S2. E25. Subtle Hunger cues (feat. Exodus 34:6)
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[00:00:00] God designed my body.
He built me with these internal indicators. If you have to go to the bathroom, you don't question that biological cue, you just go, why is it so different when it comes to hunger?
Hello. Hello. Welcome back to your Daily Red podcast. I am super excited for this week's episode. I know I say that literally every week, but I just get so excited when the Lord gives me a revelation. I'm like, I just need to share this. And this is a concept [00:01:00] that I talk about a lot with clients, and I've talked a lot on the show.
That we need to honor our hunger. And that hunger is not something, the fear, but that's our body trying to tell us something that we can trust the cues that we get from our body because the Lord made our bodies to be good and all of creation was just good until humans came on the scene and now we're, everything was very good.
And. We can trust those cues that we get from our body because we can trust God. And if we are not trusting the cues that we get from our body, that can reveal that we have a trust issue with God. And maybe that we're relying on our own understanding of what our body needs versus turning inward and really trusting, oh no, no, God designed my body.
He built me with these internal indicators and the these internal mechanisms to tell me when. I need more fuel. Why do I question it? If you have to go to the bathroom, you don't question that biological cue, you just go, why is it [00:02:00] so different when it comes to hunger? So something to think about.
And so I talk about this a lot with my clients and the Lord revealed a scripture to me that, I think will be very, helpful for y'all. So we're going to be in Exodus 34 verse six, and it says, the Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out Yahweh, the Lord, the God of compassion and mercy. I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
This is God's nature, father God. Thank you for your word. Lord, thank you for revealing your nature to Moses, and thank you Lord for your word so that we can read about your nature. Lord, thank you for how you designed our bodies in a way that is awe striking. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made, and I just pray that every single listener receives that into their heart [00:03:00] and has deeper revelations of your nature.
And Lord, I pray that as we go through this episode, that it is illuminating and it helps people heal their relationship with food, heal their relationship with hunger. That is not something to fear 'cause you have not called this to a spirit of fear, Lord, but I pray that they fall into deeper trust with you each time that they trust their bodies in honor.
The cues that they feel. And I pray that everything that is said today is what you want to say through me, Lord, and not what I wanna say. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So I always say to clients that if you are waiting to eat until your stomach is growling, you have waited too long to eat and you have missed other subtle signs of hunger and.
The Lord revealed to me even a deeper revelation of this, and he said, Abby, I am slow to anger. And I'm like, oh God, that's so good. Because if we're waiting to eat until our stomach growls, that's like when our body is [00:04:00] angry at us and our body is crying out for attention. I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry.
Hello. I need fuel. I need food. But because we are made in the image of God, we're made in his likeness. our bodies reflect God's nature and God said, I am slow to anger, which really proves that there is a ramp up before we experience that extreme hunger where our stomach is growling and there are other subtle signs, more pleasant signs of hunger before our stomach is growling and that's when we need to eat.
So some subtle signs of physical hunger. Could be some slight stomach gurgling, some gentle emptiness, maybe lower energy or fatigue. Lightheadedness, mild dizziness. Could be a headache. Tension in the forehead. It could be shakiness, a jittery feeling, sometimes a dry mouth or a slight thirst could, and our thirst could be mistaken for hunger as [00:05:00] well.
A lot of people in diet coach would say, oh, like if you're hungry, you're probably just thirsty. It could be both. Like, it really could be both. But most of the times you do need to eat. You could have difficulty concentrating, brain fog or just foggy thinking. You could start to get irritable or just increase sensitivity.
It might. Not be full-blown hanger where you're hangry. It might just be increased sensitivity. You might get a little snippy with someone or be short fused. You could be thinking about food more often. And it's so funny when people say, I just have all of these food, thus I'm thinking about food all the time.
And I'm like, well, walk me through like what you ate yesterday and they aren't eating enough. And I'm like, no, that's, that's God's grace. That is God's natural design of the human body to get you thinking about food, to get it on your brain, like, Hey, I probably need to eat. That's God's intentional design of the human body.
Now, obviously we don't want debilitating food, thoughts and things like that, and we really do have this food police, AKA, the enemy in our heads sometimes that is making it really distracting or hard to [00:06:00] nourish ourselves with all these food rules. There is that. But if you're thinking about food all the time, that may be a subtle hunker cue that you actually do need to eat and God is just lightly nudging you.
That's the Holy Spirit lightly touching you. Like, Hey, I'm gonna put food on your brain. I'm gonna give you that gift of remembrance of food to lightly, politely cue you to eat. 'cause when we think about God's nature, like he is so compassionate, he's so kind. He's so loving. Like he, he isn't just gonna start screaming at you that you need to eat.
