I'm so happy I decided to do this 10 week challenge. To be honest, I didn't expect to learn so many new things in the first two weeks. What I found however, is that by simply taking the time and setting the focus of the week to a principle, by doing some simple exercises - but mainly reflecting on it, I gain some important insights. When I began this week, I had no doubt in my mind  I usually honor my hunger. But what I realized yesterday is that often I wait just a bit too long to eat to get the most out of this principle. 

I posted about the mindfulness aspect of honoring our hunger - it's about being mindful of our feelings of hunger throughout the day. But ultimately, it's about honoring our hunger, meaning, eating when we are hungry. So the obvious question - for me so obvious I ignored it - is: when should we eat?

I noticed that I eat at different levels of hunger, and that my behavior also differs. In the morning, for breakfast, I'm typically not that hungry. I feel pretty much neutral. Maybe here and there they is a first hint of hunger. When I eat then, I feel in control. I can eat slower, it's easier for me to pay attention to how food feels like, and I rarely think of wanting to have more after I finished my breakfast. And if I do, it's quite easy for me to decide not to.

For lunch, I'm hungrier. The difference is mainly in how much I postpone lunch when I start feeling the hunger. The more hungry I get, the more difficult it is for me to eat mindfully. The more hungry I am, the more I rush through my meal. Often, I still crave something after the meal. I often hit the cookie jar. Dinner is worst, because not only that I get hungry, I also feel tired and overwhelmed after the whole day of work. But that's a topic for week 7. 

I read somewhere that we should eat when our hunger starts setting in. When it starts becoming physical (when it turns from first thoughts of food to bodily feelings, like feelings of emptiness in our stomach). I often eat when the hunger takes over - when I can not ignore it any more.

The next experiment I want to try is to bring my own food to work. I usually go to a cafeteria with my colleagues, but it's already quite late when we all agree it's time to go, and then it takes another 15 minutes or so to get there, wait in line, etc. before we actually start eating. Usually, by the time we start eating, I feel ravenous.