Are you hungry??

Hunger is a fascinating word that has over the years achieved a variety of definitions. Consider some of the following from Encarta Dictionary for the word hunger:

• the need or desire for food
• a lack of food leading to sickness or death
• a great need or desire for something

In deciding that you are hungry, what are you really saying? Is your hunger a biological need for food for fuel, for energy, to exist? Or is your desire caused by some other trigger? Are you an emotional eater? A stress eater? A bored eater? Or do you eat just because it is lunch time?

Determining the source and reason for your hunger will help you find your starting point, maybe even one reason behind your initial weight gain.

I've been thinking about this a lot since reading Rethinking Thin and writing this blog the last few months. What I've discovered is that I am rarely if ever hungry. I eat because it's time or because I have a headache. Sometimes I eat if I am bored. For my situation hunger or even the desire for food are not my primary motivators for eating.

Realizing this I have no idea why I can't lose the weight. I've just begun the journey of determining my root causes and motivations. But for now, at least I know that hunger is not my reason for eating.