This post is part of my Weeklongs Project.
This week was about letting internal signals direct eating instead of external cues.
As an undersized college football player, I ate constantly. My 5’10 frame was not going to stop me from trying to look like Lattimer from The Program. I didn’t stop eating when I was full and didn’t wait until I was hungry to start. I’d end up eating 4-5 meals a day. In retrospect eating seemed almost more like part of a regimen than an act to satiate my hunger.
This week was about letting my body dictate consumption instead of the external cue provided by meal-time. Practically, this meant eating only when I was truly hungry and stopping consumption when my body told me I’d eaten enough. I was amazed by the degree that paying to my body changed my behavior. In general, I ate later, slower and less than usual.
I think these changes occurred due to the shift in how I framed meals. This week meals weren’t just a checkbox that I happen to enjoy – they were a response to an internal signal that was continuously calibrated throughout my day. When something is not viewed as a task, you give yourself permission to enjoy it vs. the need to execute it as fast as possible.
Other things I learned about myself
- My love for efficiency is why I’m not a foodie.
- I can easily last till 2 before I need lunch – I did not think that was possible.
- Anytime I put something on a list or bundle it as a to do, I’ll unconsciously attempt to execute it as fast possible.
- This one reason I eat really fast
- Sometimes I eat just to feel like I’m doing something productive because it’s on a list.
Practically eating like this moving forward will be impossible to pull off. However, it was cool for a week and it’s beneficial to have in the back of my mind moving forward.
