How to Know If You Are Hungry or Just Bored

A nutritionist gets you to find out if you are actually hungry and curb bingeing

Do you ever wonder why you get drawn towards the ice cream tub sitting in the fridge late at night or the leftover slices of pizza? And this happens when you have eaten dinner and retired to bed but have stayed up watching Netflix or browsing your phone. How is it possible to feel hungry when you have eaten a while ago? Do you realise this is not  physical hunger but psychological or emotional longing for food. Sometimes it gets difficult to describe them apart. “Physical hunger can be described as true hunger in which your body needs food to make up on consumed energy. Your stomach feels empty and you may feel it rumble. Or you may experience headache, feel unfocused and weak. Once you eat food, your stomach feels full and you stop eating food,” says Ruchi Sharma, nutritionist and founder of Eat. Fit. Repeat.

Psychological craving on the other hand is often stimulated by boredom, loneliness, stress or insomnia. “Emotional hunger can also be triggered by environmental causes such as ads on TV, aroma of the food, or the sight of some delicious food. Emotional or psychological hunger is rarely satisfied, no matter how much food you eat,” adds Ruchi.

Boredom is one of the major triggers that stimulates emotional cravings. Boredom eating is relatively more common than other types of psychological eating such as stress. People who are susceptible to boredom are more likely to overeat or binge eat. “When you respond to your emotional or boredom cravings, it leads to binge eating, weight gain or guilty feelings,” cautions Ruchi. So she homes in on few strategies that could help you avoid binge eating fuelled by boredom. 

1. Your first line of defence will be to communicate with yourself. Ask yourself a few questions like; what was the last time I ate? Am I really hungry or this is just an unnecessary craving? These questions will help you sort out things in your head.

2. Don’t confuse thirst for hunger! Do not run instantly to grab a muffin or cookie if you are feeling exhausted and irritable. Before surrendering to the craving, try to get a glass of water or some fresh, unsweetened juice. If it’s a trigger for psychological hunger, it can be suppressed by the glass of water or juice.

3. Another way to know if it’s real hunger or not is by assessing if you have recently had a meal and are craving for food again. Avoid eating in such circumstance. However, if you haven’t eaten in hours then it is real hunger, so do grab a bite. 

Here are some ways to keep boredom at bay:

1. Mapping out your schedule for the day can keep you from getting bored and eating unnecessarily.

2. When boredom strikes, try to get some home chores completed or read a book or go for a walk. It would distract your attention from eating sugary treats.

3. Postpone! It means if you want to eat but don’t really feel hungry then postpone it for 20 to 30 minutes. You'd be amazed at how a distraction will quell your need to eat.

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