Intuitive Eating Challenge Day 6: Feel Your Fullness
How often were you told to finish your plate as a child? Or to take X number of bites before you can have dessert? Or maybe you did not know when you could get food next, and so you ate way past your level of fullness in the moment?
Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat also includes listening to, and honoring, your fullness cues.
Sure, there will absolutely be times when you eat past fullness, and that is OK! It is when we are repeatedly eating past fullness (maybe the Diet Rebel is at play??), and experiencing physical discomfort, that we are not truly engaging in intuitive eating.
Recommendations that Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch make to help you become more aware of your fullness cues include;
Pause in the middle of eating to notice where you are, in terms of fullness level.
When you decide you are finished eating, take another assessment of your fullness level.
Remember you do not need to leave food on your plate, nor eat every bite. Every meal will be different, depending on your hunger and fullness levels.
Practice mindful eating - Try to eat with minimal distractions. Turn off the TV. Sit down at the table. Be present.
Do something to reinforce your decision when you are full, such as putting your fork down and nudging the plate away. This simple act can communicate to your brain you are done eating.
****I have to admit, though, I have some resistance with this principle.
Throughout my years of working in eating disorders treatment, I have come across countless individuals - those who struggle with compulsive overeating and binge eating - who do feel their physical fullness AND feel unable to stop eating.
I want to acknowledge this, and I want to validate this is a real experience. If this is your experience, please reach out to a therapist and/or dietitian who specialize in working with eating disorders.
I also want to give a gentle reminder that this information is simply an introduction to the skill created by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. If you want to learn more, please check out their wonderful book, Intuitive Eating!
Please be gentle with yourself today as you try this principle of Intuitive Eating, and if you are interested in getting my emails filled with reflective questions and ideas for practicing today’s principle, click here and sign up for my newsletter!
