Is it really hunger?

Sharing some information from the book: The Rules of "Normal Eating" (by Karen R. Koenig, LICSW, M.ED.) here is the first of a set of exercises to practice to help you develop the skills needed to eat "normally..

Exercises for tuning into hunger:

* At random times during the day, ask yourself if you're hungry and give your hunger a number (10 equals famished, and 0 equals not a bit hungry). If you think this will be a difficult exercise to remember, set an alarm (a watch with an alarm is helpful) to remind you. The exercise isn't complete until you've come up with a number.
* At a time when you're not hungry, prepare or take out food that you think will be potentially satisfying when you are hungry. Periodically look at and sniff the food while doing a hunger check. Notice what happens to your hunger in the presence of the food. Does the mere sight of food cause you to salivate, making you want to gobble it up then and there? Or does it terrify you? If you're a compulsive eater, what do you need to think, feel and do to delay eating until you're hungry enough? If you're a restrictive eater, how can you reorient your thoughts and feelings when you're hungry but find yourself resisting food?
* Every time you think about food, ask yourself how hungry you are. Is it more often than you think about food when you are hungry? What would you be thinking about if you didn't constantly have food on your mind?
* Try forcing yourself to become hungry and see what happens. Can you come up with the physical symptoms of hunger using thought alone? Wait until you're hungry and try forcing yourself not to be. Do your hunger symptoms disappear? Decide to let your body rule in the matter of hunger.
* Every time you're ready to eat, make sure you know what hunger range you're in: slightly, moderately, or very. Don't allow yourself to take a lick or a bite without identifying a range.
* Note exactly where in your body you feel hunger. Be able to count off on one hand your body's signals that you need food.
* Occasionally force yourself to eat when you're not at all hungry and notice how your body responds. What are the signals it gives you to stop eating?
* Wait until you're starving to eat and notice how your body reacts. What are the signals it gives you to eat more or more quickly?