For maintaining a good, resilient health, we need to eat healthily. One of the keys to sustaining improvements in the way we eat is the ability to practice moderation in our diets. As a society, we tend to take an 'all or nothing' approach to food; eating too much of something or trying to eliminate that food or category of foods all together. That tendency towards extremes becomes even more obvious when we look at what's happened to the food on the shelves of our local supermarkets. On the one hand, we've super sized everything, and on the other hand, we see claims like fat free and sugar free everywhere in the supermarket, and these claims attract us because they're absolute.
However, if we can master the skill of eating with moderation, then no single food needs to be forbidden. We can eat the foods we enjoy as long as we don't consume too much of them. How much we eat is a very important question. But how to regulate our appetite is very hard for most of us. We socialize to eat until we're full. That's not a natural thing. And it's not a universal thing.
In France when you're hungry you say, "I have hunger". And at the end of the meal you don't say "I'm full"; you say "I am no longer hungry". That's very different than being stuffed. The moment at which you're no longer hungry is many bites before the time when you're stuffed. And we ask our kids the wrong questions. We ask, "Are you full?" We should rather ask, "Are you satisfied?" or "Are you still hungry?"
So you see, there are cultural ways and manners that help us deal with quantity of food we eat. We have to look at things like the way we talk about food. Are people really looking for lots of calories when they eat? I think they're looking for lots of food experience, an intense satisfying food experience. If you look at the French, and many other cultures as well, they get more food experience with less food. And they do that partly by eating more slowly, eating socially, and eating better quality food. There is a trade off between quality and quantity.
In fact, one of the biggest contributors to the obesity epidemic throughout the world has been our tendency to consume enormous quantities of low quality food. This is not to suggest that the foods we eat need to be expensive, but we need to spend our food budget wisely on the foods that will support both good health and enjoyment. What about having less of the better food so that every bite is enjoyable? So let's focus on those first few bites-- smaller portions of better quality food. Many cultures actually have a rule that basically says stop eating before you're full. Japanese suggest to eat until you're 80% full, Chinese say eat until you're 75% full, and in the Ayurveda it says you should eat until you're two thirds full. Everything but a 100%, which is what most of us do.
Next time you're going to eat something, ask yourself a few questions about it. Will this food bring me pleasure or Am I eating is because it's a food I feel I'm allowed to eat? Eating food that doesn't bring you any pleasure is another form of taking in empty calories, because they're empty of enjoyment.
The very next question to ask about a food you're considering eating is this, "Is this food worthy of me?" And it means, will this food support me in achieving all of the things I want to achieve, including good health? If the answer to this question is yes, then the very next question is, "How much of this food do I really need to eat to feel satisfied, knowing that I can have it again tomorrow or later this week because I've mastered the art of moderation?"
Each day should include moderate amounts of food that bring us pleasure. Moderation allows us to enjoy our food, knowing that subtle variations won't be make us sick!
However, if we can master the skill of eating with moderation, then no single food needs to be forbidden. We can eat the foods we enjoy as long as we don't consume too much of them. How much we eat is a very important question. But how to regulate our appetite is very hard for most of us. We socialize to eat until we're full. That's not a natural thing. And it's not a universal thing.
In France when you're hungry you say, "I have hunger". And at the end of the meal you don't say "I'm full"; you say "I am no longer hungry". That's very different than being stuffed. The moment at which you're no longer hungry is many bites before the time when you're stuffed. And we ask our kids the wrong questions. We ask, "Are you full?" We should rather ask, "Are you satisfied?" or "Are you still hungry?"
So you see, there are cultural ways and manners that help us deal with quantity of food we eat. We have to look at things like the way we talk about food. Are people really looking for lots of calories when they eat? I think they're looking for lots of food experience, an intense satisfying food experience. If you look at the French, and many other cultures as well, they get more food experience with less food. And they do that partly by eating more slowly, eating socially, and eating better quality food. There is a trade off between quality and quantity.
In fact, one of the biggest contributors to the obesity epidemic throughout the world has been our tendency to consume enormous quantities of low quality food. This is not to suggest that the foods we eat need to be expensive, but we need to spend our food budget wisely on the foods that will support both good health and enjoyment. What about having less of the better food so that every bite is enjoyable? So let's focus on those first few bites-- smaller portions of better quality food. Many cultures actually have a rule that basically says stop eating before you're full. Japanese suggest to eat until you're 80% full, Chinese say eat until you're 75% full, and in the Ayurveda it says you should eat until you're two thirds full. Everything but a 100%, which is what most of us do.
Next time you're going to eat something, ask yourself a few questions about it. Will this food bring me pleasure or Am I eating is because it's a food I feel I'm allowed to eat? Eating food that doesn't bring you any pleasure is another form of taking in empty calories, because they're empty of enjoyment.
The very next question to ask about a food you're considering eating is this, "Is this food worthy of me?" And it means, will this food support me in achieving all of the things I want to achieve, including good health? If the answer to this question is yes, then the very next question is, "How much of this food do I really need to eat to feel satisfied, knowing that I can have it again tomorrow or later this week because I've mastered the art of moderation?"
Each day should include moderate amounts of food that bring us pleasure. Moderation allows us to enjoy our food, knowing that subtle variations won't be make us sick!
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