Here’s What You Can Learn On Eating

This was a short, sweet and simple read. It spoke to me most because I often ask Will, when I see him eating or snacking, “Are you hungry?”  On our travels he has been stomach sick multiple times, to the hospital twice and on antibiotics twice so I have been extra attentive to his eating habits and patterns lately.  Apparently I’m just a carburetor and can put garbage into my stomach without feeling sick.

When we started dating I half-kiddingly told Will I wouldn’t date anyone with allergies because I was such a foodie and never wanted to deprive myself of anything I desired, cook two meals, etc… Sounds pretty selfish eh?!  Recently on our trip it has come back to haunt me like possessed child because he now sneaks behind my back snacking on extra spoonfuls of condiments or not telling me if he has a certain sensitivity that throws him into strange attacks and supernatural demonic wailing.

But we have taken possession of Will’s attacks and begun the exorcism of his eating habits.  We have also worked through the barrier of Will’s fears and he can now tell me about his food sensitivities without fearing I will trade him in for someone with a larger pallete… it only took him two years!  We are also learning about what agrees with Will’s body by an ancestral DNA test (from Family Tree DNA) to understand his background and what food groups may be most normal to him.  We’ll let you know how it goes!

But back to the book …

On Eating – change your eating, change your life
by Susie Orbach
Reader: Paulina
Method of reading: hard copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Golden nugget: Listen to your body’s hunger pains and respect your biological signals of hunger and satisfaction.

There was five keys that the author focused on.

First key: Eat when you are hungry.

Alot of people don’t listen to their hunger pains and many don’t because they’ve built habits as a child:

• “We didn’t have enough food
• We had to clear out plates whether we wanted to or not
• We sensed our mothers disapproval if we said we werent hungry
• Eating was the shared family activity”

Second key: Eat the food your belly is hungry for.

Sometimes we eat chocolate, red meat, deep fried foods or any one of our other desires when what we are really hungry for is:

• “A hug
• A weep
• A sleep
• A break
• A boyfriend
• A chat with a friend”

Third key: Find out why you eat when you aren’t hungry

“Food cannot satisfy other kinds of hunger… The food you eat to temporarily quell your emotions can’t actually do that. It is you – not the food – who is quieting the uneasy emotion.”

Fourth key: Taste every mouthful.

“Stop eating the moment you stop savouring the food or the moment your mind wanders away from the sensation of the food.”

While we were at the Vipassana Silent meditation we were asked to practice mindful eating. We were to think about every bite, every sensation on your tongue and how the food sits in your body.  This was extremely challenging because having an all you can eat buffet presented a huge temptation to you when you have 10 days of silence and nothing else to do.  However mindful eating is something we are continuing to challenge ourselves with and focus our attention on at each meal, which means sometimes we will have moments of silence.

Fifth key: Stop eating the moment you are full.

“If you don’t concentrate while you eat, your body may be telling you it’s full but you may still be wanting more taste sensations in your mouth.”

Will suggests what he calls food foreplay or taste spits. Put it in your mouth, chew, spit it out and repeat until you feel satisfied you are done your food foreplay.

“If you start to eat when you aren’t hungry, there was never any biological reason to start and there won’t be a biological signal to help you stop.”

“Trainers often think that a special nutritional programme will do wonders for you without reading the emotional aspects of eating… But these are schemes used upon their knowledge of the body, not their knowledge of your body.”

“Don’t just eat. Choose.”

Eating is a choice, it is also a necessity but the choice of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat is up to you.  Although there is a lot of information on the internet about what is good for you and what isn’t, the latest health facts and diet fads, the most important thing to do is to learn to listen to your body.

Check back on our Golden Nuggets reading challenge. Who will get to 52 BOOKS in 52 WEEKS first!