So one of my regular commenters gave me a great idea for this blog. Also I think it is an extremely important idea to bare in mind also while intuitive eating.
Think of a perfect meal you have eaten recently. Whatever it was it was perfect in every single way. For me Im thinking of a steak I had which was so juicy and tender it melted in my mouth. I also ate it so slowly that I really savoured every mouthful. I was absolutely able to concentrate on the taste and texture and gain maximum enjoyment. I was at a quiet restaurant so I was able to anticipate the arrival of the food and also enjoy it in a nice environment when I did get it. I also stopped when I was full and so did not over do it and ruin this perfect moment by eating myself into a sick, cant breathe - need to do pregnancy breathing exercises - kind of full. No this meal was perfect in every single possible way. Before, during and afterwards I felt completely and utterly satisfied. But not just satisfied but almost high on endorphins. I felt extremely happy and my stress levels were completely down. I felt like I was on cloud nine and couldn’t stop smiling. I did not feel like I had to go and eat some more because my satisfaction levels were so high I was riding my buzz. Yes it may sound like a drug but don’t think for one second that our brain is not geared to give you a neurochemical reward if you give it what it wants. In this instance I did.
Now for one minute join me for another meal which, well, sucked. I was eagerly anticipating a nice meal but was surrounded by colleagues and people I worked with and no chairs. So I knew that a) people would be distracting me from eating how I want and focusing on enjoying the meal and b) I would not be able to sit down and do it even if they weren’t. Then they bring out hamburgers and hot dogs. This was NOT what I felt like. There wasnt even sauce. Just some dried hamburger patties, lettuce and tomatoes. Depressed and anxious I shoved about two hamburgers and a hot dog down my throat. No concentrating on what Im eating. No enjoyment of the meal. No eating slowly. Just quick rapid eating. Needless to say afterwards I felt full, bloated and completely unsatisfied. I felt like I had ruined my ‘chance’ of gaining that special buzz because now I was full I would not be able to get that buzz no matter what I ate.
So what am I saying here. Well lots of things but my main point is if we eat food we enjoy, in a positive setting that allows us to focus on the food, we are much more likely to feel satiated. The satisfaction you gain from eating such a meal (and I mean the endorphin rush) will let you glide for hours untill your next meal. You wont feel resentful or angry or guilty just happy that you got exactly what you wanted. Eating boring foods does not give you this. It makes you feel depressed and sick. But we keep overeating the food in the vain hope that we will eventually reach the ‘buzz’ level. We keep going and going until we are too full to breathe. We don’t stop and say ok this isn’t working for me. This food is crap. Im not going to continue to eat it. No we don’t. We want that endorphin rush dammit we want that buzz. So perhaps this is one of the reasons why we overeat boring food.
Note: This is not a post about trying to avoid eating just a post about avoiding overeating.
