Episode 31. Getting to Know Your Body—Discover the Satisfaction Factor

We've come to Phase Two of the Intuitive Eating series—Getting to Know Your Body. 

We're done with the diet break-up and we're moving on to getting to know our bodies. In this episode we cover Principle 5 of Intuitive Eating: Discover the Satisfaction Factor. 

Let's chat about what satisfaction is, how it might be different from being full, how mindful eating fits in, and more!

Thank you for listening! We love you latte!

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-Ashley & Carrie
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice.

Transcript

[Music]

hey it's Carrie and Ashley we welcome you to the self-care Cafe we are both

health professionals and moms and nature lovers and food lovers and love helping

women get over dieting and just start living we think that talking about

bodies and perfect bodies and dieting is just

boring did we put you to sleep there Carrie yes so if you are ready to ditch

dieting and get to living and talk about more important things then you are in the right place we don't put shame and

guilt on the menu here you don't even have to tip us nope come hang with us the advice is

free we want to have a bunch of girlfriends to just hang out with and get real with and it's time to start

living

ladies hi Carrie hi Ashley happy

birthday thank you I had to throw that in we're recording figured you would

your birthday I won't sing for you though so besides your birthday say what

do we have on the menu for today well I'm definitely having cake or something later I hope I'm not making it so I hope

somebody doesn't you're taking a risk there girl I know no my family's good they'll

figure it out but for the podcast today we are talking about the intuitive

eating principles so uh the first phase was breaking up with dieting and we

talked about the principles 1 through 4 and we're finally done with the

breakup and we get to move on to the break Up's over time to heal that's

right and so we get to move on to the next phase today which is getting to know your

body and the principle we're covering today is principle five of intuitive

eating which is discover the satisfaction Factor all right hold up what does that

mean satisfa I knew you gonna ask me that and I don't as always have great explanation but

I'll do my best um I guess how I would explain it

is when we're feeling satisfied from our food choices we kind of eat when we need

to whether it's hungry or whether it's I need to eat before my meeting or whatever like we've talked about in the

past few episodes and then once we're finished eating we kind of can forget

about food until the next time we need to eat again H okay so so what this is

reminding me of is sometimes like um if I if I want

something and I don't go like let's say I'm craving

cupcakes even just like the mini like we just had mini cupcakes at Easter like oh just little pople things and um the

next day I was like I'm not going to eat them like I've had and then but that's all I could think about so I try like

well instead of that I'll have um uh some berries and cottage cheese or

something you know like and but all I could think about was still the

cupcakes because the berries and cottage cheese didn't feel satisfying to me is

that kind of what you're talking about yes yeah I feel like what you're describing is like when we're having

some sort of food craving almost and craving might be a little bit strong of a word or maybe it's just

that culture kind of Twisted the word craving into this like out of control feeling about I want

this food you know what I'm saying so like maybe a food preference idea or

something like that or hey this sounds good to me right now um that's definitely I think what you're

describing is hey this cupcake sounded good um and I wanted to see if I was

like hungry and so we tried the cottage cheese and berries but apparently it was

just I really wanted cupcakes and I figured that out and then I went ahead and had them and then I forgot about

them afterwards right and then honestly it didn't taste like because it had started drying out so I'm like it

doesn't even taste very good so ended up with one mini cupcake

and looked at the other ones I'm like why you have to dry out so fast I know that's so

disappointing and that's that brings up something that I don't think we really plan on talking about today but like

when the food you're so excited about it but it just doesn't taste the same way

as you're hoping it to and so then we can decide well I'm going to keep eating it and like sort of be

disappointed but also have the memory of how good it usually tastes oh that is a hard one or not

taste but also feels right like exactly isn't part of satisfaction also not just

something tasting um and satisfying The Taste but isn't it also like the how it feels in

your mouth like I love frosting and so that little bit little blob of frosting on it and the the moist cupcake and um

and like it the way it looks and smells because they were so cute and colorful and right isn't it is it

all the senses that kind of get involved with satisfaction or is it just the taste Factor no you're right it's

everything and I think that's another part of it too like the more senses that we get involved I think it just

increases that eating experience I guess because like you always say with

journaling or affirmations or things like that like instead of just thinking

them writing them out because then you're using your tactile you're writing it out and your visual because then you

can see it and so it's the same thing like having more of the senses involved

increases that experience it makes a Little Bit Stronger to us right right that makes sense yeah and

