4 Questions To Ask Yourself When Eating For Satisfaction

"Discover the satisfaction factor" is the fifth principle of intuitive eating, and one of my favorite principles. I think it's my favorite because once I really understood why satisfaction is important and started seeking satisfaction with what I chose to eat I could really start to see my relationship with food begin to transform. I also think it's one of my favorites because satisfaction was something I denied myself when I was in the trenches of an unhealthy relationship with food. I thought, for some reason, that seeking satisfaction would lead to me enjoying food "too much" (I know now that there's nothing wrong with enjoying food) and wouldn't be able to stop eating.I had this equation in my head...If I enjoyed food too much,I wouldn't be able to stop eating,and I'd gain weight.What I know now is that that's not the case. Seeking satisfaction is, actually, really helpful with regulating and balancing your eating.Maybe you're like me, though, and diet culture has ingrained in your mind that seeking pleasure with eating is a bad thing. You've had experiences with food that reiterate that for you like not feeling like you can stop eating from the ice cream in the freezer.

Satisfaction is KEY to being able to eat intuitively. And here's why...When you seek satisfaction by what you're eating, you're more able to eat to a comfortable fullness and then "push your chair away from the table" and go about what you need to do without thinking about food.Have you ever experienced this...You're hungry so you head to your pantry. You're really craving some cereal and you have granola and cheerios right in front of you. Cheerios are the lower calorie option, so you pour yourself a bowl (even though the granola sounds really good!). You finish the cheerios and still feel empty and, unsatisfied. You try to get back to work but you still feel that emptiness and all you can think about is that granola. So eventually you end up heading back to the pantry and pouring yourself the granola, too.In this case, if you would have just gone with what sounded good, aka what would satisfy first (the granola), you'd be able to eat and then go about whatever it was you needed to do next. But instead you ignored what would be most satisfying and still had to go back and eat what first sounded good.So you see, not that it's all about this, but choosing the satisfying option can actually lead to you eating less calories and making the most of your time because you eat, feed that need for satisfaction, and then get on with the rest of your day. So let's talk about how to choose satisfying foods. You can ask yourself these 4 questions:Am I craving something sweet or salty?Crunchy or smooth?Warm or cold?Is my body asking me for a full meal or a snack? Take these questions and pair them with what you have on hand and you'll easily be able to make any meal or snack satisfying. This is what it means to REALLY eat for satisfaction!

There's a theme through intuitive eating and that is to take time to connect with yourself, to ask yourself questions to be able to get to know you and your body. In a trusting relationship with your body there isn't fear of taking a pause to see what it is your body is requesting. There is a peace about what you'll discover when you tune inward.Ok, so I want to share a little scenario from my own life and how I go about eating for satisfaction.The other day I was eating lunch and I made myself a sandwich. On my sandwich I had some turkey, some ham, and some spinach. Cheese would have made this sandwich even better but I'm currently not eating dairy because I'm breastfeeding and my little 2 month old isn't doing well when I eat dairy. Not gonna lie, the sandwich was disappointing. I also had a carrot on the side which I love but not super exciting. I got about halfway through my sandwich and though good, just wasn't satisfying me...I could already tell. So I went through these questions pretty quick in my head to try and figure out what would make this meal satisfying. I though, I want something salty, crunchy, neutral temperature, and just a side to this meal I already had. Kettle chips we had on hand sounded like the perfect accompaniment to my boring sandwich, and pretty quickly after eating just a few chips my lunch started to satisfy me! I didn't need a huge amount of chips, just enough to make the meal more satisfying, and soon enough, after I finished eating, I was able to push myself away from the table and go about the rest of my afternoon without thinking about food!So that's what it looks like to eat for satisfaction. I didn't even highlight one of the absolute best things about eating for satisfaction which is the joy that comes with eating! Food is so much more enjoyable when we think about satisfaction. And when we enjoy food we further cultivate a healthy relationship with it!Remember, it's not a bad thing to enjoy food. It's not bad to be satisfied. Actually, being satisfied is so, so important for being able to eat intuitively.Let me know your thoughts! Have you tried using these 4 questions when seeking satisfying foods? Let me know how it goes for you!