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Satisfaction is a big fat weirdo

One of the things that pops up time and time again when people talk about their experience quitting sugar is appetite/satisfaction. I discovered this early. I would be eating and I’d get a message that I’d had enough. I was satisfied. I was done. Enough thanks. It was the thing that impressed me most. 
Over time I came to realise that there is a difference between being satisfied phsycially and being satisfied emotionally. Not having experienced physical cues in my memory it shone a light on just how often I would eat just because. Happy, sad, bored, tired, reward etc etc. 
It is an enlightening thing to be physically satisfied but emotionally not. Over the past two months I have looked closer at my reasons for eating than ever before. With clarity and curiosity. Without judgement. I’ve spent 28 years formulating my relationship to food, eating, my body and health. It’s going to take a whole bucket load of curiosity to untangle the web. 
But there are some things I know now. Sometimes I eat when I’m not hungry. Often I eat on schedule, as if I am scheduling meals and missing them makes me sad. Now I know when I’ve eaten enough. But sometimes I keep eating anyway. I know that going sugar free gave me a chance to investigate all this clearly. I know I can trust my body when it comes to making these decisions. I am wary of my brain. 
Tell me, when it comes to food, are YOU satisfied? 

Suger

7 responses to “Satisfaction is a big fat weirdo”

  1. River Avatar
    River

    Like you, and I suspect many others, I eat when I don't need to. Mostly out of habit. But one reason is the shifts at work. I'll wake and eat breakfast, then a couple of hours later I'll be on the bus to work. When I get there, I'll eat before starting my shift, even though I'm not hungry, because my shift is four hours of physical exertion and I know that if I don't eat something first I'll be really hungry halfway through and I can't take a break then. Then I eat again after the shift because I'm hungry after lifting a ton of groceries, or I'll snack as soon as I get home. Then I'll have "proper" dinner later, usually too late, which is not good for the body. I start and finish at a different time each day now, so a steady eating routine is taking a while to sort out.

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  2. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    For me, there is negative and positive emotional eating. The bad is using food in a way that actually harms me instead of making me feel good. ie eating too much food that I know makes me lethargic and uncomfortable. I also believe that food can also be used in an emotionally positive way, by knowing what and how much food makes you feel not only full, but satisfied in all ways as well.Food has become not just a fuel for our body but for out mind as well. The formula and balance is different for everything and changes depending on so many things. It's probably more like a continuing lesson that one specific tool to learn. Satisfaction is trickier. Because I know personally, it depends on what I am eating. There is no way I can ever feel satisfied by only eating processed or snack foods, and I wouldn't want to. I've had to relearn what foods really give me total satisfaction and mostly stick to those. BTW, love you:)

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  3. Sheri Bomb Avatar
    Sheri Bomb

    I have also learnt to eat less, not as a concious thing but as a way of listening to my body. It's much nicer than feeling full to the point of feeling sick or uncomfortable as I used to do when I was bigger. But sometimes, even when I know I'm more than satisfied, when I'm struggling to eat any more, I still keep eating because I am enjoying the meal so much. I don't know how I feel about this. I know it makes me feel sick/uncomfortable later and it certainly ends up making me feel a bit guilty. But it's also not something I do all the time. So I don't know if it's ok or at least excusable or if it's just me being a pig or if it's not even about the meal but rather an emotional thing. I just don't know.

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  4. Amy xxoo Avatar
    Amy xxoo

    I think part of my problem is that old chestnut from my parents – " Dont waste food! You eat whats on your plate! " So – thats what i do. A lot of the time i do only give myself a small portion but the times that i do overfill my plate, or we're eating out and the meals are huuuuge, i still eat whats on the plate because i dont want to waste food, or money, or complain when there are children starving in Africa ( another old chestnut )….

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  5. stinkb0mb Avatar
    stinkb0mb

    Guv grew up being told to finish everything on his plate, it's a mentality he's struggled to shake.We don't eat that often when we are not hungry. Guv has only recently – as in the last 2 or so months – started eating breakfast, porridge and he regularly goes without lunch. I feel sick if I eat when I'm not hungry so rarely do it.That being said, I know I eat to cover, hide, mask, try to deal with emotional issues.

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  6. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    Amy, one of the best pieces of advice regarding food I was given is about leftovers. Whether you eat it, or throw it away, it all becomes waste anyway. Better it goes there directly than through your system if you don't want or need it.

    Reply
  7. Diminishing Lucy Avatar
    Diminishing Lucy

    There is not a blog comment box in the world big enough for me to share my thoughts on this. This emotional eating thing is the singular biggest challenge in my life. I could write a blog about it. OH! That's right, I DO blog about it!Seriously Mel, you need "Think Slim".That you are so focused and aware means that action would be SO transforming.xx

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