the satisfaction Factor as part of intuitive eating um in the framework of intuitive eating

they talk about it as being like the Hub or at the center of intuitive eating

they kind of turn it into like an intuitive eating wheel with all of the principles as like spokes on the wheel

but the satisfaction piece is in the middle which is really interesting I think because it really does almost

dictate like how we go about our food choices and how we sort of deal with all

the rest of the principles that we talk about yeah and it don't you think too

you know like we talk a lot about getting off the dieting mentality and stuff and I'm wondering if the

satisfaction thing like diets are not satisfying correct like if you're

constantly either you're eating food you don't really like um or you're not quote

unquote allowed to eat food that you like on some diet or or you're not eating enough food um it seems like the

satisfaction Factor would come into play Big Time there too definitely yeah with

dieting you're always feeling like that deprivation right and then with when

we're eating with what our body is sort of telling us and we're enjoying the food

and we don't have any feelings any which way about the food except for maybe a little bit of joy and positive

experiences right because if we're eating what our body's telling us and we're enjoying it and it's a positive

experience we're going to have a better relationship with food just based on those things whereas dieting is the

opposite we're restricting we're almost like punishing our body it's miserable um it changes our brain

chemistry and it's just such a Negative experience and if that's what we're constantly working with as far as food

and nutrition you can see how different those two experiences can be right

right um so what what is the difference between or is there a difference between

like feeling full like if if you're full aren't you satisfied not

always this is such a good one to talk about because a lot of us might feel full in

our stomach if you have you know access to your fullness cues and you can kind of tell and we're often still like

thinking about that cupcake like you were talking about um I know that after most of my meals I do feel like having

something a little sweet but not every time um and so my belly can be full from

dinner or my meal or whatever and I can say o you know what sounds really good this well I don't know there's uh little

Easter candies in my house right now too so I just have a couple of those when I feel like it and so

we can be eating food and then feel like having something else because either we didn't get it in our meal or you know

almost that habit or craving of having having something sweet after a meal but

as far as like the dieting side too I feel like we get stuck in this cycle of

eating what's quote unquote allowed on the diet plan but that's not what our body wants at all and so then our

bellies might be full but then we're craving like the higher calorie higher sugar stuff because that's not what

we're allowed it's kind of like the Restriction mindset like we've talked about before and the satisfaction piece

kind of working against you right right um I always thought it was interesting

that and I think that a lot of times different cultures kind of make fun of

us in America because of all the dieting and the way and remember once I had a a

client who grew up in Europe and she's like we don't get weight at the doctors like they don't that's just not part of

what they do um and the other thing too with you know

you hear of like certain cultures and like meal time is like an event right

business Clos yes and they sit down and they pay attention to what they're eating and

they enjoy it and um you know even things like

pasta you know they they eat it all but they pay

attention to what was that they savor it and

they're like getting the pleasure from their food right and I heard this little trick and and if you're listening to

this you can try this so let if you like chocolate when was the last time you

took a piece of chocolate and just put it in your mouth and let it just melt there and really focused on how that

felt and how it tasted and how it was making you feel right like that's just um it's a good way because it is

something that you can just put in your mouth and let it melt um because we don't do that we just like oh I'm

craving chocolate or I want some chocolate and you know in it goes and

doing it that way might not satisfy you either and you might think oh you need more because you're not satisfied when

in fact if you slowed down and focused on how it actually tasted and and felt

in your mouth um that that can satisfy you more for sure and you kind of reminded me of um we're going to talk

about this a little bit more in detail but distracted eating um you know with

the example that you just gave Carrie it it's like I'm distracted with my thoughts of how I'm not supposed to be

doing this or whatever the case might be and so then we don't get the full

experience because we're not like you said enjoying well and if you're eating something that you feel like you're not supposed to be

eating and you're being bad because you're eating it then those feelings are going to override any enjoyment that you

might get out of it and and weirdly and ironically you we

end up eating more of it like right because it's it's just this vicious cycle that we get into yeah it really is

and so your example of like the different cultures is really interesting because like you said other cultures

almost like live to eat and all of us here are like terrified to eat like

anything we put in our mouth is calories and oh my gosh shouldn't we eat like no calories every day um right it's

