What Happens When Hunger Becomes Something You Try To Control?

🧠 When You Don’t Trust Your Own Hunger Signals Anymore

You’ve read all the nutrition books.
You know what a balanced plate looks like.
You’ve tracked macros, calories, steps — even your luteal cravings.

But when it’s time to eat?

You freeze.

Do I really need this meal?
Should I be hungrier by now?
What if I’m just being lazy?

Sound familiar?

This isn’t about willpower.
It’s about a fractured relationship with your body’s signals — usually from years of dieting, hustle culture, or gaslit healthcare experiences.

🍽️ When you’ve learned to override your hunger, your body stops whispering

The women I work with are smart.
They’ve been through it.
Restrictive plans.
PTs that didn’t understand hormones.
Doctors that told them their bloods were “normal” when they felt anything but.

So now?
They second guess themselves.

That’s not a mindset issue.
That’s trauma held in the nervous system.

🌀 What happens when hunger becomes something you try to control?

• You ignore early signs of hunger

• You wait until you’re ravenous

• You overeat — and shame yourself

• You promise to “be better” tomorrow

• You lose trust in your body

• Repeat

The cost isn’t just metabolic.
It’s emotional.

Because eating isn’t just about fuelling.
It’s about feeling safe, nourished, seen.

🧭 Here’s how we begin repairing that trust

1. Feed yourself consistently — before hunger is loud

Waiting until you “feel starving” isn’t noble.
It’s dysregulating.
Start with 3 meals, spaced 3–5 hours apart.
Let your body know food is coming.
That’s how it starts whispering again.

2. Name the fear behind the control

“I’m scared if I eat more, I’ll gain weight.”
“I don’t trust myself around food.”
“I’m only worthy when I’m ‘disciplined.’”

These beliefs don’t make you weak.
They make you human.
But they can be challenged.

3. Check for hormone blockers

If hunger is absent or erratic, let’s rule out:

• Low progesterone

• Poor sleep

• Undereating chronically

• High cortisol

• Unmanaged stress

• Disordered eating history

This is why testing and tracking matters. Not to restrict — but to understand.

🔁 Trust is rebuilt with evidence, not promises.

If your body’s been ignored, punished, or silenced —
it won’t speak clearly at first.

But every time you eat when you’re gently hungry,
rest when you feel tired,
pause instead of pushing harder —
you’re showing your body:

You’re safe now. I’m listening.

And that’s the real transformation.

If this landed for you, it’s because your story matters.
If you want support on this journey — rooted in evidence, not shame —
you know where I am.

Kindness always,
Didi