Tag Archive for: food pleasure

5 Tips to Eat Slower

In today’s fast paced society, it’s only natural that we rush around trying to get everything done before the day is over. You rush to work, school, and everywhere else you must go. You probably even rush through lunch to get back to your busy day at work.

 

While moving fast may be a necessity for your work and overall lifestyle, eating fast is not the best for your health and body and can quickly lead to bypassing your comfortable fullness signals.

 

Think back to your last meal… did you inhale it or take the time to enjoy every bite?   How long do you think it took you to finish your meal? If it’s less than 20 minutes, then keep reading.

 

If you feel like you’re the only person who does this, you’re not! Most people devour their meals in about 5 -7 minutes flat. They put a forkful of food in their mouths and, before they even swallow, the next forkful is ready to go. Do you find yourself doing this too?

 

Downside of Eating Fast

When you eat fast, it becomes difficult to savor your meals.  You’re not able to truly listen to your body and engage in mindful eating. Slowing down as you eat will allow you to really taste every bite and get the most satisfaction out of the meal as possible.

 

Eating quickly also prevents you from eating until you are comfortably satisfied because you don’t pay attention to your inner fullness signals. Instead, you’ll eat until the food is gone.

 

It takes your brain 20 minutes to realize that your stomach is full, so if you clean your plate in record time, you likely miss that fullness cue, leading you to reach for more food. By the time the fullness signals kicks in, you are now uncomfortably full, having eaten more than your body physically needed. You are likely also experiencing bloat, heartburn and other uncomfortable GI symptoms (in addition to the emotional side effects of guilt and shame).

 

5 Tips to Help You Slow Down Your Eating:

1. Allocate a certain amount of time to sit down and eat your meal. Allow your body to guide when you begin your meal, but when you do sit down to your meal, make sure you have enough time to sit, eat slowly and savor. This doesn’t only apply to dinner, it applies to breakfast and lunch too!

 

2. Put your fork and knife down between bites. You might be thinking “who does this”? Unfortunately, not too many people, unless you are among the growing number of people who are learning to eat mindfully. This means completely putting the fork down on your plate until you’re done chewing what’s in your mouth. Then pick up the fork and take your next bite. This allows you to focus on the deliciousness of the food in your mouth rather than focusing on the next bite.

 

3. Eat without distractions (meaning no T.V. or phone). We all know how difficult this one can be. I suggest making your kitchen/dining room an electronic-free zone! If your phone is in another room, then you are not tempted to look at it when you hear that notification. Make sure the kids know too that mealtime is not tech time.

 

4. Use your non-dominant hand to hold the fork. This is a simple way to help you slow down. Since your non-dominant hand is usually weaker, you’ll have to pick up smaller forkfuls and really concentrate to keep food from spilling over.

 

5. Eat with someone else. Ask a family member or friend to help you reach your goal of slowing down at meals! You can engage in meaningful conversations between bites and, before you know it, you’ll realize you are engaging in many of the tips stated above.

 

Challenge yourself

Set the timer on your phone and see how long it normally takes you to finish a meal. It might be 5 minutes and you might think that stretching it out to 20 is impossible. It’s not! Continue to use the tips above every time you sit to eat to help lengthen your meal minute-by-minute. Before long, you will be eating slower and using your inner fullness signals to guide you when to stop. And, you’ll enjoy your meal a whole lot better.

 

If you’d like to explore how I can help you on your intuitive eating journey, just reach out to me at www.TalkWithBonnie.com .

 

What’s for Dinner?

How do you decide what to eat for dinner (or any meal)?

 

It seems like a simple question, but for the chronic dieter who has lost all trust in their body and ability to make food decisions, this is actually a very difficult question that is faced with anguish.

 

There’s the food that you think you “should” eat, and the food that you really want to eat. You have 2 voices in your head. Voice #1 – “Eat this, you know you should, it’s what your diet prescribes, it’ll help you lose weight”. Voice #2 – “No, choose this because you know it’s really what you want. You haven’t eaten this in ages.”

 

Either decision you make creates a negative feeling around food. If you follow voice #1 and eat what the diet tells you to eat, you have minimal to zero satisfaction when you are done. The entire time you are eating, you are thinking about the pizza you could have been eating. Your belly may be full, but your mind is not satisfied. You now look around the kitchen, open all the cabinets for something just to “finish off the meal”. You are searching for something to fill your psychological void. You are not happy.

 

However, if you follow voice #2 and eat the pizza, you fall into the diet mentality trap of “I messed up, I shouldn’t have eaten the pizza. Okay, I’ll just have one more piece and I promise I won’t eat it again for a long time.” You end up eating several slices, feel physically uncomfortable and emotionally guilty, full of shame, disappointment in yourself and disgust. You did it again. In the end, you didn’t derive the satisfaction you were looking for because the physical and emotional distress took over.

 

What’s the answer to this dilemma?

 

Pausing long enough to remind yourself that you are learning to give yourself unconditional permission to eat when you are hungry. This means all foods are available to you. Once you take the “should’s” and “shouldn’ts” off your food, you will realize that you can eat the foods you love without the worry of overeating.