interesting how different how different everybody is kind of yeah and how

different they just approach our bodies and health and all of it um like

where what happened like at what point you know it's interesting capitalism

all the diet and weight loss industry they just made all this crap up I

think let's see so Okay so we've gone over what

satisfaction is um so how how can I it how tell me

how well I think first of all we have to unlearn a lot of

the stuff that is keeping us from being satisfied so whether that's figuring out

your hunger signals um whether it's looking at your food rules kind of going

back to deprogram yourself from that diet mentality so if you're still having

a lot of those things happening um you know go back and listen to the last few

few episodes where we cover those principles I think that piece is really important because you can't do what

we're about to talk about fully I think maybe a little bit but not fully with

having a lot of reservations about food choices or things like that that might

come with it does that make sense yep it does so so the first got

you got to start at the beginning yeah pretty much and you know back into do the mindset work first exactly and I

feel like you can do this it it just might be a lot of back and forth and if that's the way that's going to work for

you that's great it might work for some people it might not work for others so sort of you know hear what we have to

say and figure out where you might feel like is the best place to start for you um yeah you may have already done a lot

of this work through the years little by little um so just kind of go where where

are you right now with all of this um what more what do you have to work on if

you know or or are you ready to jump right into this part of it for sure because the first thing I'm going to say

might be really scary to a lot of people um so the first thing is to ask yourself

like what do I really want to eat right now and how often do we actually ask

ourselves that question and secondly how often do we actually follow through with

what our body tells us I think that's really interesting to think about like like Carrie always says we often put our

food choices and nutrition under the microscope and this is sort of letting ourselves look at it a little bit

differently yeah and that is scary because the it comes down to also trus in yourself yes yep which a lot of

people a lot of us don't trust ourselves especially with food

um so it's it is working on that in trus

in that you you do know your body you're you're getting to know your

body in a different at a different level in a different way um and

that it's okay it's okay to feel hesitant and

scared um just acknowledge it um and then just you know keep plotting on try

it see how it goes like because the only way we can make changes that we want is

to change something yeah so when we're asking ourselves what do we want we can take

into account so many different pieces sometimes it might feel like a 100

questions we first starting but you can sort of narrow things down like if you have no idea you know think about well

what taste do I want what Aroma do I feel like right now um how will it feel

or taste in my mouth um do I want sweet or salty or savory or sour smooth

crunchy do I want some fluid like there's so many different pieces to it or do I want

something hot or cold or room temp do I want something that's lighter or do I feel like I want something a little

heavier or more filling um and one of the ones I really think about a lot is

how will my stomach feel when I'm finished eating like sometimes we can go into

meals really hungry and so for me I would want something that's a little more filling and I want to feel

full in my stomach when I'm finished in addition to like I know my body needed

fuel so I want to feel not only full in my stomach but also like have a little

bit more energy so maybe that means not being like overly full or uncomfortably

full but that com fullness yeah and that takes some

practice um especially if you have been following um meal plans or diets that

have dictated you know' been measuring your food or something like that um

allowing yourself to feel what that feels like to be to feel full because if

you have been restricting yourself for so long um you you might not ever or rarely get

to the point of feeling that fullness and so at first you might eat

past the point of comfortable fullness and that's okay this is all this is all

practice right and trial and error and um figuring figuring out what works for you and what at what point do you feel

comfortable and some people would rather eat a little bit less but eat more often

right like um and so it's just it's figuring out like

we've always said what works for you and your body and lifestyle I'm glad you brought that part up

because if you aren't sure about your fullness I think Carrie's Point made a

really poignant point a poignant point because if you

are not sure about your fullness it's easy to flip-flop from restricting where

we're not probably getting quite full a lot of the time to then well I'm going

to eat a lot and then get to uncomfortable fullness and that's not what fullness has to be but it can be a

part of quote unquote normal eating whatever that means um because we all

have experiences where we're eating past comfortable fullness and yes I would like to land personally where it's like

comfortable fullness most of the time but if something's really tasty or we're celebrating a special event and there's

lots of food or whatever um it's okay to do it it's putting yourself in that

driver's seat and allowing yourself to make that choice like yes I know that if I have a few more bites I'm going to be

full and then if I have a few more bites I'm going to be a little bit more full

than usual but that's okay right I can it's also okay like if you are eating

and you know that you're getting your fall and you're like I really don't want

to eat those last few bites but I also I

feel like I shouldn't leave the food on right the you grew up part of The Clean

Plate Club um so it's getting over that

whatever feelings you get when if you don't finish everything on your plate so whatever feelings come up for you with

