Part 6 What Do You Want To Eat?: Based on the book "Intuitive Eating Workbook"
Unfortunately, for so many in our culture, the pleasure of eating promotes feelings of guilt and wrongdoing, and, of course, dieting plays right into this ethic. It causes you to make sacrifices and settle for less. But if you regularly settle for an unsatisfying food or an unappetizing eating experience, satisfaction will not be the outcome; rather, you are likely to continue searching for a satisfying food, even though you are no longer hungry. Fortunately, studies show that Epicurean eating pleasure—a concept that involves an ongoing appreciation of the aesthetics of foods, their symbolic value, and the pursuit of pleasure—is correlated with smaller portions and higher well-being, yet is not associated with higher body mass index. You will find that eating when you are moderately hungry, rather than ravenous or not hungry at all, will ensure more satisfaction. When you eat without a diet mentality, while making peace with food and challenging the food police, you’ll be free to discover satisfaction. You will receive more pleasure from a meal that is eaten without emotional turmoil. Respect for your body comes with an appreciation for the wonders of your body’s many capacities, including the enjoyment of food. Moving your body regularly and eating with an intention to feel good physically allows for far more satisfaction in life in general—and especially in eating. In order to feel satisfied when eating, the first question to ask is, “What do I really want to eat?” This may be difficult for you, if you have never been asked about what you liked or wanted to eat. Respect your taste buds’ preferences. You may have true life-long preferences or dislikes for certain tastes or foods, but it’s important to consider that your tastes may change over time. You may have gotten caught up in a rebellious food fight, thinking that you didn’t like certain foods, and be surprised to find that you now like them. As an Intuitive Eater, be committed to choosing the foods that you truly enjoy, without applying moralistic judgment. Remember, only you can know what pleases and satisfies your taste buds. Don’t settle—if you don’t love it, don’t eat it, and if you love it, savor it. What do I really want to eat right now? Consider each of your senses. Then think about the meal as a whole. You may not be able to satisfy each of your senses in every meal. That’s okay. Choose the components that are most important in the moment. In the field of hedonics—the study of pleasure—the concept of pleasantness is important in influencing food choice and may play a role in determining the amount of food consumed. This is called sensory specific satiety (SSS). Studies of SSS have found that it occurs within two minutes after consumption of a single food, when there’s been little opportunity for digestion and absorption, and it’s specific for the sensory aspects of the food. If you are eating mindfully, you will begin to notice when that moment of SSS sets in, for example, when your taste buds begin to be desensitized to the taste. At that moment, you might notice that it doesn’t taste as good as it did when you first bit into it. SSS encompasses the proposition that by evaluating the sensual qualities of food, which you identified in the preceding exercise, you can determine when the pleasantness of food decreases. With this focus, you’ll naturally come to just the right amount of food you need to give you the most satisfaction. Typically, we eat more than one food in a meal. As the pleasantness of a group of foods decreases, it often corresponds to an increase in satiety, leading to a decrease in hunger and desire to eat. Have you ever eaten very little during the day when you know that you’ll be going out to a lovely dinner in the evening? People do this all of the time, saving up for the meal without considering the consequences. It’s common to ignore the fact that going into a meal feeling ravenous is a sure route to gorging on as much food as you can to satisfy yourself. Once you’re in a state of primal hunger, all possibility of true satisfaction from your meal is removed by the drive to get the food in quickly. Likewise, it is just as hard to be satisfied from a meal if you sit down to eat when you have no noticeable hunger at all. You will get more pleasure out of a meal that’s begun when you’re moderately hungry. People frequently treat eating as they might treat washing their laundry—just going through the motions of a necessary but dull task, hardly paying attention—simply just getting through it. If you choose to eat your meals without regard to your environment, the satisfaction of eating can be diminished. Consider these possible issues: Time to Enjoy Eating. You may be eating rapidly and trying to squeeze your mealtime into a five-minute slot between jobs or chores. Or are you giving yourself plenty of time to appreciate your food? Distracted Eating. If you are standing up while eating, whether it be in front of the refrigerator, looking out the window, or racing around the house, you are missing the opportunity to sit, relax, look at your food on the plate, and take in its sensual qualities. If you are engaging in these activities while eating, it is unlikely that you can focus on your meal. People. Eating with someone else can often enhance your pleasurable experience, but it can sometimes distract you from your food. If you’re comparing what you’re eating with another’s meal, or you’re engaged in an uncomfortable conversation, it’s possible that you won’t notice whether the food is actually to your liking or whether you’re beginning to reach your last bite threshold. (Consider your companions at each meal. It may vary.) Clutter. If your eating space is cluttered, and there’s barely room to set down your plate, the mess can distract you, and you will not have a calm, satisfying eating experience. Setting. If you eat in an unattractive setting, you’re not honoring the experience of eating and not receiving the ultimate satisfaction that eating can offer. Noise. If you listen to loud, head-banging music, or there’s construction going on next door, or your coworkers are arguing or talking loudly at the next cubicle, you will feel the antithesis of a soothing environment. Stressful Emotions. If your emotions are intense, it’s difficult to feel calm enough to enjoy your meal. Most cultures, food is used to celebrate, to comfort, and to nurture family and friends. It’s no wonder that we learn to connect emotions and eating. When you add dieting to the mix, however, it wreaks emotional havoc: studies show that dieters have an increased risk of using food to cope with their emotions. It might be hard to believe, but each act of eating in your life has served you in some way, but some acts have caused you emotional distress and physical discomfort. On a basic level, eating offers nourishment, pleasure, and sometimes comfort. For some people, eating becomes a way of managing or escaping emotions—numbing your feelings. The manner in which you were raised can impact your ability to effectively cope with life’s ups and downs. If your parents or caregivers helped you develop positive coping skills, such as the ability to speak up, to show emotions, and to receive comfort from others, life’s challenges (and irritations) can more easily be met. On the other hand, if your parents were emotionally distant, abusive, or neglectful, or simply unable to cope with problems themselves, you may find yourself turning to destructive coping mechanisms, because you learned no other way to manage life’s challenges. When you throw dieting into the fray, you may find yourself catapulted into seeking solace in food, regardless of how you were raised.
