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Why We Eat. Hunger Cues Explained | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
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Feb 8, 2025
Expert dietitian explains what hunger is and how to know your hunger cues. Hunger is a biological signal for food, which is a basic human requirement. Hunger cues are the body’s way of regulating food intake to ensure the body can get what it needs. Elle Kelly a registered sports dietitian explores what hunger is, the different types of hunger, and how we can respond to them. Elle breaks down the four different hunger cues and why they may occur, if we’re hungry for something in particular, feeling emotional, wanting to eat before we get hungry or wanting to eat something because it looks or sounds good. Watch this video to hear the research that backs up the benefits. Follow Elle on IG: ellekellynutrition 📱 *** Chapters: 00:00 - What is hunger? 02:40 - Hunger cues 02:56 - Physical hunger 03:18 - Emotional hunger 05:16 - Taste hunger 05:42 - Practical hunger 06:20 - Any more hunger questions?
View Video Transcript
0:00
what is hunger Hunger is a biological
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sign for food which is a basic human
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requirement hunger cues are the body's
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way of regulating food intake to ensure
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that we can get what it needs
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my name is Elle and I'm a registered
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dietitian specializing in disordered
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eating and in Sports Nutrition today
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we're going to explore what hunger is
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the different types of hunger and how we
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can respond to hunger cues we often hear
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things like why am I hungry I shouldn't
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be hungry but the reality is that there
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are lots of things that can increase our
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hunger or alter our appetite like
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activity illness or hormonal
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fluctuations throughout the menstrual
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cycle and sometimes we're just more
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hungry than normal and that's okay we
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don't need to justify it or search for a
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reason a lot of clients that I work with
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Express a fear of hunger and it's quite
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understandable particularly if you've
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spent a lot of your life on and off
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diets or counting calories when we use
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external factors like a meal plan or a
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tracking app to tell us how much to eat
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when to eat and what to eat we're not
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using our internal cues so it makes
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sense that we don't necessarily know how
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to respond to them something we hear
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quite often within the diet industry is
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about curbing hunger but the only way to
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actually cure hunger is to eat at when
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we try to curb or suppress hunger we are
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simply delaying it this can cause hunger
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to build up and lead to urges to overeat
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or feeling insatiable after meals also
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if we're hungry for something in
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particular curb and Cravings with
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something else can leave us feeling
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unsatisfied and still wanting that food
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we were craving in the first place with
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all of this in mind it's super important
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that we do honor our hunger and our
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Cravings but that's a lot easier said
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than done if you have been restricting
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your intake you might not be aware of
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your biological hunger cues this is
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because they can switch off when you've
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been ignoring them for a while
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reconnecting with Hunger cues can take
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time and can involve trying to rebuild
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that trust with ourselves too if you've
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been dieting or tracking your Macros for
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a long period of time you might feel
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like you don't trust yourself to eat
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without having a structure or numbers to
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keep you accountable I commonly hear
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people saying that if they don't count
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their calories or track their macros
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they would eat less nutritious food and
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would struggle to know when to stop
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eating this is usually because of a
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black and white view of food which can
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be developed when we follow strict plans
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which means that when we don't track or
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stick to the plan we may end up going
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all out on different foods because it's
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a novelty when they're not usually
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allowed this novelty does eventually
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wear off but it can take time and can
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erode at trust within ourselves when we
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feel like we have no control around food
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starting with regular eating throughout
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the day and getting curious about your
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hunger rather than judgmental is super
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important knowing the different types of
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hunger can be helpful in learning how to
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respond to these cues hunger is more
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than just the physical Sensations that
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we feel when we haven't eaten in a
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couple of hours because hunger is not
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just physical there are four main types
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of hunger physical hunger emotional
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hunger practical hunger and taste hunger
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physical hunger describes the physical
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signals that our body experiences as a
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way to tell us that we need to eat we
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usually feel physically hungry when we
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haven't eaten in a while and the signs
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and signals can be highly individual to
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each of us symptoms of physical hunger
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might include a grumbling tummy or
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feeling physically empty maybe having a
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headache or struggling going to
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concentrate or feeling hangry or low in
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energy emotional hunger refers to when
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we're seeking food to cope with emotions
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or circumstances the symptoms of
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emotional hunger can be similar to
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physical hunger which can make it hard
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to tell them apart however emotional
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hunger does have some telltale signs
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emotional hunger tends to come on quite
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urgently and is usually a craving for a
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specific food whereas physical hunger
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tends to build gradually and is usually
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resolved by eating anything emotional
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hunger usually can't be satisfied
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because food doesn't actually fix the
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emotion we're experiencing this is why
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when we eat in response to our emotions
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we are more likely to overeat or even
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binge because when we eat in response to
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emotions or a certain situation we
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improve how we are feeling momentarily
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and it provides an escape from whatever
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we are dealing with however this is
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short-lived and when we stop eating the
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emotion that we were trying to avoid is
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still there which is why we may continue
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to eat in order to suppress these
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emotions it is the most normal thing in
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the world to find food comforting eating
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is emotional and it isn't just
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associated with negative emotions like
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stress or sadness food can be associated
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with positive emotions too like
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Nostalgia and social occasions food is
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rewarding and pleasurable and it can be
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a way of expressing love too from the
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moment we are born we associate food
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with Comfort babies associate being fed
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either by a bottle or the breast with
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being held and comforted by their
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parents
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eating in response to emotions is not
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inherently bad it only becomes a problem
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if it is our only coping mechanism so if
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you struggle with emotional eating I
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would encourage you to take a moment to
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check in on how you're feeling before
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eating this can help us to create more
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awareness around our emotions but also
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enable us to think of ways in which we
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can respond to this emotion in a more
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appropriate way for example if you
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notice you're stressed or lonely or
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bored eating may not be the most
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appropriate thing to do in order to
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relieve that feeling and so thinking of
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things that you can do when you feel
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that way will help in both relieving how
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you feel but also creating more coping
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strategies which can reduce emotional
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eating episodes the next type of hunger
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that we can experience is taste hunger
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this is where we may not be physically
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hungry but we may be craving the taste
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of something or want to eat something
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just because it looks or sounds good
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suppressing all hunger even taste hunger
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can lead to rebounding later on and so
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if you are craving something be sure to
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allow yourself to have it the more we
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restrict something or don't allow
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ourselves to have it the more likely we
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are to experience urges to overeat or
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binge on it the final type of hunger is
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practical hunger which fine is not
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exactly a feeling but more about the
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anticipation of becoming hungry if for
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example you're not feeling hungry at the
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moment but you know that you have a
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meeting all afternoon you might eat now
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in order to prevent becoming hungry
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during the meeting and then starving
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afterwards for anyone who struggles with
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regularly overeating or even binge
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eating regular eating even when you
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don't necessarily feel hungry is super
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important this is because when we're
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starving we tend to be more inclined to
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overeat and so avoiding getting to that
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point can be helpful so now you know
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what hunger is and the different types
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of hunger we can experience I'd incur
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urge you to start thinking about what
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your individual hunger cues are and
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start practicing tuning into your body
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so that you can actually respond
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appropriately if you have any questions
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please leave them in the comments below
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and for more evidence-based nutrition
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information be sure to subscribe to the
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my protein YouTube channel
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foreign
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