Why this matters
You and I can both relate to operating on autopilot. This is when you’re going through the motions in your life without even realizing or paying attention to what's happening on the inside (body sensations, thoughts, etc.) and outside (your environment, conversations, etc.).
It can be so easy to do this when you're eating. You may have a plate of food in front of you and only stop eating when you’ve eaten everything on the plate. Or you may have a snack bag of chips or baby carrots, and not stop eating until the bag is empty.
This isn’t wrong or bad. You’re just missing an opportunity to tune into the information your body is sharing with you around how much food would be satisfying.
Why this may be hard
Just like any new practice, being mindful and noticing fullness takes some extra energy on your part. At least, at first. It will become easier over time.
Honoring your fullness will be really hard if you're dieting or food restricting. I know this may sound counterintuitive. For example, if you're eating a food that you consider to be unhealthy or bad and you tell yourself that you can’t have it tomorrow, you may engage in the last supper mentality and eat more of that food because you can’t have it later. It won’t matter how full you are.
The same goes if you’re not getting enough calories. If you’ve been in a state of deprivation, your body will demand more food when you finally allow yourself to eat. To honor your fullness, you need to honor your hunger.
And, if you let yourself get too hungry, it may be hard for you to slow down and notice fullness. You may feel too urgent around food and may naturally eat really fast.
One thing to practice that may help
Start by choosing a meal or snack where you give eating all of your attention. If you often eat in front of your phone, laptop or TV, this may be challenging. Choose the easiest meal and take it slowly.
Remind yourself that you’re not trying to limit how much you eat, but instead, you're interested in what kind of sensations your body shares with you around fullness.
Allow this to be a discovery process.
Here are some signals your body may share with you when you’re full:
Your belly may no longer have an empty or void feeling. (I know this is obvious).
You may start to lose interest in eating more food. Food may not look or smell as good as it did when you first started to eat.
The food you’re eating may not taste as flavorful.
The opportunity
Eating can be a pleasurable experience, especially when you’re eating foods that you enjoy.
When on autopilot, you will miss the taste, smell, texture of foods, and how the sensations in your body change while eating.
Just like going outside and feeling the cool (or warm) fresh air can be a savory experience, we can miss these bounties if we aren’t tuning in and paying attention.
By practicing honoring your hunger, you’ll be expanding and noticing even more opportunities to be filled and nourished by everyday experiences. Ones that do and don’t involve food.