What the Intuitive Eating Hunger Scale Can Teach You | Dr. Kerri Fullerton ND

The intuitive eating hunger scale isn’t a rulebook. It’s a self-awareness tool. Learn how to use it with curiosity, not criticism.

Intuitive eating sounds so simple – just eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.
But what if you have no idea what hunger or fullness actually feel like?
Or you only recognize them when they’re screaming at you from the extremes, hangry or stuffed?

That’s where the intuitive eating hunger scale comes in.

It’s a simple visual tool designed to help you check in with your body—to notice where you might be on the spectrum from painfully hungry to uncomfortably full. Whether it’s your first time seeing it or you’ve tried to use it before and felt confused or frustrated, this blog will help you understand what it’s for (and what it’s not), how to use it without turning it into another diet, and how it can be a powerful step toward body trust.

What Is the Intuitive Eating Hunger Scale (and What It’s Not)

The intuitive eating hunger scale isn’t meant to shame or micromanage you.
It’s not a tool to “keep you in line” or earn your next meal.
It’s simply an awareness tool – a way to tune in to your body’s signals rather than power through them or tune them out completely.

It gives language, whether numbers, words, emojis, or balloon metaphors, to something that most of us were never taught how to identify: our own hunger and fullness. The classic version of the scale runs from 0 (painfully hungry) to 10 (painfully full), with 5 being neutral, not hungry, not full. Green zone = comfortably hungry to comfortably full. But you can adapt it however you need. The goal is to help you make sense of your signals.

That’s it.

It’s not a hunger police system.
It’s not a way to “fix” emotional eating.
It’s not a hunger game where fullness equals failure.

And yet…if you’ve spent time in diet culture or wellness world (hello, most of us), even a simple tool like this can get twisted. Before you know it, you’re trying to only eat at a 3 and stop exactly at a 7, and if you miss? Cue the inner critic. Cue the guilt. Cue the, “I knew I couldn’t trust myself.”

If you’ve been there, you’re not alone.
And if you’re seeing this for the first time, beautiful. You have a chance to meet it with fresh eyes and zero expectations.

Let’s keep it simple: this scale is just a tool for checking in, not checking up on yourself. It’s here to support body trust, not replace it.

Relearning Hunger: When You Can’t Feel It Until It Screams

If hunger only shows up when it’s urgent, that doesn’t mean you’re broken.
It means you’ve survived in a world that taught you to ignore your body.

Maybe you were praised for pushing past hunger. For skipping meals, “holding out,” distracting yourself with gum, water, or willpower. Maybe your hunger was brushed off by parents, coaches, partners, or doctors with comments like, “you don’t need more,” or, “you just ate, you couldn’t possibly be hungry.” Maybe you dieted for years and trained your body not to bother asking.

Or maybe, like me, you felt proud of being hungry. I used to take it as a sign I was doing things “right.” There was something righteous about the gnaw in my stomach, as though I was winning some invisible wellness game. Looking back, I realize I was starving for trust as much as for food.

Over time, that constant override creates confusion. The signals don’t disappear, but they do start to whisper – or speak in a completely different dialect.

Different Types of Hunger

So what does hunger actually feel like?

That depends on the kind of signals your body is sending.
Sometimes it’s physical – stomach based:

• A hollow or gnawing feeling
• Mild cramping or pressure
• Nausea (especially if you’ve gone too long)
• Heartburn, from stomach acid rising as the stomach contracts
• A sense of emptiness or even shakiness in your gut

Other times, it’s driven by blood-sugar – your brain:

• Foggy thinking or poor concentration
• A short fuse (aka hangry)
• Intrusive food thoughts or craving something “fast”
• A jittery or anxious sensation in your body
• Sudden fatigue, weakness, or even dizziness

You could experience all of these symptoms, or maybe just one or two. They may show up all at once or build over time. They all count.
They’re not fake hunger. They’re your body’s gas gauge – ideally prompting you to fill up before the low-fuel light comes on.

Here’s the science-y part: your brain prefers glucose as its primary fuel source. So do your red blood cells and a few other key systems. As your blood glucose starts to trend downward (even well before it qualifies as low on a glucometer), your brain starts nudging you toward food – just like you start scanning for gas stations when you notice your car’s fuel gauge dipping. The lower it goes, the louder that mental nudge becomes.

And if you’re living with insulin resistance, those messages can get extra confusing. Insulin is the hormone that helps move glucose into your cells so they can actually use it. But when your cells are resistant to insulin, it takes longer to get that glucose inside – meaning your brain may not get the “we’re fed” memo, even after you’ve eaten. You might feel physically full but still compelled to eat. Again, not a failure, just biology.

The Balloon Analogy (Why Fullness Feels the Way It Does)

I sometimes use the balloon analogy to describe your stomach. Not the emotional balloon some diet programs use, but the actual physical muscle.

Your stomach is meant to expand and contract as part of digestion. When it’s neutral, it’s like a balloon that’s been inflated and then deflated – it’s soft, relaxed, and resting. When you’re over-hungry, it’s like the air has been sucked out entirely. It starts to collapse in on itself, and those contractions can create nausea, discomfort, or reflux. That’s why extreme hunger can actually make eating feel harder, not easier.

