| Bottom Line/HEALTH: | | So you talk about a five-point hunger scale. I think that’s really helpful because you talk about overeating strategies in restaurants. So tell me about the five-point hunger scale. |
| Osama Hamdy, MD, PhD | | The five-point hunger scale is a very useful tool that everyone can use, and it is very effective. Just image that number 5 is when you are stuffed…number 0 is when you are starving. So in between them, number 1 will be I am hungry. Number 2, I am comfortable. Number 3 and Number 4 will be I am full. And then Number 5 is I am stuffed. So 1 is starving…2 is I am hungry…3, I am comfortable…4, I am full…and 5, I am stuffed. Don’t wait until you are number 1—don’t wait until you are starving. Don’t leave the table when you are stuffed. Leave the table at number 3 or number 4, when you are feeling fine or you are full. This is usually the best strategy. But you have to remember that it takes around 30 minutes from when you start eating for the signal to reach your brain. If you wait until you are stuffed, basically you are eating significantly more. Evaluate your hunger scale, ask yourself how you feel right now. If you feel hunger is no longer there—you feel slightly full—this is the time you have to leave the table. |
| Bottom Line: | | So take a few bites and check in on yourself…and take a few bites and check in on yourself. I always joke that I eat like a fraternity boy. If you eat too fast, you never know. It is 20 minutes after I finish eating by the time my stomach catches up with me. |
| Hamdy: | | You know, fast eaters eat a lot. It doesn’t work for me that you do that, but I usually advise people not to be a fast eater. |
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