Gentle Eating
photo credit: iheartsharts
I was watching “Ruby” the other day–a show about a woman who weighed over 700 pounds and her journey to continue losing weight–and they introduced an exercise called “gentle eating” in her support group. Ruby has a gathering each week she calls “women’s fat night” where she and her overweight friends gather to talk about their problems with eating. Recently she’s enlisted a therapist to join their group and lead them through helpful activities to learn more about why they eat too much. And this week the focus was on gentle eating.
The therapist had a plate full of food for each group member. They were instructed to get comfortable at the dining table and have a drink of water, because after the exercise started they were not to talk or to drink. She began by having them smell their food. She explained that our enjoyment of food is greatly wrapped up in the smell, even more than the taste. Next they were instructed to take a bite of food, put down their fork, and chew 20 times. Again, another bite of food, put down your fork, chew 20 times. Mouthful after mouthful, the women had to focus on the food they were tasting: no talking, no socializing, no drinking, just focusing on the food in front of them. It took about 45 minutes to finish the meal.
Most of the women were very frustrated they could not talk while they were dining. Talking was one of the experiences many of them enjoyed while eating and they weren’t used to giving their undivided attention to the food on their plate. But most of them also had an eye-opening experience about how different this was from the way they usually ate. “I never knew smell was associated with taste,” one said. “I didn’t recognize that my eating is usually so mindless,” commented another. “I’ve never stopped to think about whether I was full or not, or whether I was enjoying the food or not,” one of the women realized. The therapist was pleased.
This is not how people can eat all the time, realistically. But it is a taste (pardon the pun) of what you can incorporate into your usual eating pattern. Do you ever put the fork down between bites? Do you ever just stop talking and listening and passing plates for long enough to simply savor the food that is in your mouth? Do you think before you put another helping on your plate: “Am I still hungry?” Do you ever stop eating because you are no longer hungry?
We have long ago learned to overrule our body’s signals. We can eat a bit more even when we’re full. We suddenly have room for dessert when we see the pie coming out of the oven. We finish what’s on our plate even when we have no more desire to eat.
This week–STOP. Think about what you are eating, savor what you are eating, listen to your body tell you “Now you can stop–you’ve had enough”. See what you leave on your plate, taste what you have in your mouth, feel what has gone into your stomach. Then watch the scale and see the results.
Written by Laurie Beebe
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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