that it's letting that go and realizing that it is okay you do not have to

finish everything on your plate if it is going to put you past the point if you're just like not enjoying what it tastes like anymore or whatever or if

you're it's going to put you past the point of comfortable fullness and you're aware of that and you're not willing to

go there yeah someone actually recently pointed out to me that I do often leave

at least a few bites of food on my plate when I'm finished not all the time but

often and I was like oh that's really interesting because obviously I took a little bit too much than what my belly

actually needed um you know it's hard to eyeball because who knows like or if

you're really hungry your eyes are bigger than your stomach right and so you pile up all this food and then

you're like oh I actually didn't quite need that much um so I'm going to stop

here and it could you know sometimes it can turn into this food rule too like I have to leave a few bites on my plate so

I don't feel like I overate or whatever it might be so just pay attention to like how it feels and what is happening

in your mind when you're working through this yeah because we talked about that

before there used to be this commercial for I can't remember if it was a diet

pill or what it was for but it showed all these plates with a little bit of food left on it basically saying just

stop like not not like what we're trying to teach you to like

how is it feeling in your body no just regardless of how you're feeling stop and leave some food on your plate

because think calories you're saving right over time and then it would show like you know ramped up to like a

hundred plates with you know and look at how you know it all adds up is what they were saying um and that's not what we're

saying we're just saying go by how you're feeling with

that definitely so can we make let's say we want to eat like the

Europeans or you know the the Mexicans or whatever how how can we make our

eating experiences more enjoyable I'm so glad you asked there's so many ways

so one way um is to really start working on mindful eating and you know all the

things that we're about to talk about we expect you to do them every single meal

every day it's just like when you have time or maybe make some time to start

working on these things because it does take time to do these things so we don't

expect everyone to be able to do it all the time right off that's not what we're saying either so just making sure I put

that out there so mindful eating is sort of like what Carrie was describing

earlier with the piece of chocolate like really noticing everything about the

food you're eating and like slowing it down a little bit um notice the

appearance notice the smell um notice the texture when your fork or utensil

goes into it if you're using a utensil um and then when you put it in your mouth just sort of like Let It linger

there for a minute um see how it feels see what the temperature is like see what the taste is like and then start

chewing and again notice all the same things like does chewing change it um is

there are there different textures in there like going back to the cupcakes again a lot of them have like the cake

and then the frosting and then sometimes they have like crunchy little candies on the top of the frosting or something so

a bunch of different textures happening all at the same time um or soups are

multi-textured um or like yogurt yogurt's really smooth all the way through unless you're adding something to it um and then you know chew it

thoroughly get the enjoyment out of that flavor and The Taste and then when you're ready you can swallow it and you

know keep going with the snack or meal or whatever you

have right some of this is gonna sound absurd to yeah you know if you've never

looked at eating like this and think like this just sounds so silly um but

it's just part of the process and it's not like the and again it's like any other habit the more you practice it

you're not gonna have to sit there and think as much right it's just the beginning of this process when you're

trying starting to change these habits um it's going to take a little bit more time a little bit more thought and uh

mindfulness right and it's exactly like Carrie was talking about earlier with like we're just slowing down to notice

the food and enjoy it instead of just speeding past it and not letting our brain even realize what we're doing um

so we can focus on it you know focusing on the fact that we're eating can make a

huge difference in hunger fullness cues the getting the satisfaction um all

those parts and you know making go ahead oops ahead no you go ahead well I was

gonna say it's easier to practice mindful eating when you're not in the hangry yes do it don't do it the hry

point it's a lot harder because you just at that point you're just eating as a

means to an end which is to take that hry feeling away exactly um so yeah I

just want definitely so M choose a time like when when is a good time for you to

be able to practice this for a couple minutes you know it it doesn't have to take half an hour take five minutes

whatever yeah yeah like you're not sitting there at the dinner table for an hour doing this

you want to right exactly and that's totally up to you um and speaking of time like

make the time that you're eating a priority so a lot of us are very often

like working through our meals or snacks or doing other things while we're eating

especially I think the beginning of the Day meals or maybe even dinner time you

know I am just as you know know I hate

the word guilty but I'm going to use it um just as guilty as other people of like okay well it's time to eat but oh

part of the meal isn't quite finished yet or oh let's you know do the dishes

while other people are eating or you know putting food away like just stop it

and take that time so that you can again focus on that eating experience yeah yeah and um

