Do you know what it feels like to get physically hungry? So many of us don’t know what our body’s hunger signals are, and we so often don’t listen to them if we do feel hunger – or satiety. In part five of So Much More Than Weight Loss, I talk about setting intuitive goals, trusting your hunger cues (especially those early ones), eating mindfully, and how tracking macros might lead to food freedom.

 

What Intuitive Goals Look Like

• Creating more awareness
• Creating more self-compassion
• Healing the relationship you have with yourself
• Healing the relationship you have with food and your body

 

Trusting Your Intuitive Hunger Cues

Have you ever considered setting an intuitive goal? These goals are less about the physical outcome but the mental and emotional growth you can make. Intuitive goals are ones where you’re healing a relationship, often with yourself, your body, or food.

Intuitive goals are why I came up with the G.O.A.L.S. acronym. Getting hungry first is so important, but it’s something so many of us don’t actually recognize. Most of us know when we’re ravenous, but what about those early signals our bodies send us?

How well do you know your intuitive hunger cues? Do you know what your level-one hunger signs are? Do you know what it feels like to get physically hungry?

 

Mindful Macros and Macro Tracking

Most of us know what hunger feels like, but stopping eating when you’re full is another story. Some of us have gene variants that mean we don’t get those satiety signals. In contrast, others continue eating simply because they want to.

Observing for fullness is so important – and even more important than that is actually listening to that cue. I would love for you to start eating mindfully, being aware of what you’re eating, and of what your body desires to eat. 

Believe it or not, there might be times when tracking macros give you more food freedom. But if you’re trying to heal your relationship with food, any kind of food control is counterproductive. The most important thing is that you hit your goals, no matter how long it takes.

Do you know when you’re just a little bit hungry? Do you honor these early hunger cues? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.

 

In This Episode 

• What intuitive goals look like [2:30]
• Why you need to understand what it feels like to be hungry [4:30]
• The mindset work that needs to come with intuitive eating [9:45]
• Why you can’t heal your relationship with food while also controlling what you eat [10:30]
• The power of mindful eating [11:30]
• How calculating macros can give you food freedom [12:45]
• Why it’s a good thing if your goals take longer to achieve [27:30]

 

Quotes

“An intuitive goal is going to be one where you really are trying to heal some kind of relationship. The big ones are typically yourself, your body, and food.” [3:29]

“Intuitive goals are part of my journey towards food. If you are an individual whose primary goal, or any of your goals, is food freedom, then intuitive eating will be the recommendation for you.” [9:18]

“If you are going down the journey of self-healing, body acceptance, and food freedom, your fixation on the physical result cannot be the primary goal. It can be the secondary goal, but it can’t be the primary goal. It’s completely opposing. If we are trying to heal our relationship with food, we also can’t try to control food.” [10:12]

“If where you are right now, you are perfectly happy from a physical goal standpoint, then maybe the goal we’re looking for, or maybe the pursuit of what we’re looking for, is a better relationship with food and your body, or you’re looking at a fitness goal.” [17:34]

“When you believe that you are making the choices that put you in control, you will be successful. There’s no way that you’re not going to be successful.” [25:11]

 

Resources

31 Days of FIT.  Learn more HERE.

Muscle Maintenance During Fat Loss. Waitlist HERE.

Fit Woman Collective™. Learn more HERE.

Follow Dr. Ali Novitsky on TikTok | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Subscribe to The Muscles and Mindset Podcast on Apple Podcasts

*** Ali Novitsky MD, this podcast, and podcast write-up are NOT providing medical advice ***

 

Related Episodes 

Episode 137: So Much More Than Weight Loss Part 4

Episode 136: So Much More Than Weight Loss (Part 3)

Episode 135: So Much More Than Weight Loss Part 2