Intuitive Eating Series: Principle 6

A quick reflection on last week's video and how "Feeling my Fullness"...felt!

I think it's an important reminder that the concept of feeling full shouldn't feel restrictive. If it does, then that's not REALLY feeling your fullness...that's an attempt at restriction! Feeling full should be JUST that...of course you don't want to STUFF yourself, but you don't want to leave yourself wanting more either. Just like everything else, it's all about finding that balance.

Now, moving on to Principle 6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor.

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I mean, this really just makes sense given everything else.

Diet culture (I HAVE to mention all of its shortcomings) is an EXPERT on stripping all foods of satisfaction. When you limit the types of foods you can eat, you tend to get sick of those foods...real fast. Even when you love them normally!

For me, that was eggs. I love eggs in ALL forms, and I eat them almost daily. However, any time I would try a diet or restrict myself, I would get so SICK of them. It was the mentality around it: they were the ONE thing I could almost always eat and feel relatively full from. Diets took away all the satisfaction that I now get from eggs.

In the past few principles, we've really tuned in to recognizing hunger, eating while listening to your body, and making sure you eat enough to feel full after every meal. However, one of the BEST concepts that can easily get overlooked is that whatever you're eating should be SATISFYING to you!

You could eat something COMPLETELY acknowledging your body's hunger and fullness cues, but still not be satisfied with that meal. Maybe you weren't craving it. Maybe it was a food you don't really like, but you just ate cuz...it was there.

In order for intuitive eating to be sustainable, you HAVE to enjoy whatever you're eating. Regardless of how hungry or full you are, if you aren't eating something satisfying, you'll still feel lacking.

When it comes to selecting foods to eat, you should take time to figure out what it is you REALLY want. Do you want something sweet? Savory? Garlicky? Buttery? Chocolatey? What about texture? Do you want crunch or chew? How about temperature? Something frozen or something warm? Really tune in to your body and figure out what would "hit the spot" at that moment.

Obviously, this fluctuates throughout the day, and you may be surprised to find out you wanted a spicier breakfast and a sweet breakfast food for dinner. When it comes to intuitive eating, there are NO rules.

To make picking foods easier, it can help to write down what foods you REALLY like. It sounds tacky and odd, but having that list can make it easier to narrow down what you're really in the mood for. In addition, staring at certain food items can help you get a clearer mindset into what you're craving as well. For example, maybe you have a bag of tortilla chips and a bag of pretzels. Both fall into the categories of "salty and crunchy," but in order to determine which you REALLY want in that moment, you can utilize your senses and get in tune with which sounds more appealing.

Along with discovering the satisfaction of what TYPES of foods you want to eat, you also need to discover satisfaction regarding nutrition, macronutrients, and balance. This does NOT mean "always choose the healthier option!" Rather, it's about balancing out the foods you eat in order to fulfill all of your body's biological needs.

Your body naturally needs a specific amount of carbs, protein, and fat each day. Let's say you wake up in the morning craving toast. That's EXACTLY what would hit the spot right now, and you know you'll be satisfied by eating it. So you eat toast with butter, earning a little bit of your body's daily carbohydrate and fat needs. When you think about what you want for lunch, you may be struggling to decide what sounds good. If you ate carbs and fat for breakfast, it may be easier to find satisfaction by including protein in your next meal. Your body's biological needs must be satisfied ALONG with your cravings. By taking non-judgmental note of what you've eaten throughout the day, it can be easier to pick out what to eat next by considering that nutrition factor.

However, when it comes to simple "cravings" for foods that diet culture may have deemed "unhealthy," it is important to listen to those!

Let's say you're craving chocolate cake for a snack. You've been told that chocolate cake is "bad for you," so you eat an apple instead. However, time goes by and you're STILL thinking about that cake. So then you eat a few rice cakes. Then you try more fruit, and maybe a granola bar too. Finally, you "cave" and tell yourself to have a "bite" of that cake. Suddenly, half the cake is gone because you "lacked will power."

You didn't ACTUALLY "fail" or lack "will power." You just went against your body's cravings! You typically crave things for a reason, and it's a perfectly NORMAL part of human life. Had you just had some chocolate cake when you craved it, you would've saved yourself from that mental game that took up most of your day. Satisfaction is a real, physiological thing, and it's important it be acknowledged. Enjoy ALL foods with NO judgment.

The concept of "satisfaction" not only applies to food, but to your own mindset, as well as the environment and set-up in which you're eating. It's much easier to feel unsatisfied when you're guilt tripping yourself the entire time you're eating. Give yourself UNCONDITIONAL permission to eat, regardless of what the food is! Once you take the power back from the food and trust your body again, you'll find food to be MUCH less stressful and much MORE enjoyable.

When it comes to your eating environment, it should be distraction-free. It's so easy to not enjoy your food because you weren't focused on it. I like to consider this a "romantic style of eating." Take your time acknowledging every sensation of joy the food brings you. You'll be much more satisfied with your meal experience, and the amount of food you eat will be much more in tune with what your body really needs!

There ya have it. The concept of satisfaction. Bring back the JOY to eating, and the joy of eating ALL foods!

To me, this is one of the most fun principles. We should love all foods we eat...otherwise why would we waste our time with it??

Next week we've got Principle 7: Cope with Your Emotions without using food. This one hits home for a lot of people, but don't worry...I'll take you through it:).