My answer to this question? I don’t know. When did I last let myself get properly hungry? I have been hungry, all the calorie counting and fad diets that I have tried to endure have resulted in bingeing and starving when they have gone wrong, but I have been too busy with the psychological side of berating myself or planning the next meal to take too much notice of the way I physically felt when I was hungry. My book on Fletcherism suggests missing a meal or two in order to fully understand the symptoms of hunger and therefore the indication that the appetite has begun to be satisfied. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few days by skipping breakfast.
I was surprised how hungry I felt first thing in the morning. I really sick feeling gripped me, but I found that because I didn’t need to focus on what else I was going to eat that day and I didn’t need to write anything down, that sicky feeling soon passed once I got on with the rest of my life and I quickly forgot about needing food. I have found that I am not really hungry until about 3pm, when a light meal has sufficed to take the edge of the appetite. I have usually found I am quite hungry again towards 7pm when I usually sit down with my family and eat supper, but again, by concentrating on enjoying the good food and how I am feeling physically, I am eating far less than before and not really needing anything else.
In conclusion I have generally found that the initial urge of a slightly sicky feeling that for me indicates hunger usually passes when I distract myself and stop thinking about food, but if it doesn’t then that is when I am properly hungry.
