One of the most fabulous things I've learned in my nutrition career so far: When you tune in and eat with awareness your food intake will naturally balance over time. Your body doesn't "forget" the calories you eat.If you overeat at one meal - don't fret! Your body will naturally compensate at the next meal - you will be less hungry.
Tuning in is the best way to take advantage of this innate mechanism. Eating with awareness to the point when you are 'done' - when you feel satisfied and have had enough food vs. when you 'should' - is the key.
I used to eat 'quick and distracted' almost all the time. It felt great in the act but about 20 minutes later I would feel uncomfortably full and guilt would start to set in. Then strangely... that guilt would make me feel like there was no point in even trying to "eat healthy" that day because I had already "messed up", so I'd often eat again when I wasn't even hungry yet and eat more than I needed - again. This cycle of overeating and guilt and 'shoulds' continued and it was not fun. There was little pleasure here. I was forgetting something important - it's not one meal that dictates your entire diet. It all balances out over time, if you let it.
Guilt and judgment are the best ways to override those natural, intuitive signals from the body. Plus they just aren't all that fun to experience.
Through practicing eating with attention and trusting my body, I discovered that when I ate a rich meal or ate more than I "needed", I wouldn't be as hungry at the next meal or snack time. I noticed, (profoundly), that my body would just naturally regulate my hunger so that I always seemed to want just enough food. It's really fantastic. Whenever I feel "off track" with eating - I never think about what I should eat, I focus on relaxation and tuning it. It works.
Eat whatever you want, just eat it with attention. Seriously - anything you want.
It can be difficult to tune in and eat. It takes practice. But it is worth it. (Imagine eating and feeling good after, no matter what you eat..!). Taking a minute to calm down and relax and eating with pleasure all help tuning in happen naturally.
Try it out. Aim for two minutes of exquisite attention at each meal. Just two minutes. Be a hedonist. Relish every bite of that rainbow-sprinkled donut. It will likely taste better or perhaps you'll notice you'd actually rather save it for later. You'll also start to notice naturally when you feel like you've had enough.
Will power has nothing to do with it. Tuning in does.
For more information on eating with awareness - here is an article on mindful eating.
Sometimes we eat to cope with emotions (which is perfectly valid) - here is a great article from Ellyn Satter, RD discussing emotional eating and overeating.
I'd love to hear your experiences with tuning in!