and like if you're at work instead of sitting at your computer continuing to

work right um step away from it and I know a lot of

you are thinking I can't I've got all this work I've got to do I've got to you know but there is evidence you know in

research that shows that taking breaks like every

hour um actually you end up being more productive right and you're paying

attention to your food too you probably feel a little bit more energized a little bit more um

clearheaded yep yeah so just try it like you know take even 20 minutes and step

away go outside if you can get outside for you know if the weather's conducive or whatever um and get outside to eat

then you also get some fresh air and um some sunshine um and just see if it

makes a difference and how energized you feel and and how productive you are the

rest of the afternoon because most of us I dare say probably go into the slump right is if you are getting away from

your desk for a Break um you're going to be more refreshed going back

to and then we're also not like what's the word I want relating our meals to

work relating is not the word I want um by think of it like we're we're working

and we're eating and so then we like K what is the word I want it's like you um

I know what you're saying I think um it's like you um I can't think um like

you're you're equating like food with work correlating I don't know don't like

work you're not going to like food or it's not an enjoyable experience

right because you're working and right you know like having to work through your lunch is

not it's not a positive feeling I feel like even though we all or most of us do

it yeah okay so hopefully that made sense to you all I mean love your job

right right for sure yeah so sitting the table like car

said or moving away from your desk um even at least turning away from your computer or like your distracting workpl

if you don't have your phone yes put your phone away yes yes what else um you

could take a couple deep breaths before you start eaing just to kind of like reset your nervous system a little bit

as Carrie usually says um pay attention to the sensations

that you're feeling yeah like like we've already mentioned you know like taking

the time to taste each bite um what does it taste like what does it feel like in

your mouth what does it smell like what is it what did it look like before it went in your mouth right and taste each

bite too not just like the first few like I feel like especially when we're

on our phone or whatever the first few bites might taste great and we're really excited about them but then we're just

eating out of like muscle memory almost we're just bringing the fork in and you

know and then we might not be paying attention to our fullness cues and all that

stuff right and yeah sometimes it doesn't taste as good towards the end so

then we can just check in like hey do I need more is this okay do I

want to move on to something else if I have different options um yeah yeah we really challenge

those of you that feel like you have to finish everything on the plate or in your container or what you know when you

brought your lunch or whatever um challenge yourself to really start paying attention to how you're feeling

and do you need those last few bites if you do absolutely eat up right like

that's not saying to leave them um but don't it's it's time to stop feeling

guilty for leaving them right exactly yeah and that you know doing all these things you can actually like pay

attention to your fullness also so where especially when you're first figuring

out your fullness if you've been having trouble or you don't feel it or you feel like you only eat past comfortable

fullness like slowing down and paying attention to these things and when we

talk about mindful eating it's just talking about making observations it's not about making

judgments it's just noticing like we talk about so instead of saying like oh

I'm past comfortable fullness so now you know I didn't do it right or whatever

the thought might be that's not what we're aiming for either no no no no no no beating your there's

no perfect one way to do this and you're going to that's just like Ashley said

it's part of quote unquote normal eating right sometimes eat too much sometimes We're not gonna eat enough sometimes

we're gonna eat on the go and and rush rush rush um that almost [Laughter]

rhymed I didn't even mean to um you know so it's like it's like stop beating

yourself up when stop beating ourselves up and feeling guilty for everything like we all have to eat you have to eat

and you might as well enjoy it yeah it's better that way yeah more

fun and make your environment pleasant too like I one of my friends um she's

like I like candles at dinner time and not just on special occasions but she like she likes the candles and she

always has fresh flowers and like she makes it a pleasant environment that you want to sit down at and eat right yep

that's a great Point too like which means you got to clean off your dining room table from all those books and coats and laundry envelopes whatever you

got on there for sure and trying to yeah trying to go into your meals when you're

like starting to get hungry or are like medium hungry level instead of like the

hangry I'm going to eat everything and obviously it's not possible every time

but the more you're able to do it like Carrie said earlier that um the decision-making brain can hang out when

we're too hungry we don't have that it's not capable of turning on

yet right and I know some of you right now are thinking well how how does this work with the family right because you

can't gauge everyone's hunger and stuff so one thing that came to mind when you

were saying that Ashley was you know when kids want a snack and parents are like no no no you're going to ruin your

dinner um is that well maybe they need a little snack to get to the point so

they're not hangry um so think of like for your kids what snacks could you have

available you know cheese stick it probably isn't going to ruin their you know quotequote ruin their dinner or

