What do we want from our food when we eat it? Energy, yes, nutrients, sure, but do we ever think of satisfaction? Food satisfaction tends to get put on the back burner, although it’s more important than you may think, especially at this time of year. It’s such a huge part of Intuitive Eating, that it’s a whole principle within itself. With it getting so close to Christmas, it’s likely that everywhere you go, there is Christmas food aplenty! Therefore, this article explores food satisfaction, particularly; how you can enjoy the food you want to enjoy, without the resounding guilt and the need to diet in January.
What is food satisfaction?
Food satisfaction is considered so important in Japan, that it’s included within their guidelines for healthy living! In intuitive eating, everything comes down to satisfaction. At the end of the day, the reason why we want to continue to eat foods is because we find them satisfying. It’s part of the human survival mechanism.
Satisfaction leads to contentment. If you never eat foods which you find satisfying, it’s probable that a larger chunk of your day will be spent searching for that contentment. One of the problems with dieting is that if you don’t allow yourself the food which you actually fancy, it’s likely you’ll end up overeating other ‘diet foods’ to try and fill that satisfaction void. Whereas if you just eat what you fancy in the first place, you can just move on, no drama.
Diet culture has promoted the idea that foods are either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and that you shouldn’t be eating foods of less nutritional value in the name of health. This is just not true, however this thought can be so ingrained in many of us that it’s hard to let ourselves eat food purely for the pleasure of it. Satisfaction is the key to diet freedom, especially at Christmas.
How to find satisfaction
If you’ve been used to dieting and never allowing yourself to have the food you’re craving, you might not genuinely know what foods you find satisfying. That’s why, to bring back the satisfaction factor, you may need to start an experiment with yourself. When you find yourself fancying some food, make sure to ask yourself: ‘what sounds satisfying to eat right now?’ For some people, this could be the only question they need. For others, it might help to go a bit deeper.
Ask yourself the question… ‘do I want to eat…’ then fill in the blank with the following:
- A meal or a snack?
- Spicy or bland?
- Hot or cold?
- Sweet or sour?
- Crunchy or smooth?
- Hearty or light?
- Liquid or chewy?
Any food can be satisfying – it depends what your body is craving in a particular moment. For example, if I’ve had a busy day, I’ll need a hearty meal to refuel and feel satisfied. A snack in that moment wouldn’t cut it. However, if it’s a boiling hot day in summer, a light salad for lunch may be all that I need to feel satisfied. One day it may be vegetables, another day it may be a chocolate biscuit.
Another important question to bring into play is: ‘how do I want to feel?’ This is very useful because you may want to bear in mind the rest of your day when considering your food choices. For example, do you want to feel energised to go out and play sport, but not overfull as you’ll be uncomfortable and get a stitch? Or maybe you know this is your only chance to eat for quite a while at work so you know you need to eat something which will keep you full and sustained for a long period of time.
The Festive Period
Let’s bring it back to Christmas. If we are privileged enough, it’s likely that we’ll be in a position of having overwhelming food choice over the Christmas period. Instead of thinking, I need to eat everything as it’s my only chance, it may help to remind yourself of the questions on finding food satisfaction. For example, if faced with a lot of food, ask yourself what you are fancying in that moment and how do you want to feel after eating? Instead of feeling the need to eat as much as you can fit in, focus on what food you’ll find the most satisfying, slow down and really enjoy it. If you eat to the point of uncomfortable fullness, ask yourself if the food was actually still enjoyable towards the end of the meal?
How can you find more pleasure in food?
In today’s world, day-to-day routines tends to be busy and there are so many easy options to grab food ‘on the go.’ Of course, there are many times when quickly eating food on the work commute, or at your desk is completely necessary. However if this is mainly how you eat food, it’s likely that you will be missing the pleasure factor due to being too distracted. If you want to find more pleasure in food, try scheduling a couple of meals a week without any distractions. This means eating in a quiet place without any television on or phone to scroll through. By focussing purely on the food, slowing down and taking the time to taste and savour each bite, you can increase your satisfaction factor.
At Christmas food tends to be a shared celebration, so there may be less opportunity to eat without distraction. This is ok, just remember that you can still focus on each bite and savour the flavour wherever you are, to really boost your enjoyment. If you start putting your satisfaction first, you may surprise yourself and find that foods you thought you enjoyed, don’t actually make the cut! It’s ok to think you fancy something, then recognise after a couple of bites that it’s not as good as you thought it was going to be. You are not obliged to finish your food.
Are you feeling satisfied?
By bringing in the satisfaction factor at Christmas, you can really help yourself to enjoy food as much as possible and not end up feeling overwhelmed and uncomfortably stuffed. Remember, we were born to find food satisfying, don’t feel guilty for eating for pure pleasure. If you continue to stick with finding food satisfaction in day-to-day life, there should be no need to feel like jumping on the January diet wagon. After all, dieting is the opposite of finding satisfaction and why would you ever want to give that up?
If you’d like help to improve your relationship with food and find your food satisfaction again, book your free 20 minute discovery call with Hattie here.
