Hunger & Fullness

Hunger & Fullness are maybe the two most scary feelings when you have an ED.... and not so nice even when your healthy & normal?
   But you shouldnt be scared of feeling full or feeling hungry.

When you're sick, it might be nice to feel hungry... you feel as if you're achieveing something by not eating... you feel proud. But at the same time ,you dont want to admit you're hungry, because thats a weakness.
  And feeling full, is one of the worst feelings...?

When in recovery, you eat and you eat alot. So you do feel full....maybe an uncomfortable fullness. And that can be hard.
  But theres nothing wrong with that.

When you're sick, and have an ED you lose your fullness and hunger feelings. You dont know how much to eat, you dont know when you're full... you think you will eat loads.
  
At the start of recovery, you either feel full really quickly or you still feel hungry even though youve eaten a large meal. Both are normal and common.
  Thats why its good to start with a meal plan, so you know what to eat. So eat whether your hungry or full....

But then what happens when you have to start trusting yourself, your own feelings? How will you know the right portion.. how much to eat? How will you know if your hungry or full? Maybe youll eat too little or too much.... both are scary?

But the thing is... the body is smart. The body/your stomach knows when its full, or when its hungry.
  Its common to be hungry every 2-3 hours. And its ok to eat something small then.
  It takes rouhgly 20 minutes for your body to register fullness,20 minutes after eating something if you're not hungry then you most probably didnt eat enough.

Sometimes it can happen to me, that i eat dinner and then 20/30 minutes im still hungry.... should i eat more or not? I usually would, maybe just a sandwich, or an apple. Sometimes i take a handful of nuts.
  But if i know, that i ate a normal portion and dont actually need to eat more, then i would drink some tea or water. Because maybe my stomach hasnt registered that i had eaten.

Its hard, because you're worried about eating too much... How can i be hungry after eating dinner? If you ate too little.. then you might still be. But if you did eat normal, then you just haevt o keep yourself entertained and drink tea/coffee/water. Too keep you feeling full.

Its also ok to admit that you are hungry an hour after eating lunch, thats normal and completly ok. Its ok to take something to eat, maybe some nuts or a fruit,

You have to trust yourself and trust your body. The body is an amazing thing, you think that if you eat an apple extra one day suddenly you'll weigh 1kg extra the next day... it doesnt work that way. To gain 0,5 kg you have to eat 2000&3500 calories... i.e 5500 calories...Trust me, an extra apple wont make you gain weight. And especially not if you're hungry.
  If you're hungry, its a signal that you need energy and then you need to give your body energy.

So dont be scared, trust you're body.