ruin their appetite or whatever um something to get them you know if it's

going to be an hour 45 minutes or 30 minutes till dinner time it's they just

need a little snack to tide them over because that way you're teaching them oh

it's okay you know I don't want you to get hangry either because kids could also that feeling um oh yes they do very

often in fact so helping them also realize their

hunger um because they don't usually ask to eat something if they're not hungry

yet right yeah definitely um trying to avoid tension

around your meal times too is a good one like it's not talk about stressful topics at the dinner table um and that's

this is where like not working through your lunch can come into um take a break from all that like

we said we want it to be like a positive experience so the more not positive things that pile up

while we're eating okay maybe we're scrolling on social media and it makes us feel like crap about ourselves maybe we're responding to emails in between

that are not fun maybe we don't like the food we're eating like see how all these things just are making this experience

kind of miserable yeah and the the thing is too like we've talked about the Vegas nerve

before the Vegas nerve the nickname is also the rest and digest nerve because

when you are in a tense State your digestion system digestive system

doesn't work as well um and you're more likely to get you know upset belly gas

bloating um and that sort of thing U reflux when you're all tense and um

you're not relaxed when you're relaxed your digestive system works much better and can kind of do its thing so there's

another reason behind it too is not just for your actual eating but for your digestion

also that makes a lot of sense so like if you're always tense or stressed when you're eating and you have belly issues

that could definitely be part of it so like if you're eating and it goes right through

you and you're running to the bathroom check your stress level and and how

you're feeling yeah do what you can for sure yeah then one of my favorite ones

is also like providing variety because it keeps things fun and interesting um

and we're not getting sick of the foods that we're eating right we talked about that in one of the podcast episodes and

how our body tends to go in phases with kind of what it's feeling like and that is part of how it works so that we can

get different nutrition so if you're normally eating I don't

know a lot of marinara sauce the past week or two I don't know um switch to

something else you could still have pasta like Carrie said like switch to Alfredo sauce

switch to something else or pesto we love pesto yep um yeah I like that definitely um

already touched on this don't settle like you're not obligated to finish eating a food just because you took a

bite of it or it's on your plate so let's say something good right or you felt pressure to take somewhat someone's

you know someone's like I brought this you know you have to try it and so you take some and you try it and like yeah

not for me how do you get around that though Ashley like without being rude or

looking It's Tricky it depends on how the situation unfolds um sometimes you could take it

and be like oh I just had lunch or this other meal so I'll have it in a little bit when I'm ready for a snack and you

don't have to eat it in front of them that's one way you can eat it on your own time and decide if you even want to

try it or not um sometimes you can take a bite just to be nice if you feel like

you have to do that um and then you don't have to eat the whole thing in front of them right I

don't know or you say oh I'm really full I'm gonna save this for later right right

yeah and um yeah because that could be a tricky one depending on who you're yeah

and something else I just thought of too is like whenever there's free

food I don't know what it is but our human brain is like free food oh my gosh

we just have to like devour it we have to go have it and most of the time it's

crap like if someone brings Donuts into the break room not to say that Donuts are bad but by the time you get to them

they might be stale and or the ones you don't like are are the only options or

cookies that have been in there for three days like I feel like we have this pull to them sometimes even though

they're not good so if they're stale throw them away for everybody else

like right do everyone a favor if you really want to try one and you haven't yet like try a bite of it and then

decide oh this is do I want yeah do I want to keep eating this and it's okay

to say no right yeah we're just like so yeah

that's a great point with the free food I hadn't thought about that one yeah I think about that a lot

well you put anything out on the front of your house with a free sign and it's

gone free that people gravitate to for sure yeah and like checking in during

your meals with yourself we kind of talked about this a little bit but does it still taste good um one way you can

sort of narrow this down is like raing your taste pleasure in the first few bites like on a scale of 1 to five or 1

to 10 or whatever and then when you feel like you're about halfway through uh

check in and raate it again and then when you're getting towards your last few bites do the same thing and just

kind of just kind of notice it and you can decide like oh this food kept its

flavor pleasure for me quite the whole time for this meal or you know this

other food it was good for the few first few bites and then I wasn't enjoying it anymore maybe we won't have this as

often or maybe I didn't like it at all the whole way through um and sometimes that's okay too because we just had to eat

something right remember it's that non-judgmental thinking it's just the observation piece right which is very

