If you are having trouble staying committed to this (or any) exercise, could it be caused by either or both of these issues?
1. Negative self-talk.
If you are having trouble staying committed to only eating when you are hungry, that does not mean you lack willpower or motivation so observe any unhelpful thoughts you might say to yourself and then let them go.
Many of us have been trying to eat the amount and kinds of foods prescribed by various diets (external cues) and ignoring our own hunger cues (internal cues). And you may have been doing this for a long time. That's a lot of unlearning to do. Building this skill/habit will take time and patience.
Talk to yourself like you would talk to a friend that is struggling with this change.
2. Perfectionism.
All or Nothing Thinking: I've already eaten twice today when I wasn't hungry so I might as well blow off the rest of the day and start over tomorrow.
All or Something Thinking: I had a snack this morning when I wasn't hungry but I'm still going to try and wait until I'm hungry to eat again. Even if I do this just once successfully today, that's better than not doing it all."
When I started working on this skill in January, I was really struggling and I often ate when not hungry. In February I has more success but still regularly ate when not hungry. March was half and half or so. April is the first month I feel like I'm successfully not eating when not hungry most of the time. It's not 100% but that's not the goal. I fully plan to eat sometimes when I'm not hungry and to sometimes eat past the point of fullness. But I'm saving those experiences for high-quality moments (ice cream with the family, a meal at an outstanding restaurant) and working to decrease low-quality experiences (afternoon trips to the pantry).
Please leave a comment in the group and share if you find yourself experiencing either of these situations.
Speaking of commitment, who is still with me? It feels like crickets in this group right now. I think there are only one or two posts in the group. Can each of you please respond to this email and let me know if you are still in the program or if you've changed your mind about participating?
I'm glad to see that your journey has taken a few months to form into a healthy habit. I have definitely realized that I eat out of habit and not always hunger. I was not a big snacker until I started to work from home during COVID. Then I found out how convenient the kitchen and pantry are! I do try to snack healthy but the whole idea is that I'm eating when I'm not really hungry. So, since I'm new at this I don't feel as discouraged after learning that it takes a while to change the eating pattern. I'm still on board with this!