Eating Intentionally: Respect Your Fullness

You may or may not have noticed, but I derailed a little bit in April. I had some other stuff going on (namely, finishing up my e-book that is now being edited and formatted), so I took a little blogging break, and in the process, totally neglected my Eating Intentionally series.

But I’m back now. So here we go.

I’m just going to totally skip principle #4 (Challenge the Food Police) because it kind of echoes a lot of the aspects of principle #3 (Make Peace with Food), and I feel like continuing in that vein will only result in beating a dead horse.

So onward and forward to Principle #5, which is: Respect Your Fullness. Ah, now, here we get to the good stuff. 

I have read in many different places about how the French people (any actual French people out there who can attest to the accuracy of this analysis, please feel free to pipe up!) eat foods that we would often consider “bad for you” or “fattening”, but they’re typically quite skinny, and fairly healthy as a society. Many people speculate that one reason is because the French eat very slowly, enjoying their food; and they rarely eat seconds.

I think this is where we as Americans struggle the most. Besides the obvious fact that the average American eats a lot of junk, one big cause of our obesity issues is that we simply eat too much. Food looks appetizing, so we indulge. And we take another helping, because wow, that was some good stuff! We go to buffets and have to sample every single option offered.

In short, we are trapped in our abundance. Even people on limited budgets, like myself, have a wide array of enticing desirable food options, and our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.

So the secret is to gain a little discipline: learn to stop eating when the stomach is full. I have seriously been concentrating on this recently. So far, I haven’t seen an improvement on the scale yet, but I have definitely learned that I don’t need to eat as much as I’m accustomed to eating.

How does this work practically? Here are a few tips:

1. Start with small servings. Chances are, if you put it on your plate, you will eat it. This is why the oft-repeated advice to use a smaller plate is so effective.
2. Eat slowly. Use all the tricks: put your fork down between bites, take a sip between bites, converse with your fellow diners, etc. (Note: this is where it comes in really hand to have mastered the principle of Honoring Your Hunger. If you are starving when you eat, it will be difficult to eat slowly, and you will inevitably end up over-eating.)
3. Pay attention to the taste and texture of the food as you eat (more on this in principle #6).
4. After eating a portion of your food, ask yourself, “Am I starting to feel full? Am I still hungry?”
5. When you’re finished your meal, note how you feel: stuffed? comfortable? satiated? Learn to identify the feeling of satiated – no longer hungry, but not stuffed or “full” either.

For more information, please read Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resche.

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