 

This takes time, especially if you’ve been dieting for decades. But you have to start somewhere, so why not start today, with this very meal.

 

What is one food or meal that you would LOVE to eat for dinner tonight but would never dream of allowing yourself to have?

 

Go out and buy that food or make it for yourself for dinner tonight. Sit down without distraction and savor every bite knowing that eating this food now does not mean you could never eat it again. It means that you could eat it now, later, tomorrow, next week…whenever you want it. Just knowing this will help you stop when you are comfortably full.

 

Stuffed Potato Skins, Spinach Parmesan Lasagna, Pita Pizza, Fettuccini with Vegetables, Peanut Butter Bran Muffins, Double Chocolate Chews, Cinnamon Coffee Cake…

these are just a few of the recipes in my new book: Enjoying Food Peace: Recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom to Nourish Your Body and Mind.

 

Start to eat what you love without a side of guilt!

Enjoying Food Peace Book

Get your copy today on AMAZON!

 

Or, get a SIGNED COPY directly from me HERE!

How to Get Pleasure in Your Meals

The room is dark, the noise is loud. There is a buffet of luscious food awaiting. I walk over to the buffet, pick up a plate and can’t help but wonder “what is in front of me?” It looks like quinoa salad, or is it couscous? That must be a lentil patty, or is it a tuna croquette?

 

I take food, sit down at the table, and begin eating. All my friends at the table are saying what I am thinking, “anyone know what this is that we are eating?” I take a few bites, put my fork down and decide I have had enough.

 

Have you ever stopped to think about how important your senses are to the pleasure and satisfaction you get from your meals?

 

If you’re a chronic dieter, you’ve probably been eating what you think you should be eating, and not what you truly want to eat. And I might suggest that more often than not, you finish a meal and don’t say “wow, that was amazing!”. And, if you do, you likely have tremendous guilt that you enjoyed what you ate, and food is not meant for enjoyment.

 

One of the most beautiful benefits of being an intuitive eater is recapturing the pleasure in eating. The ability to use all of your senses during a meal to truly appreciate the food that is in front of you is something that you have lost in all your years of dieting. But, you can reclaim it on your path towards being an intuitive eater.

 

Here are 3 ways to get the most pleasure in your meals:

 

  1. Before you begin eating: take a moment to observe the food in front of you and appreciate it. Think about where it came from, send gratitude to the people involved in preparing the food for you and observe the various colors, textures and aroma of the different foods on your plate.

 

  1. During the meal: Pay attention to all aspects of the food. Notice the taste on your tongue, the texture in your mouth, the sound as you chew and how the flavor changes as you eat the bite.

 

  1. At the end of the meal: notice how your belly feels, satisfied and content? Full or overfull? Stuffed? Perhaps your having indigestion or acid reflux. Take note and decide if this is a food that feels good in your body, and if it’s something you will want to eat again.

 

 

Learning to slow down and be mindful when you eat is an important part of your intuitive eating journey. It takes practice and patience, but it is worth the lessons learned.

 

I was not able to see the food I was eating at the party I was at, and I did not enjoy it. So, I honored myself and stopped eating. It’s a good thing I honored my hunger before leaving my house for the party and had a snack.

 

Your turn to take action: Try these tips above and comment below how it enhanced the pleasure of your meals.

 

 

 

 

A Mindful Eating Lunch Experience at the Kitchen Table

Rush, rush, rush! That’s how most of our days are. There never seems to be enough time to do the things we need to do.

 

How does that affect your eating? Do you stop during the day to actually sit down at the kitchen table to eat your lunch? Or, if you are at work, do you walk away from your desk and sit in the cafeteria or break room and mindfully eat your lunch?

 

If you do, then congratulations! But, if you are like most people, the answer is probably no.

 

I want to share a personal experience with you that happened yesterday.

 

It was lunchtime. I had a busy morning in my home office, and I felt the need to walk away for a while. I have been making it a practice to leave the office and go to my kitchen to eat my lunch at the kitchen table, away from the phones and hustle bustle. It doesn’t always work out, as sometimes I am running behind with appointments, but I am working at this just like you are. Yet, yesterday, something was just different.

 

I went up to the kitchen, asked myself what I wanted to eat, prepared it, and sat down at the table. It was a beautiful day out (thank goodness, it’s about time) and I looked out through my bay windows in the kitchen as I was eating my lunch. I was not rushed, I had time until my next client appointment and I very slowly and mindfully ate. I was noticing the flavors, the textures and how the food felt in my mouth. When I was finished, I was very satisfied and commented to myself that I had eaten this sandwich hundreds of times before, but this time was different.

 

This time, I really delved into the sensory qualities of the food I was eating. And, my satisfaction was a 10! It reaffirmed for me what I am teaching you guys. Mindful eating is a key part of your intuitive eating journey.

 

I’m not making this up. It really feels good. It is amazing! I am worth the time it takes to take care of me and to honor my body. YOU are worth the time too. All your other work and errands will get done. You have one body. Treat it well and it will treat you well.

 

Please share your mindful eating experiences below.