Argh. I've just stolen a handful of peanut M&Ms from my son's mini-fridge even though I'm not hungry, it's only 10am and I had a perfectly satisfying breakfast of cheese on toast topped with a poached egg at 8am. My mouth just feels like it needs something in it!
I was in this kind of mood last night as well - maybe the dreary weather and constant rain and darkness with a distinct lack of sunshine has something to do with it? It maybe that I've not had a proper walk for days as well, since my dog had an operation and hasn't been able to go out (and it's been a torrential downpour outside also, of course).
I did Tai Chi Shen on Monday night, plus a Tai Chi Shen video yesterday afternoon that Graeme (who runs my class) gave me, and while watching the evening news last night I also did some of the exercises that David taught me (using baked bean tins as weights!). So, it's not like I'm not using my body - but I think I feel restless with the rain and this could be behind the 'mouth hunger'.
One of the main principles of intuitive eating is, of course, to eat anything you want but ask "am I hungry for this?". My tummy isn't hungry in the slightest. I know that the 'mouth hunger' will pass and that on the whole, I don't generally 'give in' to this sort of feeling anymore, instead I do give myself time to wait until hunger and actually, I don't really experience this very much now at all.
I do feel a bit of a pig at the minute though. But again, I know that I cannot beat myself up about it. Hey, what's the worst that can happen after consuming about 7 M&Ms when I didn't actually need to?! Time to get real and just gently look at what may be going on for me at present.
I'm Andrea, and am obsessed with creating fabulous food. After I managed to ditch dieting, the reason Chocolate and Beyond was born, it seemed natural to evolve my site into a foodie blog. More so since I also ditched animal produce to be vegan. Now, I love showing how inventive cruelty-free cooking can be. And sometimes I like to rant, too. I wouldn't be myself otherwise :) x 
I think we all get mouth hunger sometimes, it doesn't matter how well we think we have grasped the 'intuitive eating' concept. I used to worry about it but now I figure that if I have what I want at the time, the urge for it goes away soon after. What's important is that we don't beat ourselves up about it.
I think the weather has affected peoples moods - I posted a piece on this on my blog. I think with all the rain that we have had, we need to look at other ways and activites to lift our spirits. I usually think back to what I like doing on winter evenings and try and do some of those things instead. I'm sure the sun will find it's way here eventually!
Posted by: Jomay | July 07, 2007 at 09:55 AM
The weather definitely can affect us - I find winter sooo hard! But you're right Jomay, being aware of it can then help you find ways of helping yourself.
Posted by: Andrea Wren | July 09, 2007 at 10:44 AM