He's gonna first lovingly tap you. sometimes we feel as a subtle hunger cue, this like restlessness or the, this difficulty to sit still. Sometimes we experience yawning or sighing more often than usual. Some people feel cold, colder than normal, especially in the hands and feet. Sometimes people feel slightly nauseous.
Sometimes we have increased. saliva and salivation when thinking about or smelling food. So those are some early signs of hunger. And I think I've said this on the podcast before, but it's worth [00:07:00] saying again, A subtle hunger cue for me personally is a headache. And for years I just never associated it with hunger.
I would always be like, oh, like maybe I'm dehydrated and this is a dehydration headache. Or, oh, maybe it's a coffee. Headache and I just need to drink another cup of coffee or have a cup of tea. Sometimes I would go as far as even taking Advil or allergy medication. 'cause I'm like, well, maybe it's allergies.
Maybe I actually just have a headache. Never realizing that that was a subtle hunger cue of mine. But now that I know, I'm like, oh, when I start to get a light headache and I feel that tension on my forehead, okay, that's a sign that I need to eat. And
when you honor those subtle hunger cues, you're like, yeah, I could eat. And that allows you to enter your next meal with patience, where you can actually take 15 to 20 minutes to eat. 'cause it takes 20 minutes for your body to send you fullness cue so you eat slower. And with more patience, you can make a very intentional food choice.
There's a lack [00:08:00] of. That sense of urgency when you eat at the time of your subtle hunger cue so you can actually prepare an intentional meal and you're not always just grabbing for what's convenient. When you wait until you're completely ravenous and your stomach is growling and your body is screaming at you, you typically do grab what's convenient.
And typically what's convenient is not always the most nutrient dense option. So it's not that you have a lack of self-control, that you can't stop getting fast food or you can't stop turning to processed snacks or packaged snacks. It's just that they're right there and you're waiting actually too long to eat, or now you're so ravenous. Your biological, your primal hunger takes over and you just need food right now. But when you eat, when you have those subtle hunger cues, then you eat with more patience. You can choose what to eat more intentionally, you're able to hear in your body. Okay, yeah, I, I could eat.
I'm starting to get hungry. This might be a subtle hunger cue. What am I hungry for? 'cause you know, when you're so ish, you're like, I'll just eat anything. But now your body will tell you, [00:09:00] yes, I'm hungry, but it will tell you what it's hungry for, so you'll be able to really sense, okay, do I want something that is cold and crunchy, salty and crunchy, smooth and creamy or sweet or savory?
Do I want something hot, warm, hearty? Like you'll be able to really get the vibe of what you want and your body will send you those cravings and the vibe of what your body's calling for based on. That'd be your preferences, but it also could be what your body is missing. So sometimes you'll crave something cold and crunchy.
That might be a salad, that might be a cucumber, that might be baby carrots. So there might be vitamins and minerals in that food that you're craving, that your body needs. And that's God's intentional design. So not all cravings are bad. Cravings are information, and it's easier to sense those subtle cravings that we have.
When we honor hunger, when it's more subtle because we can be patient with ourselves and just really be in tune with ourselves, and there's not that rush, and then it's easier to honor your fullness and [00:10:00] stop eating when you're comfortably full. When you actually take that 20 minutes to eat, it's easier to do that when you eat sooner when you have that subtle hunger because there isn't that sense of urgency.
You actually take your time. So people that honor their subtle hunger cues end up. Eating more frequently, but they tend to eat in smaller amounts. And because it takes six to eight hours for food to fully leave your stomach. So when you eat at your subtle hunger cues, you're probably eating every three or so hours.
And so you're eating while you still have food in your stomach from your last meal. So you end up eating more frequently. Yes. But in smaller amounts. And typically that ends up being three meals a day and a couple snacks in between. Boom. so I hope that this is helpful I talk about honoring hunger and fullness and the hunker and fullness scale for those that work with me, that scale from zero to 10.
I do that with the clients that I work with, and if you just type in like hunger and fullness scale, you'll see that on Google. But I go through that with [00:11:00] clients. but the, the Lord gave me that deeper revelation like, oh, I'm slow to anger so I don't start with just screaming at you. But I have kind and gentle nudges and we are just not in tune with that most of the time because we're distracted or we.
Or just like, oh, I probably needed a cup of coffee, like I'm tired or can't concentrate. It's like, oh no, that actually might be a hunger cue. Not that you need another cup of coffee. And because we are made in God's image, in his likeness, we reflect his nature in our bodies, that our bodies are also slow to anger.
If you need help healing your relationship with food, healing, your relationship with hunger and learning how to. Honor your hunger and fullness definitely head to the show notes and look for ways to work with me, and I would love to support you.
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