Hello love!
In this video I wanted to talk about the qualities of a satisfying meal. An unsatisfying meal can lead to bingeing and is not always from emotional eating but it can be. Hopefully this becomes clearer from the points below. In this video I am not speaking specifically about emotional bingeing. Check out this resource to see if you are truly hungry here.
I’m going to assume you are hungry! This means you are not thirsty and can feel your stomach is grumbling and needs food. So let’s create a satisfying meal.
Emotional
When we are hungry we usually have an idea of what we want to eat. What kind of food we would really enjoy. A particular taste, flavour, or texture may come to mind. Usually recipes can inspire you or a post on instagram. I find this is a great way to fulfil you on an emotional level and is quite intuitive. I say go with this inspiration as the starting point of a meal.
Physical
When you are creating your meal you want to use whole foods. Whole foods contain fibre (eg. fruits and vegetables not animal products) and there is more quantity of food per calorie. This is because our stomach needs to feel full physically. Our stomach needs to be physically full to send a signal to the brain it is full.
While I don’t advocate counting calories, if you ‘needed’ a 500 calorie meal and had 5 tablespoons of oil that wouldn’t fill up your stomach. But you would have had your energy requirements met. Whole foods also contain more nutrients per calorie which impacts another level of hunger.
Nutrients
Let’s say you do fill your stomach up with a lot of food – so it’s physically full.
For example you ate a lot of cupcakes, you will be physically full but your body will still remain hungry. It will be hungry for nutrients and will “make you” want to consume more and more of this “food”. This is true for processed and fast food that is devoid or very low in nutrition. The body is craving nutrients! It will want to eat more and more to get the minimum it needs but this leaves you overeating and being hungry all the time.
*With processed food there is also the aspect of certain chemicals in them creating an addictive pattern. These chemicals bind to certain receptors in the brain and make you crave the food. Excitotoxins (such as MSG) are quite addictive.
So there are the 3 tips to create a meal that will satisfy your hunger. Choosing the right flavours, textures helps satisfy us emotionally. More whole foods help satisfy physical hunger and nutritional needs of the body. If all these aspects are covered you will have a very satisfying meal! If you need help with creating satisfying meals please reach out and book a 20 minute complimentary session with me here.
To yummy meals on all levels!
~Michelle
Certified Holistic Nutritionist.
