May Monthly Newsletter
Learn the fifth principle of Intuitive Eating and enjoy eating your meals
Morsel of the Month
Last month, we discussed the principle of Challenge the Food Police. That principle focused on pushing back against our internal and external food rules. This month, we explore pleasure as an important aspect of healthy eating.
It is human nature to seek satisfaction and have our needs met in all aspects of our lives, personal and professional. Often, in American culture, we do not value pleasure in food as an important need. Instead, we value certain components of food (high protein, low carb) and how we believe they will affect our physical bodies (by making them smaller or more muscular). By contrast, Japanese culture includes pleasurable eating experiences as one of its dietary guidelines. Many dieters are afraid to derive pleasure from foods, worrying this may lead them to uncontrollable eating. However, we have already discussed that it is deprivation that is the trigger to eating more than is comfortable in the principle of Make Peace with Food.
If you feel like you have forgotten how to experience pleasure from food, you can take steps to regaining it. First, ask yourself what you really want to eat. What types of foods do you enjoy eating? Sometimes we can get into a habit of eating what we think we should eat that we do not know what we like to eat. Second, actually experience the food, including the taste, texture, smell, appearance, temperature and how it feels in your stomach. Notice these individual aspects and how they can contribute to a pleasant or unpleasant experience that is unique to each person as well as each eating experience. For example, a smoothie that is refreshing in August may be unappealing in January. Third, take a wider view of how to make the eating experience more satisfying. Take time to savor your food. Eat when you are moderately hungry instead of not hungry at all or overly hungry. Eat in a pleasant environment without tense conversation and include a variety of choices. The fourth step is do not settle. Many people have had the experience of wanting to eat something, such as chips or cookies, but instead have eaten many other foods to try to satisfy the craving, before finally giving in to the food they desired all along. Finally, check in with yourself. After a few bites, does it still taste good? Halfway in, are you still getting pleasure from the food? If you’re no longer hungry, remember you can always come back to the food later when you are hungry again so you will get more pleasure out of the experience.
If you’d like to experience pleasure from eating again, make an appointment with one of our dietitians.Want to know more about Intuitive Eating? Check out our free nutrition tip sheets on our website.
Athens Announcements
Virtual Cooking Demonstrations with Athens Nutrition
Join Athens Nutrition for our new virtual cooking demonstrations. Learn new techniques from the comfort of your kitchen. Get your nutrition and cooking questions answered live.
Join us for our upcoming event:
Facebook Live cooking demonstration on Thursday 5/20 at 12 pm. No registration necessary.
In case you missed it: Watch the replay of our first cooking demo.
Cooking with Beans. Get easy tips on how to cook a delicious pot of creamy, brothy beans and how to use all types of beans in fast and delicious recipes. Instructor: Judy Matusky
Watch the replay of our virtual cooking demonstration: “Cooking with Beans”
Copyright © 2021 Athens Nutrition, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Athens Nutrition
27 W Athens Ave
Ardmore, PA 19003-1321
Pingback: Feel Your Fullness - Athens Nutrition