Client Quote #32: hunger cues

When our body experiences restriction of food, one of the symptoms of malnutrition is a gradual loss of hunger cues. 

It doesn’t mean our body has forgotten how to be hungry, it just means it’s started to make changes to survive starvation. This can mean reducing “unnecessary” functions ie. cognition, mood regulation, social skills, sleep; using alternative fuel sources like muscle mass; and of course slowing down overall metabolism. Delayed or loss of hunger cues means the body is no longer working at 100% battery. 

In fact, reduced metabolism means the body is 

- learning how to gain weight more efficiently

- learning how to conserve energy better rather than feeling safe to spend energy. 

It is important to get these hunger cues back as having strong and consistent hunger cues is a great sign that your metabolism is working at its optimal place!

Please be careful - hunger and fullness cues can be unreliable when past eating habits have been inconsistent and inadequate. Only through a sufficient period of time of mechanical eating can we begin to rely on our cues again. When we’re in the depth of restriction, know that you cannot entirely depend on your cues to eat. The ED will always underestimate how much you need.