very difficult to do because our society judges one way or the other you know

everything whether you're judging someone else or you're judging yourself and yeah it's that's it's a that can

take a while by the way too like none of this it just happens overnight this

takes it's a process and it's a journey exactly be compassionate with yourself

and um and it's hard too if you are trying to practice these principles and

no one else in your friend group or your family is then and you might get some

push back like what are you what are you doing like you you know why are you eating that or why aren't you eating you

know like right it go either way so it um like I said it takes some practice

and it takes some strength on your part to just know what's best for you and

just try it like you have to be a little Brave sometimes too like Carrie talks about like just try it out that there's

no right or wrong answer to it see how it goes see what you like or don't like about it and you could take a break from

it for a while and then come back to it or however however you feel like yeah

yeah so okay so we talked about mindful

eating so if there's mindful eating there must be mindless eating yeah kind

of so we we've touched on this a little bit throughout but I like to I feel like

a lot of people call it mindless eating but what it really is is distracted eating because and I like to talk about

it like that because we take more of a responsibility right it's not happening

to me I'm doing this right um so what is distracted eating

it's basically when we're doing something else or we're preoccupied while we're eating so watching TV

flipping through a magazine working uh scrolling on our phone whatever you're just not what's

going in your mouth at all exactly it's like just driving yeah right if you're

not like totally distracted like doing please never text and drive but you know

that used to be bigger thing but even if you you know like how your mind wanders and you're thinking about something and

you're driving and it's the route you've driven you drive every day twice a day back and forth to work or whatever and

all of a sudden you realize whoa where did the last four miles go right yeah it's kind of like that where you're just

kind of putting food in your mouth and not paying attention and then the next

thing you know that whole bag of cookies is gone right and you didn't even

so yeah right and you definitely don't get satisfaction from that like your brain doesn't even know you did that and

so you might not even feel full even though you ate a large quantity of food like and I feel like this is where a lot

of people get um nervous or maybe a little freaked out about eating

because if I can sit there and eat a whole bag of chips or cookies oh my gosh

I'm so bad and really like were you paying attention into that food were you

savoring that food or were you distracted and so you didn't even notice it like there's it's too different

things for sure and a lot of yeah a lot of research has found like we tend to eat faster

when we're distracted um tend to eat more when we're distracted um sometimes

we don't even remember like what you ate when you were

distracted um you definitely don't feel as full and we definitely like the whole

episode is about you definitely don't tend to get that satisfaction because you didn't Savor the experience you just

kind of filled up your belly maybe right yeah depending on what you

filled it up with it might pass through you pretty quickly if it's um you know simple carbs with no

protein or fat or so yeah

um and I think a I dare say most of us do raced eating yeah and I mean again

part of normal eating is doing this sometimes but when we're doing it most of the time or all of the time and we

feel like we're always hungry well let's take a look at are we usually doing something else when we're eating and if

that's the case we probably are always feeling hungry because our fullness cues cannot kick in because we're not paying

attention to our food good point yeah I love this

anything else you want to add to it I don't think so I think we talked about a lot of different stuff um I think just

like we said trying to make eating more of a positive experience and enjoying what you're eating most of the time can

make such a big difference in your relationship with food how you feel about food how you feel about yourself

and that like body self Trust yep and it is a little bit

scary it is and there's Al also other benefits too to sitting down um like as

a family for dinner um and benefits to the kids um and things like that too so

it goes beyond just yourself and what you're feeding yourself um but there's a

lot of sort of uh you know mental health benefits to sitting down yeah those social

connections yep yep so give it a try tonight yeah and could also I'm going to

say throw this out there too if you grow up in a home that well one didn't sit

down as a family so to you that feels odd right or did but they or always

fights the family dinner table right so you kind of try to avoid that but just remember like you that doesn't have to

shape who you are now like it doesn't have to be your story anymore exactly that doesn't you don't have to carry

beyond that generational stuff like that so yeah

great all right awesome well this was great yeah I hope you're you thank you um you

can find us on social media if you want to be connected to us a little bit more often than just the podcast episodes um

and for even more connection we have our pod squad which meets once a month um

the link for more info is in the show notes so you can check that out it's really fun we just talked basically

about like the past few episodes of the podcast and you get to ask questions it's kind of like small group coaching

almost um we have a lot of fun with it what we talk about it's like not

recorded and it doesn't get on the podcast so you got to come check it

out I'd love to have you yes definitely well until next time yes love

you latte love you latte [Music]