Mindful Eating invites us to notice the ‘SATISFACTION FACTOR’

"Choosing to eat foods that are both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savour and taste is a principle of mindful eating.

Did you know that fullness and satiety are two different concepts? Lots of people might be able to see the difference when reflecting on how some meals are very rewarding, despite eating a relatively small amount; on the other hand, some meals may leave you full, yet still hungry for more.

You can feel full, but not satisfied. You can feel satisfied, but not full. Mindful Eating can help us identify the difference.

What we understand is that “satiety” is the level of satisfaction a person experiences after eating, which is often related to the amount of enjoyment, or congruence with what the person actually felt like eating. This is quite a different concept to fullness, which refers to the physical feeling of fullness or distention in the stomach or body.

Megrette Fletcher, RD and Co- Founder of TCME gives us a great example: “Imagine eating lettuce. Most people can eat a lot of lettuce. After eating the lettuce, they may feel full but not satisfied. Eating in the presence of fullness is a common experience for many people. This often happens because the physical sensation of fullness arose before the emotional experience satiety or meal satisfaction.

In every meal these two forces are present. They are engaged in a race to see who gets to the end of the meal first. When a person can recognize the emotional experience of satiety before the physical experience of fullness, the meal is often thought of as pleasant, enjoyable and satisfying. In these moments, the desire to eat stops. People will note that food was still on their plate, there were chips in the bag, or ice cream in the dish.

When the emotional experience of satiety is reached after fullness has arrived, the meal can often cause physical discomfort or trigger food guilt.”

How mindful eating can help The first way mindful eating can help is to understand that the purpose of eating has shifted and the goal is to no longer to feel full, but satisfied.

The intent of eating is to eat a meal that has a level of satiety that is pleasing to you. Choosing to eat foods that are both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savour and taste is a principle of mindful eating.

For Today when eating try and choose a meal that stimulate your senses by selecting a variety of colors, textures and flavors.

Aim to deliberately bring your attention to the sensory quality of the meal, remembering not to judge but rather just to observe.

Pause frequently while eating and check in with your body and observe what you are feeling.

Take particular notice if hunger, fullness, or satiety is present. Most of all, have fun!" The Center of Mindful Eating Wolrd Mindful Eating 2019