"The Hunger Scale"

If you've ever been to the hospital or the doctor's office with a pain related problem, you are probably familiar with the "pain scale", where the nurse or physician ask you to rate your pain on a scale of "0-10" with "0" being no pain and "10" being the worse pain you could imagine. Well Weight Watchers has implemented a hunger scale. This scale is designed to help you assess your hunger levels. As most of us know, in America we are so accustomed to eating for social reasons that we are not even aware when we are hungry or too full. I am test piloting this scale this week. I am going to think about this scale before I eat and then 30 minutes after I eat. The scale works as follows:

"0" = Very hungry/ravenous
"1" = Hungry
"2" = A bit hungry
"3" = Satisfied/comfortable
"4" = Not at all hungry/full
"5" = Stuffed

Of course you aren't supposed to wait until you are at "0" to eat and you are not supposed to keep eating when you are a "4"....
On a different note, our Weight Watcher leader challenged us this week to take out a placemat and eat at the table regardless of what we are eating. She discussed how we tend to eat slower and less when in a setting designed for eating (unlike being in front of the computer or TV)....