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Body Awareness
Munay
Body Awareness
Understand how listening to your body’s hunger and fullness signals can help you make better food choices and feel healthier. Build this healthy eating habit with Munay.
Why it matters
Body awareness is the practice of tuning into your body’s physical signals and using that information to make informed choices about what, when, and how much to eat. It’s about understanding hunger and fullness cues, recognizing emotional triggers for eating, and honoring your body’s unique nutritional needs.
By cultivating body awareness, you can develop a more balanced and intuitive approach to eating, which supports physical and emotional health. It helps you make mindful decisions that align with your body’s true requirements, rather than relying on external rules or dieting patterns.
When you practice body awareness, you’re able to recognize the difference between true hunger and emotional or mindless eating. You’re also more likely to make food choices based on nourishment, rather than restriction, which can lead to better long-term health outcomes.
What is body awareness?
Body awareness while eating means paying attention to how your body feels before, during, and after a meal - like noticing hunger, fullness, or how certain foods affect you. It helps you eat in a way that feels good and supports your body’s needs.
Science behind it
Your body constantly sends signals that reflect its nutritional needs. These signals include physical cues like hunger, fullness, and cravings, as well as emotional responses to food. Cultivating body awareness helps you listen to these cues more effectively, leading to healthier eating patterns.
Research shows that individuals who cultivate body awareness often have healthier relationships with food and are more likely to maintain a balanced diet. It suggests that body awareness, including mindfulness practices, helps reduce overeating and improve food choices.
Furthermore, research shows that individuals with greater body awareness are more likely to eat in response to physical hunger rather than emotions or external cues. This can lead to more balanced eating, improved digestion, and a healthier relationship with food.
Body awareness also supports portion control and mindful eating. When you’re connected to how your body feels before, during, and after meals, you’re better able to recognize when you’re satisfied and avoid overeating. Over time, this awareness fosters more intuitive, nourishing eating habits that support long-term well-being.
Benefits for your health
Body awareness helps you build a trusting relationship with your body and your food choices. Instead of dieting or restricting yourself, it encourages a more flexible and compassionate approach to nutrition. By honoring your body’s needs, you nourish it in a way that supports both physical and emotional well-being.
This habit also promotes better digestion and satisfaction with your meals, as eating mindfully and in response to physical hunger can improve how well your body processes food.
How to build this habit
Here are some practical steps you can take to develop greater body awareness around food:
- Tune into hunger and fullness: Before eating, ask yourself if you’re truly hungry or just eating out of habit or emotion. During meals, check in with yourself periodically to assess your fullness level.
- Eat mindfully: Slow down and pay attention to the taste, texture, and aroma of your food. This helps you feel more satisfied and in tune with what your body needs.
- Recognize emotional triggers: Identify times when you eat due to emotions rather than hunger. Find alternative ways to cope with emotions that don’t involve food.
- Keep a food journal: Track your meals and how they make you feel both physically and emotionally. This can help you recognize patterns in your eating habits.
- Practice self-compassion: Avoid guilt or judgment after meals. If you overeat or indulge, approach yourself with kindness and a focus on moving forward with healthier choices.
Conclusion
Body awareness is a powerful nutrition habit that helps you reconnect with your body and make more mindful, intuitive food choices. By listening to your body’s signals and honoring its needs, you can improve both your physical and emotional health.
Build this habit
Start building the habit of body awareness with Munay, your intelligent habit companion. Go to Get Munay to download the app or visit Munay App to learn more about it.
Sources
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- Buettner, D., & Skemp, S. (2016). Blue zones: lessons from the world’s longest lived. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 10(5), 318-321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827616637066
- Kristeller, J. L., & Wolever, R. Q. (2014). Mindfulness-based eating awareness training. New York: Guilford Pres. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-416031-6.00006-2
- Lowe, M. R., & Butryn, M. L. (2007). Hedonic hunger: a new dimension of appetite? Physiology & behavior, 91(4), 432-439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.04.006
- MacCormack, J. K., & Lindquist, K. A. (2019). Feeling hangry? When hunger is conceptualized as emotion. Emotion, 19(2), 301. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000422
- Nelson, J. B. (2017). Mindful eating: The art of presence while you eat. Diabetes spectrum: a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 30(3), 171. https://doi.org/10.2337/ds17-0015
- Oakes, M. E., & Slotterback, C. S. (2000). Self-reported measures of appetite in relation to verbal cues about many foods. Current Psychology, 19, 137-142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-000-1010-z
- Ochiai, H., Shirasawa, T., Nanri, H., Nishimura, R., Hoshino, H., & Kokaze, A. (2018). Relationship between eating quickly and overweight: a cohort study of schoolchildren in Japan. Acta Medica Okayama, 72(2), 121-128. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12482
- Read, D., & Van Leeuwen, B. (1998). Predicting hunger: The effects of appetite and delay on choice. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 76(2), 189-205. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1998.2803
- Stockburger, J., Schmälzle, R., Flaisch, T., Bublatzky, F., & Schupp, H. T. (2009). The impact of hunger on food cue processing: an event-related brain potential study. Neuroimage, 47(4), 1819-1829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.04.071