Learning to Listen to Your Body

By Abigail Natenshon, MA, LCSW

One of the most important ways for you to become a healthy eater is to learn to listen closely to what your body tells you, to recognize what it needs and desires in order to feel fit and comfortable. When you listen long and hard enough to your body, you will begin to differentiate sensations and feelings, and to become aware of your own capacity to react to hunger and satiety.

 

Your body will not lead you astray if you know what it needs and can respond appropriately. If you are capable of taking good care of your body, it will perform well for you. 

How well do you listen to your body?
Do you know when you are hungry?
Do you know when you are satisfied?
Do you know when you are full?
Do you know if you are too fat, too thin or just right?
Are you unduly preoccupied with your body shape and size?
Do you know what to eat to satisfy your body?
Do you know how much is the right amount for your body?
Are you aware of what you are feeling?
Do you feel frightened of food or of becoming fat?
Do you feel guilty after you eat?
Do you know when you are eating to quiet your nerves or to soothe your sadness?
Do you know how to ask others for what you need or want?
Are you used to establishing goals for yourself and accomplishing those goals?

By learning to listen to your hunger and satiety gauges, you’ll also be getting good practice in becoming responsive to your feelings in general. Your feelings are guideposts, coping tools, indicating what you need in life, when, and why, and how to go about securing it. Through accessing your feelings, you will learn how to make healthy demands of yourself and others, to recognize and enforce boundaries between yourself and others, and to resolve conflicts effectively.

Listening to yourself will help you to solve problems effectively and eat responsibly.

The problem is how to achieve good health and fitness.

The solution is to give your body nutritious and varied foods regularly, in the form of meals and snacks, and to remain active in your daily lifestyle.

The problem is how much to give your body.

The solution is just what your body needs to feel satiated, no more, no less. You must learn to listen to and to hear your body’s signals. It will let you know what it needs.

The problem is when you feel that your internal gauges or perceptions of self are not functioning accurately, and not giving you adequate signals.

The solution is to attempt to make your next meal healthier, and never to skip a meal. Set small goals for yourself and gradually work your way towards accomplishing them, one by one.

The problem is to help yourself when you feel “stuck,” or unable to achieve what you know you would like or need to accomplish.

The solution is to solicit help from your parents, school counselors, or a nutritionist who can assist you to devise a meal plan containing the foods you most enjoy eating in the appropriate amounts.