3 Ways to Get the Most Pleasure in Your Meals

Picture this, it’s lunchtime and you head to a buffet with your friends, there are dozens of stations set up throughout the room, but everyone heads to the salad bar. You return to the table with a bowl full of wilted lettuce and sour dressing. You look around the room and you see other tables enjoying wood-grilled pizza and roasted chicken.

This image doesn’t sit right with you. Everyone felt pressure to choose the salad bar because it was the “healthy” option however, no one is enjoying anything on their plate. There were so many more palatable options to choose from!

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 of eating. The ability to use all 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 aromas of the different foods on your plate.

2. 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 take each bite.

3. 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.

If you need support on your journey, schedule a time to speak with me here.

Don’t see any times? No problem. Email me and we will work it out.