March 17, 2009

Last night I went to my first support group meeting. Our topic last night was Head Hunger vs. Physical Hunger. I had talked many times about emotional eating before, but this was the first time that I heard anyone talk about it in these terms. Physical hunger was described as the kind of hunger that is satiated with nutritious food and we only eat to satisfy that need. Head hunger was described as the brain tricking the body into thinking that we are hungry, but not anything will do. Head hunger usually involves major cravings that can only be satisfied by the food that is being craved. It can feel physical, but if we pause and think about if it is real or not, we can tell the difference. Emotional eating, on the other hand, does not necessarily mean you are hungry. Any emotion will be a good excuse to eat ... sad, angry, bored, even happy. I found the topic to be very interesting. I had found it easy when I have felt head hunger before to give into that impulse, because I believed I was hungry. Actually, I hate meal planning, because I never know what I am going to feel like eating. lol! I guess most of my eating has been planned around my head hunger instead of physical hunger.

I enjoyed meeting people who truly understand and want to take steps to improve their health. I have stayed away from support groups because it seemed like a place that could be more of a pity party than a healthy group of support. I have heard stories from others that said that the groups that they have tried were filled with people who tried to justify their actions rather than truly want to change. I don't know if it was fair to stay away because of other peoples observations, but regardless this group was good for me.