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How To Put Your Fork Down

Blog · Your Body


Originally posted on Your Bella Life

Naturally, as woman, we just LOVE food.  We love food so much that a lot of time, we have trouble putting our fork down.   We tell ourselves that we just can’t get enough of the taste, that it’s just “too good to stop!”  At least that’s what we think…

But I want you to ask yourself, does the 20th bite taste just as good as the first?   Studies actually show that our brains get significantly less pleasure from the taste of food after the 5th bite.  So what is going on here?

For many of us, we are looking to food for something else besides the taste.  And we end up eating WAY past the point of comfort.  We often get up from the table feeling stuffed, bloated and sluggish.   And when this pattern is repeated meal after meal, it takes a huge toll on our digestive system, our bodies and our emotions.

As an emotional eating expert I help women discover why they have trouble putting their fork down, and help them to develop new behaviors to stop overeating.

I have outlined by best tips for you to do some self-discover on your own.  I hope you will really make an effort to look behind your eating habits to discover what is driving them.  It can get a little mucky back there, but I am here to support you!  Just leave a comment or send me an email at[email protected] with any questions.

Put your fork down tip #1: Set Yourself up for Success

Everyone has that little voice inside them that says, “ok, it’s time to stop now”, but sometimes it is just really hard to hear it.  To make sure you are connected with that part of you that tells you “enough!” it is SO important to eat without distraction.  No TV, no reading, no checking email –  all of which distract you from what’s going inside you.  Instead, sit quietly, pay attention to your food and listen carefully to that small voice that tells you it’s time to put your fork down.

Put your fork down tip #2: What are you REALLY hoping to get from overeating

Even when we learn to hear that small voice telling us to stop, we often ignore it.   We all need nourishment, sometimes it is physical (we need food) and sometimes it is emotional (we need nourishment is non-food form).   When you have eaten until you are satisfied and want to keep going, you are most likely seeking emotional nourishment through food.  But no amount of food can fulfill an emotional need.  SO what are you REALLY hoping to get from your food?  Is it a sense of togetherness? Grounding? Pleasure? A break from boredom?  When you identify what that is, takes the necessary steps to feed that need through conversation, deep breathing or doing something fun.

Put your fork down tip #3: Ask yourself “What would happen if I stopped eating”

When my relationship with food was in the gutter, I always panicked when I felt like it was time to stop eating.  I thought I was obsessed with the taste of food, but in reality, I was just really scared of what would happen if I stopped.  My brain was playing all these tricks on me that the world would fall apart, that I would fall apart if I put my fork down.  But when I stopped did a reality check and asked myself “What would really happen if I stopped eating?” the answer was always, “nothing”.

**Sarah Jenks is a nutrition coach and emotional eating expert who helps women fall in love with their bodies and lose weight through exploring the emotional reasons of why we eat.  Contact her today if you would like to work on your relationship to your body and the food you eat.


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