What is the #1 reason for finding food and putting it in the mouth?
The answer, of course, is hunger. Interestingly, when I ask this question during my talks I rarely get “hunger” as the first answer. It may be that most of us (unfortunately, not all of us) always have food available at the first stirrings of hunger so we have forgotten what it means to be really, truly hungry. But hunger is the first cause for eating; hunger is what drove our distant forefathers to venture out of the cave and into a potentially hostile environment in search of food.
We eat to satisfy hunger, but there is more. I am hungry; I go to a nice restaurant and have a full and satisfying lunch. The waiter then brings over the dessert tray and I order the triple-layer chocolate cake. Why did I do that? Clearly, I’m not hungry. Is there a second cause for eating? There is, and it’s called “desire”.
Hunger and desire are the normal reasons for eating. Both are hard-wired into our system. Of course, many of us also eat when depressed, or lonely, or partying with friends. But we also eat when we are not depressed, or lonely, or at a party. Those are secondary reasons for eating. Hunger and desire are primary, and each serves a different purpose. Let’s compare the two.
Hunger is an internal push. When my stomach is empty, it tells me to go find food—something, anything. Skinless baked chicken breast is not my favorite food, but when I am hungry enough I will eat it. If I am hungry enough, I will eat a raw potato.
Desire is an external pull. Desirable food attracts me to itself, it talks to me. A pint of my favorite ice-cream can call me from two miles away. Desirable food creates an emptiness within me that has to be filled; it creates a “spot” that needs to be hit. I order the chocolate cake not because of hunger but because of desire.
Think about this. Hunger makes the stomach growl; desire makes the mouth water. Hunger never makes the mouth water; desire never makes the stomach growl. The next time you find yourself moving towards a plate of food, stop for a second and see where the stimulus is coming from. Is it from the stomach (hunger) or from the mouth (desire)?
Of course, if I am hungry and see a chocolate cake, I will be eating for both hunger and desire!
We will talk more about hunger and desire in the next post…
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