When you eat enough to gently stretch the balloon, that’s comfortable fullness. Your stretch receptors kick in to let your brain know there’s food onboard. But just like overfilling a balloon, if you keep eating past that point, it can start to feel uncomfortable or tight.

That’s why the intuitive eating hunger scale can be so helpful. It invites you to check in before the balloon collapses, or before you’ve filled it so much it’s ready to pop.

When you catch hunger at a whisper, you don’t have to chase it with urgency. You can respond with care instead of panic.

How the Hunger Scale Helps You Tell Snack Hungry from Meal Hungry

One of the gifts of the intuitive eating hunger scale is that it helps you tell the difference between being snack hungry and meal hungry.

And no, this isn’t about eating the “right” amount – it’s about eating the right amount for your body, in that moment. It’s about satisfaction.

Let me tell you a story.

I was pregnant, and dinner that night was planned for later in the evening. My brother, who was also a parent, offered me a granola bar to “tide me over” while we waited for the kids to settle and the adults could finally sit down to eat.

It was a kind offer.

But I laughed (okay, maybe yelled),
“I don’t want a freaking granola bar! I want a steak, a baked potato, and a big salad.”

Because I wasn’t just a little bit hungry. I wasn’t snack hungry. I was meal hungry.

That granola bar might’ve been enough if I were just starting to dip, something to keep me going until dinner. But my body had already passed that polite stage of hunger. It was ready for the main event. A light snack wasn’t going to cut it.

Why Matching the Food to the Hunger Levels Matters

This is one of the most practical gifts of the intuitive eating hunger scale: it helps you tune into the intensity and quality of your hunger so you can match your response accordingly.

When you’re snack hungry, you might be sitting around a 3 or 4 on the scale. You’re not ravenous yet, just noticing that you could use something to keep you going. A handful of almonds, some cheese and crackers, a piece of fruit with peanut butter, those might all land well.

But if you’re closer to a 2 or below, your body likely needs more.
It’s meal hungry. It’s time to refuel with something hearty and sustaining, not just something that “takes the edge off.”

Getting that match right matters. Because satisfaction isn’t just about how food tastes. It’s about whether it actually meets your needs.

Too little food, and the needle on your hunger scale won’t budge.
Too much, and you might find yourself in the overfull zone, uncomfortable, sleepy, or disconnected from your body.

AND…sometimes, eating past fullness can feel oddly safe, especially when hunger has so often felt unsafe.

I think for a long time, being a little too full helped me feel grounded, anchored in my body.
After years of semi-starving myself on and off, there was something oddly comforting about the fullness.
Like proof that I had finally responded to my hunger. That I wasn’t ignoring it anymore.

Which is why we need to leave shame out of the picture.

Your hunger is not a math problem.
It’s not a formula to get right. It’s communication.

The hunger scale helps decode that communication, not to restrict you, but to help you meet your body where it’s at.

And that’s where real satisfaction lives.

Why Fullness Isn’t the Place to Start with the Intuitive Eating Hunger Scale

Most people come to me worried about fullness.

They say things like,
“I always eat past the point of comfortable.”
“I just don’t know when to stop.”
“I just keep going, even when I know I’ve had enough.”

And I get it.
Fullness can feel like the problem.
But more often than not, the root isn’t about stopping. It’s about starting. Often too late, too hungry, too depleted.

That’s why my advice is often surprising:
Don’t start with fullness. Start with hunger.

Because when you learn to catch hunger earlier, before the low-fuel light is blinking, you naturally start to notice fullness sooner. You eat slower. You taste more. You feel more. And it becomes easier to stop when you’re satisfied instead of stuffed.

But if you’re starting at a 1 or 2 on the hunger scale?
Your body is in panic mode. You’ll likely eat quickly, with urgency, and override every whisper of fullness until your body finally feels safe.

It’s not a willpower issue.
It’s a survival response.

So rather than fixating on “how to stop eating,” I encourage people to ask,
“When did I start eating? And how hungry was I?”

Sometimes fullness feels elusive because we’re arriving at the table already too far gone.

That’s why checking in with hunger before you eat can be so supportive.
It’s not about controlling what happens, it’s about understanding what you’re walking into.

How to Use the Intuitive Eating Hunger Scale Gently (Not Religiously)

Here’s something I want you to know right from the start:
You don’t have to do this every time you eat.

In fact, I don’t recommend it.

When you’ve spent years in diet or wellness culture, even the most well-meaning tools can start to feel like rules. The hunger scale can quietly shift from being a guide to becoming a grading system. Suddenly, every eating decision starts with an inner interrogation:
“Am I at the right number? Is this allowed? Did I blow it?”

That’s not what this is for.

The hunger scale is meant to support awareness, not perfection. To help you collect information, not judge your decisions.

So how do you start?

Start small. One Check-In A Day

Pick one meal or snack a day. Preferably one that feels lower stress – where you’re not juggling 12 things, parenting through chaos, or rushing between meetings.
Check in before you eat: Where might I land on the hunger scale right now?
And again after: Where would I place myself on the fullness side?

