Irony of Mindful Eating

When I really focus on tastes and textures of food, I enjoy eating so much that I don't want to stop, even when I sense I'm satisfied or slightly full. Mindful eating enhances my enjoyment of the food so much that when my stomach says "Enough", my mouth says "NO WAY!!!" LOL Geneen Roth suggests in her chapter about 'Knowing When to Stop Eating' (in "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating"): "Pay close attention to the point at which your focus moves from how good the food tastes to the urgency or desire to eat all you can while you can. The shift usually occurs after you've had enough and before all the food is gone." I recall that 'shift' occurs during almost every meal I mindfully eat.

As I read soooo many exercises for mindful eating in "Eat the Moment" by Pavel Somov, I can imagine myself enjoying food sooo much I'll never want to quit eating. HOWEVER, something happens when I really enjoy food. I slowly savor every bite's multiple tastes and textures (even with those 6 invisiline 'attachments' on my teeth LOL). That slow savoring process slows down my eating enough that my body has time to digest the food before I have eaten all the food on my plate. My body can indicate 'satisfaction' before my plate is empty.

Unfortunately my enjoyment of the food diminishes as my tastebuds become less sensitive. Very sweet foods taste less sweet; salty enough foods need more salt or seasoning; moist foods seem drier as my mouth salivates less. If I'm really intent on eating, rather than sensitive to my mouth cues (less acute taste and 'mouth feel' sensations), I will add more salt or condiments to the food left on my plate. However, when I recall that my tastes diminish as my hunger is satisfied, I can interpret that diminished taste as indicative of my body becoming satisfied. Although 'satisfied' is not as obvious (or uncomfortable) as hunger or fullness, that dimished taste IS a reliable cue. Boredom with eating, especially eating what initially was a really delicious food, is also indicative of becoming satisfied. Emotionally, as Geneen Roth says, the 'shift', from enjoying good food tastes to urgently wanting to eat as much as I can while I can, usually occurs after I'm satisfied but before I've 'cleaned my plate'.

So there are 3 quiet, but obvious signs of satisfaction: (1) diminished taste; (2) boredom with eating; and (3) urgency to keep eating despite stomach sensations of 'satisfaction'. Ironically, 'mindfully' experiencing tastes and textures of foods can help us notice the signs of satisfaction. Above all, staying aware of physical eating cues like tastes also allows us to notice that we are no longer hungry or even pleasantly full (with only slight stomach distention). The same mindfulness that makes food so enjoyable that I don't want to stop allows me to observe that the food doesn't taste as good and I'm no longer hungry. What I do with that information determines whether I stop at 'just enough' or continue looking for pleasure after food no longer tastes as good and I become uncomfortably full.

Today I ate past the point of 'just enough' at all 3 meals, even though I left food at each meal. I felt slightly uncomfortable after dinner, even though I left about 1/2 cup of food. I recognize that 'just enough' point of satisfaction, but I rationalize continuing to eat, because I only have to leave a couple of bites or because I fear getting hungry before I can prepare the next meal. I don't just fear hunger ... I fear low blood sugar symptoms. That motivates me to carefully choose foods that keep my blood sugar stable for hours.

I'm getting tired of admitting that I noticed satisfaction, but decided not to stop eating. What's the big deal? The 'point of satisfaction' is key to freedom from digestive discomfort. After years of eating from pain of hunger to pain of overly full, I keep choosing the path of pain, rather than the path of comfort and peace (the path of God's provision?). Well, I have 3 more chances tomorrow to decide to 'take care of (myself) even though it may not seem like it at the moment'. I have more opportunities to "stop eating and say, 'I want to feel good. I want to take care of myself. I do not want to get up from this table feeling stuffed and miserable and unable to concentrate.'" (Geneen Roth in "Breaking Free ...")