3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Eating
It’s been a few hours since your last meal, your stomach is starting to grumble, and you feel ready to eat… WAIT! Before you sit down for your next meal, I want you to ask yourself 3 very important questions. Here’s why…
Your co-workers are going to lunch, so you join them. You go along with what they want – salad, again – but when you’re halfway through, you realize you don’t even want to eat it.
You’re unsatisfied, so you grab a handful of chocolate from your boss’s candy dish. And then a co-worker offers you a cookie she baked last night, so you grab one and eat it without thinking. It’s 4pm and you feel tired, sluggish, and just want to get home.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone.
You’re on AUTOPILOT.
More often than not, clients come to me with a regimented eating schedule because it fits in. Auto-pilot is easy… we don’t have to think! Heck, I even catch myself on auto-pilot more than I’d like to admit.
We’re busier than ever before, but that’s not helping our health (or waistlines).
It’s time to get off the treadmill and start running the trails, when it comes to what you eat. On a treadmill you can tune out and just run. Sure, that could be good for your health, but not when it comes to eating.
Instead, get in touch with your body and pay attention to the environment around you.
It sounds easy, but it’s actually a lot harder than following that Whole30 you tried.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Eating
Here’s what you can do… Pause before eating and ask yourself these 3 questions…
- Am I hungry?
- What am I in the mood for?
- Will this help me feel good?
Am I hungry?
Hunger is defined as “a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat.”
Being on autopilot is a sure-fire way to disregard your hunger. In fact, many people lose their innate feelings of hunger by the time they’re just 5 years old because we’re given external cues about when to eat (like your co-workers telling you it’s time for lunch).
So here’s what I want you to do… The next time you’re about to eat, PAUSE, and ask yourself “Am I hungry?”
It takes practice to truly understand your hunger and honor it. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re having trouble at first. That’s what I’m here for!
Pay attention to the physiological signals your body sends you before you eat.
- Are you not as focused before lunch as you are when you arrive at the office after breakfast?
- Are you thinking about food more?
- Is your mouth salivating when you think about what you’re going to eat?
- Are you feeling sluggish and tired?
These are all physiological signals your body is sending you to tell you that you’re hungry… even before your stomach starts growling.
Eating when you feel hungry is only one piece of the puzzle, however…
What am I in the mood for?
It’s essential to eat foods you find satisfying in order to turn off your hunger after a meal.
Sure, you can be physically full from a huge salad, but if that’s not what you’re in the mood for, you’ll still be looking for something else, pushing you past your point of comfortable physical fullness.
Before you order your standard salad on autopilot, pause and ask yourself, “What am I in the mood for?”
Sometimes it’s easy to determine. Other times, it’s hard to figure out.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what to eat for every meal, although I do have some pretttyyy good ideas…
If you’re giving yourself permission to include ALL foods, think about these qualities of foods to figure out what you’re in the mood for. Focus on what textures and flavors you want, and then build your meal from there!
This Salmon Nicoise Salad, for example, provides salty flavors, comforting and crispy roasted potatoes, and hearty proteins (egg + salmon) to help keep you full. While delicious, and a well-balanced meal, if you’re in the mood creamy soup, this won’t leave you feeling satisfied.
Will this help me feel good?
Perhaps one of the most important questions you can ask prior to eating is one that only you know the answer to… “Will this meal help me feel good?”
For those of us with food allergies, eating foods with allergens most definitely will not help us feel good. But even if you don’t have a life-threatening allergy, certain foods will help you feel better than others.
Do you tolerate dairy well?
Does a sandwich made with white bread energize you the same way a sandwich with sprouted grain bread does?
Will a plant-based meal help you feel better than a meat-heavy meal?
These are only questions that YOU can answer!
So before your next meal, I hope you ask yourself these 3 questions to get in touch with your body, feel your best, and learn to eat again!
If you’d like help implementing these changes into your life, I’m here for you!