So what’s the story on the last week?
Did you eat yourself into oblivion with cookie dough/doughnuts/chips and cheese, etc.? Do you look like the Pilsbury Dough Boy?
Are you sick of eating your “vice” or “nemesis food”?
Did you find that this was easy to do or difficult? My guess is difficult.
When I finally started allowing myself to eat what I really wanted, I was afraid I’d eat it all, but just having the freedom to say yes to myself was liberating. This week’s habit changing tip can help you adapt to your new-found freedom:
Habit-Changing Tip #6
Stop eating when you're satisfied.
If you go back to Tip #2 you’ll remember you learned to eat un-distracted. Your hunger cues should be stronger now, you should be more aware of when you’re actually hungry, which, in turn, means you’re actually more aware of when you’re NOT hungry, when you’ve had enough. And there is a difference between being satisfied and being full.
Satisfied is subtle, full is unmistakeable. You will blow right past the feeling of being satisfied if you eat while distracted and eat quickly. This is where the thought of eating slowly because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize you are full kicks in.
But I’m not telling you to stop when you’re full, that’s when you ate too much. Sometimes we just want to keep eating because it’s SOOOOO good, or we don’t get that particular food very often (think Christmas, birthday or Thanksgiving). However, more often than not it’s just mindless eating, or eating to fulfill some other need that has nothing to do with food, but food keeps you occupied, gives you pleasure. If you don’t have pleasure in any other area of your life, or limited areas, food can become a drug, an addictive habit.
So the challenge is this:
This week, while you are drinking your water, consuming your whole foods, fruits and vegetables and eating EXACTLY what you want, you are to continue to eat undistracted, as often as possible, and focus on HOW DOES THE FOOD MAKE YOU FEEL? When you allow yourself to acknowledge this you will know when you are satisfied and you can push the plate away, finished or not, because you might find out you were just eating that much food because your husband/boyfriend/friends/family conditioned you to eat that much or everything on your plate when really, you don’t actually want it all.
This is the other liberating principal:
While you can eat what you want, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to either. 🙂
Feels good to give yourself that freedom doesn’t it?
Leave your comments below and let us know what you’ve found out. What does satisfied feel like for you? Do you need more or less food than you usually consume? Were you surprised?
If you haven’t read the other tips in the series, they are meant to be read in order. Start here:
The 9 Things you need to do to change your habits and get off the hamster wheel!
So what’s the story on the last week?
Did you eat yourself into oblivion with cookie dough/doughnuts/chips and cheese, etc.? Do you look like the Pilsbury Dough Boy?
Are you sick of eating your “vice” or “nemesis food”?
Did you find that this was easy to do or difficult? My guess is difficult.
When I finally started allowing myself to eat what I really wanted, I was afraid I’d eat it all, but just having the freedom to say yes to myself was liberating. This week’s habit changing tip can help you adapt to your new-found freedom:
Habit-Changing Tip #6: Stop eating when you’re satisfied.
If you go back to Tip #2 you’ll remember you learned to eat un-distracted. Your hunger cues should be stronger now, you should be more aware of when you’re actually hungry, which, in turn, means you’re actually more aware of when you’re NOT hungry, when you’ve had enough. And there is a difference between being satisfied and being full.
Satisfied is subtle, full is unmistakeable. You will blow right past the feeling of being satisfied if you eat while distracted and eat quickly. This is where the thought of eating slowly because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize you are full kicks in.
But I’m not telling you to stop when you’re full, that’s when you ate too much. Sometimes we just want to keep eating because it’s SOOOOO good, or we don’t get that particular food very often (think Christmas, birthday or Thanksgiving). However, more often than not it’s just mindless eating, or eating to fulfill some other need that has nothing to do with food, but food keeps you occupied, gives you pleasure. If you don’t have pleasure in any other area of your life, or limited areas, food can become a drug, an addictive habit.
So the challenge is this:
This week, while you are drinking your water, consuming your whole foods, fruits and vegetables and eating EXACTLY what you want, you are to continue to eat undistracted, as often as possible, and focus on HOW DOES THE FOOD MAKE YOU FEEL? When you allow yourself to acknowledge this you will know when you are satisfied and you can push the plate away, finished or not, because you might find out you were just eating that much food because your husband/boyfriend/friends/family conditioned you to eat that much or everything on your plate when really, you don’t actually want it all.
This is the other liberating principal:
While you can eat what you want, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to either. 🙂
Feels good to give yourself that freedom doesn’t it?
Leave your comments below and let us know what you’ve found out. What does satisfied feel like for you? Do you need more or less food than you usually consume? Were you surprised?
If you haven’t read the other tips in the series, they are meant to be read in order. Start here:
The 9 Things you need to do to change your habits and get off the hamster wheel!