Principle 2 – Stop Eating When You’re Satisfied

Last week we shared how to eat only when you’re physically hungry. The next step to intuitive eating is to recognise when your body has had enough food to satisfy its needs. When you stop eating at the point of satisfaction, rather than when you’re full, your body perfectly utilises that food, and some that’s in storage in your fat cells, to take it through to the next meal. Combining Principle’s 1 & 2 leads to weight loss.

The way to start practicing principle 2 is to stop eating once the physical sensation of hunger  is gone, you feel comfortable, like the food ‘hit the spot’.   

Placing more awareness on the physical sensations in your body as you eat, will help you recognise when it’s time to stop. Many of the women who work with us also hold unsupportive beliefs around eating, you ‘must eat everything on your plate’ or ‘never waste food’. Obviously these beliefs don’t support stopping when you’re satisfied. Learning to challenge these unsupportive beliefs and instill new habits can also be a significant part of this journey.

If ‘stopping eating when you’re satisfied’ is a hard thing for you to do, or do consistently, then emotional eating is at play.

I don’t remember ever feeling satisfied when I was overweight. Food was the enemy and all I wanted was to be free of needing it. I wished I could live off diet coke and cigarettes (I picked that idea up after reading a book about how an anorexic stayed slim), I honestly thought I’d rather be anorexic than fat.

Food, I told myself, was something I loved; it must be right if I couldn’t stop eating it? But, food wasn’t actually a pleasurable thing in my life, it was just something I used as a weapon to beat away uncomfortable feelings I didn’t want to face.

At my lowest points when I was bingeing and purging I’d prepare by trawling the supermarket, a large packet of Twisties, tub of ice cream, block of chocolate, ooh that mock cream sponge roll looks good…now I need some more savory foods, I know, I’ll stop at KFC on the way home and pick up a quarter pack. Even when I ate to the point of feeling ‘stuffed’ I was still empty. And when I purged I’d just try to fill myself up again. 

Emotional needs will never be satisfied with food.

Emotional eating can’t be rectified with a physical level solution. That’s why we developed materials that support women on the emotional, intellectual and spiritual levels to break free from excess weight, and also why we coach women one on one.

Next week we’ll introduce the third Principle to intuitive eating – Eat anything your body truly wants to eat.