talk about all day: hunger is a notification, not a character flaw.
Hunger isn’t greedy. It isn’t weak. It isn’t proof that you have no willpower. It’s your body sending you information, the same way your phone buzzes when your battery is low. Nobody calls their phone dramatic for asking to be charged.
But here’s what I want you to know, and what I tell clients in my Murray, Utah office all the time: for many people in eating disorder recovery, that notification system is glitchy.
Why Hunger Cues Go Quiet in Eating Disorders
Most of the clients I work with don’t have reliable or accurate hunger signals when they first walk in. That’s not a personal failing. It’s physiology.
When the body has been restricted, under-fueled, stuck in binge and restrict cycles, or fed on a chaotic schedule for a long time, the hunger and fullness signals can get muted, delayed, or scrambled. Some people feel very few hunger cues. Some feel hungry all the time. Some feel full after a few bites. Some feel like no matter how much they eat, they could always eat more. The messages are still being sent. They’re just not arriving clearly.
So when someone says, “I’ll just listen to my body,” I get curious about which signal we’re trusting. If the signal has been disrupted, it can’t be the only thing steering the ship yet.
“I Just Don’t Get Hungry in the Morning”
This comes up constantly. A client sits down and tells me, “I just don’t get hungry in the morning.” And I typically say the same thing: “Yes, I hear that, and that doesn’t mean your body is not hungry.”
A quiet stomach in the morning isn’t proof that your body doesn’t need food. Often it means the engine has been running on empty for so long that the dashboard light stopped working.
So we kickstart the engine. We use what we call mechanical eating: eating on purpose, on a schedule, even when your body isn’t sending the usual signals. It can feel strange, forced, and honestly annoying at first. Nobody loves being told to eat when they don’t feel like it.
But here’s the part that makes me smile every time. Clients come back a month later and say, “Kayla, I’m actually hungry in the morning?!” Hooray!
That is a sign the body is starting to work again. For some people it’s distressing, because hunger can feel unfamiliar or scary after years of not feeling it. Overall, though, it’s progress. Your body is learning that food is coming, and it’s finally turning the notifications back on.
Why Working With a Registered Dietitian Matters
This is where having a registered dietitian who specializes in eating disorders comes in very handy, and it’s a big part of the eating disorder recovery work I do with clients in Murray, Utah.
I build meal plans based on a nerdy calculation (yes, I love the nerdy part) that figures out how much food your body actually needs each day. Not a guess, not a gut feeling, and definitely not whatever diet culture told you was “enough.”
Then for some people, we start by eating according to the clock instead of the body. Meals and snacks at set times, with a plan to follow. That steady rhythm gives your body what it needs consistently, and over time it gives your hunger and fullness cues a chance to come back online and become accurate again.
Think of it as training wheels. The structure isn’t the destination for most. It’s what helps you build trust with your body again.
What About Intuitive Eating?
Eventually, many clients move toward intuitive eating: eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. It’s a beautiful goal, and for a lot of people it’s absolutely possible.
But I want to be honest about something: it’s not possible for everyone.
Some people may need to follow a more structured meal plan for the long haul, maybe even for life. Their hunger and fullness cues may never be fully reliable, and that is okay. Needing structure is not a moral failing either. Some people wear glasses. Some people take medication. Some people follow a meal plan. Using the tool your body needs doesn’t make you less recovered. It makes you well supported.