FREE PREVIEW from our no-diet online weight class!
In this lesson, taken from our online weight loss class, you're going to learn how to use sensory specific satiety to reduce the amount of food you eat.
We start with a study. One group of people was instructed to eat “until the pleasantness of the flavor subsides.”
A second group of people was instructed to eat “until the stomach feels full.”
Which group do you think ate less? A lot less? The People who ate until the pleasantness of the flavors subsided.
The takeaway from this study and others like it? You will eat less if you concentrate on the declining pleasure of the food. As you become more aware of how quickly pleasure dissipates you will naturally want to stop.
Now it’s time for YOU to try this cross-science innovation. Here’s how.
Step 1: Establish the goal: Eat “until the pleasantness of the flavor subsides” You will do this for every meal, every snack.
Step 2: Establish a marker. Say, 50%. That means you’ll consider stopping when the pleasure you’re getting out of the food is cut in half.
I say “consider” because we’re not on a diet. We’re training ourselves to understand the subtleties of pleasure.
Step 3: As you eat, pay attention to the food’s decreasing pleasure.
Throughout the meal, ask yourself: How much pleasure am I getting out of each bite? Is the pleasure diminishing? By how much?
And here’s the most important question to ask yourself. Has the pleasure subsided to the point I’m willing to stop?
This chart can help you answer these questions. There’s no magic formula but once you hit a 50% drop in pleasure you should consider putting the fork down.
Once you cross that threshold you’re headed toward the visceral pleasure of feeling full rather than the Epicurean pleasure of delighting the senses.
As you become more sensitive to the declining pleasure you get with each bite, you’ll stop eating earlier and earlier.
It won’t be long before you intuitively understand the lowest level of pleasure you’re willing to accept and you will stop eating sooner.
Imagine that--pushing yourself away from the table, not because you’re on a diet, but because you’re not getting enough pleasure out of the meal. Well done, you!
Now, how can you Sharpen your ability to eat until the “pleasantness of the flavors subside?” We’ll tackle that in the next lesson.
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