Are You Always Hungry?
Many of you tell me that you always feel hungry. (In fact, I’ve said the very same thing myself.)
So, let’s dive a bit deeper.
First, let’s ask this question while we’re thinking logically: Is it possible to be hungry all the time?
Rationally, we know that it’s not possible to be hungry all the time. So why does this happen?
Well, most of the time it’s emotional hunger.
Real, physical hunger comes on gradually. Emotional hunger comes on quickly or suddenly. Real hunger can be satisfied with any food. So if an apple doesn’t satisfy our hunger – or if it doesn’t seem appealing, we’re not really hungry.
Emotional hunger typically arrives along side a craving for a specific food. And, it’s usually not apples. You are probably familiar with those times. You know the ones when you eat snack after snack and nothing seems to be hitting the spot? That’s because you’re not physically hungry. You’re emotionally hungry.
We’re hungry for something else…
When we get “hungry” it’s worth asking a few questions:
- How long has it been since I’ve eaten?
- What am I really hungry for?
- Is anything bothering me?
- If I had a magic ‘EASY’ button to help me with what I’m dealing with right now what would I use it for?
Perhaps, what we’re really hungry for is affection, assistance, rest, excitement, or peace and calm.
Can our needs be met by someone? Could you take care of it yourself?
Here is the obstacle, you see: We often feel like our needs can’t or won’t get met – so we turn to food to escape our feelings.
When we can’t give ourselves what we need emotionally, it may be easier to satisfy our “hunger.” Hunger is a need that most of the time we feel like we can control.
It can be helpful to spend some time with the feelings and see what it feels like to have the need go unmet by simply writing about it. Many people have told me (and I can attest to it myself) that this eases the uncomfortable feelings.
This is also a great way to find out what we might actually be needing or wanting for ourselves. Because we are so quick to run to food, we don’t allow ourselves any time to experience the uncomfortable feelings. When we don’t suppressing feelings, they will come to the surface, and we’ll be able to see what it is we really want. And we can release them.
Food is only love when it is used to feed our true physical hunger and we actually enjoy and relish and savor the experience. Otherwise, we’re using food to cover up feelings. And those feelings that are preventing us from becoming the person we really want to be.
