Imagine drinking a delicious cup of coffee, tea, or even hot chocolate. As you sip on this hot beverage, you smile with pleasure.
The drink feels quite soothing and nurturing, even comforting. This special treat reaches your soul, helping you feel relaxed and fulfilled.
Eating works the same way. If you’re determined you want to appreciate flavors, work on getting satisfaction from your food, not guilt or remorse.
To do this, you don’t have to eat large amounts; you just have to let the food sink into your awareness. In other words, to feel satisfied by food, you have to be able to “get it.”
Savoring your food will help this a lot. But sometimes you have to take it a step further and be willing to simply allow yourself a sense of pleasure from eating.
For your brain to achieve satisfaction, you have to eat slowly, pay attention to the bites and appreciate your food.
When you give yourself permission to enjoy food instead of feeling guilty about eating it, you’ll get the satisfaction you crave and you won’t have to hunt for something more to eat.
Today’s assignment (my answers are in blue)
1. Recall a food or type of meal that’s usually highly satisfying for you.
Carrot cake at a great steak restaurant in Denver. I’ve learned that if I eat the entire piece of cake, I feel almost sick. So I usually cut it into 4 pieces and just eat one of them.
2. Write a few words or sentences that describe how it feels to be satisfied by food.
Comfortable, happy, content. Knowing that I enjoyed it a lot, but didn’t overeat. The surroundings make a difference as well. That restaurant is one of my favorites, and I have lots of happy memories from it.
3. Eat at least one thing today with the intention of feeling satisfied. Appreciate the food and allow yourself to feel totally fulfilled by eating it. Describe this below.
For lunch yesterday, I ate a dish of yogurt topped with strawberries, bananas and a few slivered almonds. I ate it slowly, and allowed it to feel totally satisfying. It felt good to know I was taking care of myself.
Excerpted from Day 24 in the book, 100 Days of Weight Loss