"We overeat not because we enjoy food too much; it is because we don't enjoy it enough."


Does the above quote, from Charles Eisenstein's book The Yoga of Eating (NewTrends Publishing, 2003) sound familiar? Or maybe this does: While
working on the computer, a hunger pang strikes. You grab a snack, an apple, and sit back down to continue. You take your first bite and notice how sweet and juicy it is. Then an e-mail comes in. You open it and read it-it's important-so you reply.

Immediately after you press "send," you realize that you are left holding an apple core and don't even remember eating your snacek.

How often does this happen to you? How often do you really enjoy what you eat? How often do you eat more than you wish you had?

In today's hectic, multi-tasking world, this scenario is common. Checking e-mail, talking on the phone, making to-do lists-there's just so much that can be taken care of while eating. And even if we didn't have anything to do, isn't it boring to just, well, eat? The lure of magazines, newspapers and the Internet is powerful. This detachment from the eating process, however, is affecting us.

Eating lunch while reading a magazine often leaves
us full but only partially satisfied. The amount of food on our plates has also increased-and we are eating it. Not only have portions increased, but food flavours are also becoming stronger.

Food manufacturers are constantly producing new and improved smells and flavours to titillate our taste buds. Salt and sauces are covering our meals. Fundamentally, it's taking more and more to satisfy us.

Let's go back to the apple scenario.

Say you were to actually pay attention to the fruit. Notice the crunch as you bite through its skin, the sweet juice as it bursts into your mouth. Feel as it slides down into your stomach to fill it up and gradually diminish those hunger pangs. Say you were to actually remember eating the apple in the first place. Would you still be craving that cookie at 3pm? Perhaps not.

Eating is tremendously pleasurable and, lucky us, we get to do it several times a day. When we take the time to experience pleasure in eating our meals, that urge to search for what we're going to eat or drink next will lessen. By chewing each bite and noticing the myriad of flavours present on our tongues, we allow ourselves to feel satisfied-so satisfied that we often can't possibly think of anything more we want.

When we take the time to notice the sensations in our body while eating and to notice our hunger gradually transforming into satiety, we are more likely to notice that we are finished before our
plate is completely empty. Essentially, we are more likely to eat less and feel content and satisfied.

Like any new habit, learning to take real pleasure in food takes time to incorporate into our lives. Start gradually.

Tomorrow morning, I challenge you to take your breakfast to a quiet and comfortable area in your house. Play some calming music if you like. Sit down, just you and your food, and love every minute of eating it.


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Ashley McIntosh is a life coach and nutritionist who helps her clients make peace with food and their bodies so they can stop thinking about food all the time and start living their lives to the fullest.
www.getliving.ca (778) 836-1994

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