Feel Your Fullness: Reconnecting with Your Body’s Signals (Principle 6 Intuitive Eating)

Principle 6 of Intuitive Eating: Feel Your Fullness is all about tuning into your body’s internal cues to recognise when you’ve had enough to eat. In a world filled with distractions and diet culture messages about portion control, many people have lost touch with their natural ability to sense fullness. Relearning this skill is an essential step toward a more balanced and intuitive relationship with food.

Why Feeling Fullness Matters

Fullness is your body’s natural way of telling you that you’ve had enough nourishment. When you honour this signal, you can eat in a way that leaves you satisfied rather than overly full or still hungry. This helps maintain a healthy, enjoyable relationship with food, preventing cycles of overeating and restriction.

Ignoring fullness cues can lead to:

• Overeating: If you eat past the point of comfort regularly, you may feel sluggish or uncomfortable after meals.

• Undereating: If you don’t recognise or respond to fullness, you may not eat enough, leading to hunger soon after a meal.

• Emotional Eating Patterns: Disconnecting from fullness can result in eating based on external rules or emotions rather than physical need.

How to Reconnect with Your Fullness Cues

1. Pause Mid-Meal to Check In

One way to practice feeling your fullness is to take a short pause halfway through your meal. Ask yourself:

• How does my stomach feel?

• Am I still enjoying this food?

• Do I feel satisfied, or do I need more? Taking a mindful moment to check in with your body can help you become more attuned to your fullness levels.

  
  

2. Eat Without Distractions

When you eat while watching TV, scrolling on your phone, or working, it’s easy to override your body’s fullness signals. Try eating without distractions and focus on the taste, texture, and enjoyment of your food. This allows you to recognize when you are comfortably full.

3. Use the Hunger-Fullness Scale

A helpful tool in intuitive eating is the Hunger-Fullness Scale, which ranges from 1 (extremely hungry) to 10 (uncomfortably full). Aim to stop eating around a 6 or 7, when you feel satisfied but not overly stuffed. Learning to gauge your hunger and fullness on this scale can improve your awareness of your body’s needs.

4. Give Yourself Unconditional Permission to Eat

Fear of scarcity or restriction can make it hard to stop eating, even when you feel full. If you have a history of dieting, your brain may convince you that you won’t get another chance to eat your favourite foods. By reminding yourself that you can eat again whenever you’re hungry, you remove the pressure to clean your plate.

5. Recognise Emotional vs. Physical Fullness

Sometimes, we eat for reasons other than physical hunger—boredom, stress, or habit. While emotional eating is normal, it’s important to distinguish between emotional satisfaction and physical fullness. If you find yourself continuing to eat despite feeling full, pause and ask yourself what you truly need in that moment.

6. Practice Self-Compassion

Tuning into your fullness cues is a learning process, and there’s no need for perfection. If you occasionally eat past fullness, don’t judge yourself. Instead, reflect on the experience and learn from it. Self-compassion is key to developing a lasting, positive relationship with food.

The Freedom of Honouring Fullness

Feeling your fullness is about trusting your body to guide you. When you stop eating at a comfortable level, you’ll notice improved digestion, increased energy, and greater enjoyment of your meals. Most importantly, you’ll build confidence in your body’s ability to regulate food intake without external rules.

By embracing this principle, you can move closer to intuitive eating and experience food as a source of nourishment and pleasure rather than stress or guilt.

More Help

If you thinking you are you ready to listen to your body’s natural signals and honor your fullness contact Alison at the Appetite Club now.