You’re not trying to get it “right”, you’re just noticing.

Think of it like learning to drive.
You probably didn’t start by merging onto the 401 at rush hour. In fact, you might never do that.
You start on a quiet road, at slower speeds, with plenty of time to react.

This is the same.

You’re learning to observe internal signals you may not have had access to for years. That takes practice. And just like driving, some people will eventually feel comfortable in all conditions, and some will always prefer the slower lanes. Both are valid.

To support that learning, you might find it helpful to print or screenshot a version of the hunger scale – like the one I’ve included here. It gives you something visual to check in with and reflect on over time.

And like any tool, it’s yours to adapt.

Modify the Scale to Work for You

If the numbers feel too triggering or clinical, feel free to swap them out.
Use emojis, colours, descriptors like “running on fumes” or “perfectly topped up.”
There’s even value in just using three columns: pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant.
You can even add a fourth: your words here.

Want a copy you can personalize? Download the customizable hunger scale here.
(Use it to jot down your sensations, hunger cues, or food preferences in your own words. No right answers, just observations.)

The point isn’t to fit yourself into someone else’s framework.

It’s to start building language around your experience.

This Part Takes Time. Keep Listening.

What if you check in and…nothing?
Or you check in and feel everything all at once?

That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
It means your body is still learning how to speak a language it was taught to suppress.

I remember someone telling me, early in their intuitive eating work,
“I don’t think I even have hunger cues.”
They’d go all day without eating, fully distracted, fully functional, and then eat until overfull at night. Every time. They weren’t broken. They were burnt out, disconnected, and running on autopilot.

For them, hunger didn’t show up as a grumbling stomach. It showed up as foggy thinking. Irritability. That low-key hum of “something’s off.”

This is more common than you think.

Sometimes your cues are:

• Muted by medication or medical conditions
• Scrambled by stress, trauma, or constant distraction
• Buried under years of “you’re not really hungry” messaging

Or they’re just out of sync from chaotic eating rhythms – eating too late, too little, or too distracted.

You might feel:

• Full but still driven to eat
• Empty but weirdly nauseated
• Like food goes through you without landing
• Like fullness doesn’t show up until it’s way past comfortable

When that’s your reality, trying to label hunger as a 2 or a 6 on a scale can feel absurd.

So don’t force it.

Let Patterns Speak First.

Instead, get curious.

• What patterns do you notice over time?
• What kinds of meals or snacks help you feel grounded, physically and mentally?
• Are there moments when satisfaction feels out of reach, even after eating?

Sometimes the answers aren’t obvious.
Sometimes your body is still learning that it’s safe to speak, and that you’re someone who will listen.

Your job isn’t to perform hunger awareness.
It’s to practice noticing, without judgment.

If you take one thing from this blog, let it be this:

You can’t do this wrong.

There is no perfect way to use the intuitive eating hunger scale.
No gold star for stopping at “the right number.”
No failure for eating past fullness, or missing the early whispers of hunger.

What matters is the relationship you’re building, your body, your cues, and your choices.

And relationships take time.

That’s why I often recommend swapping judgment for curiosity.
Instead of “I shouldn’t have eaten that,” try:
“Isn’t that interesting?”

• Isn’t it interesting that I felt full but still wanted more?
• Isn’t it interesting that I didn’t feel satisfied even after eating?
• Isn’t it interesting that certain foods leave me hungrier sooner?

This isn’t about second-guessing yourself; it’s about understanding yourself.

Compassion Makes This Sustainable.

Self-compassion helps here more than anything else. Research backs that up: people who practice self-compassion tend to eat more intuitively, binge less, and experience more satisfaction from food. It’s not a fluffy bonus, it’s a practical support tool.

It also helps you hold space for patterns, like the ones I’ve seen in my own relationship with dairy.

My body doesn’t love most animal dairy, much to my mouth’s dismay.
If I have certain cheeses or creamy dishes, my digestive system protests, quickly and loudly. It’s not a moral issue. I’m not “bad” for eating those foods. I’m just not free from the consequences.

And that’s okay.

Sometimes I still choose the food anyway.
But I do it with awareness. I make the choice, I honour the outcome, and I move on.

That’s what it means to work with your body, not against it.

Noticing.
Reflecting.
Choosing.
And being kind to yourself through all of it.

You Don’t Need Rules. You Need a Relationship

The intuitive eating hunger scale isn’t a test.
It’s not another rule to follow or another way to measure success.
It’s a tool, a companion, really, for rebuilding trust with your body.

Because that trust? It may have been bruised.
By restriction. By wellness plans dressed as diets.
By external voices telling you when, what, and how much to eat.

But that trust isn’t lost. It’s just waiting to be practiced again.

You don’t have to get it right. You don’t have to track every meal.
You can start with one check-in a day. Or even just a quiet pause.

And if that feels like too much right now?
Then the work is simply noticing when you don’t check in, and meeting that moment with compassion instead of criticism.

Because you’re learning to listen.
Not to the scale.
Not to the influencer on your feed.
Not even to me.

You’re learning to listen to you.

And that, more than anything, is what creates peace with food, and partnership with your body.