There are many reasons people struggle with overeating. One common reason people give is, “I can’t stop eating when it tastes so good!” I’m a “foodie” myself, so I get that it can be difficult to stop eating delicious food. In this article, we’ll explore the benefit of recognizing your “satiety sweet spot.”
Why it’s hard to stop eating when food tastes good
The answer may seem obvious, but it’s important to name why many of us have a hard time stopping when the food is really good, so we can develop strategies for addressing them.
- Pleasure is a powerful motivator that can override the potential consequences.
- The discomfort of being overly full is delayed (20 – 30 minutes for most people) and by then, it’s too late.
- Past dieting make it more difficult to stop eating foods that have been restricted because deprivation gives these foods more “power.”
- Guilt ironically makes it hard to stop. (“I shouldn’t be eating this! I won’t eat it again, so I better eat it while I can!)
- Eating quickly and/or mindlessly decreases awareness of satiety and the flavors of the food. (“I just need one more bite!” when i didn’t pay attention to the first 20!)
Your Satiety Sweet Spot
I’ve written countless articles about using specific mindful eating concepts and strategies to help you address these reasons (and more) so you’ll eat in a way that feels good in your body. See a few samples at the bottom.
For this article, I want to focus on awareness of something I call the “Satiety Sweet Spot.”
The satiety sweet spot is the point at which the pleasure of eating something delicious will soon be replaced by the discomfort of eating too much.
I created this graph to give you a visual understanding of the invisible line where pleasure and fullness intersect. Learning to use mindfulness to recognize when you are approaching your satiety sweet spot will help you stop eating while you’re still comfortable – even when the food is really good!
Description: The Satiety Sweet Spot graph shows “Level” on the Y axis and “Amount” on the X axis. The pink “Pleasure” level line starts high and decreases as the amount of food consumed increases. The blue “Fullness” level line starts low and increases as the amount of food consumed increased. There is a purple circle around the spot where the two lines intersect, with a purple vertical dotted line indicating the “Satiety Sweet Spot.”
The satiety sweet spot is subtle and can be easily missed if you’re distracted, eating fast, telling yourself you won’t get that food again, and so on. Here are several articles that address some of these challenges:
I can’t eat what I love without overeating!
Sensuous Eating: Make eating a multisensory experience
Regret and Her Horrible Twin, Guilt: The difference between guilt and regret
And for help resolving this and other eating issues, Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating Programs offer a gentle inside-out approach to increase awareness of your drivers for eating, tune into your body wisdom, learn mindfulness skills, and heal your relationship with food!
