Body
Image and Self-Respect
Learn
a fascinating, new way of approaching food and find a healthy balance in
mindful eating.
By:
Pamela Milam
I recently read a book called Health at Every Size: The
Surprising Truth About Your Weight by nutrition professor
and researcher Linda Bacon. Before
reading it, I looked at the website and thought I knew what to expect. I
assumed the book would remind me to love myself, to put less emphasis on
physical beauty and to focus instead on healthy living. I was partly right, but
ultimately I was surprised and impressed by how much more the book taught me.
Think about the concept of Alliesthesia. Alliesthesia refers to
the idea that a body’s inner state determines whether an external experience is
pleasurable. One example is that it feels better to get into a hot tub when
your body feels cold. If you’re a menopausal woman in the middle of a hot
flash, the last thing you want to do is step into a hot tub.
In regard to food and eating, Health at Every Size taught
me about “Negative alliesthesia.” Negative alliesthesia is an unavoidable
process in which your taste buds find a flavor less pleasant over time after
repeated exposure. It’s “nature’s way of prompting you to eat less once your
calorie needs are met.” This explains why the first two potato chips taste
better, as does the first bite of an apple. The last forkful of cake is never
as divine as the first. Negative alliesthesia is the body’s wisdom at work,
telling you, “You’ve had enough.”
If your body’s signals are weak or you’ve lost your ability to
tune into those signals, you’ll chase the pleasure of the first bite by eating
more and more and more. The more out of touch you are with your body, the more
likely you are to eat in a way that feels mechanical, driven, and compulsive.
Jean Fain, a mindfulness expert and licensed
psychotherapist, says, “Truth be told, most of us achieve a natural trance
state when we eat mindlessly. ‘Trance eating,’ in my view, is the extreme end
of the mindless eating spectrum.” She’s right. Trance eaters often push
for quantity instead of quality, which results in excessive
fullness and discomfort, followed by a feeling of dissatisfaction. The
experience is a mindless one. People seek the initial “especially good” flavor
of the first few bites by taking endlessly more bites or by pushing for larger
quantities.
For healthier eating, the trick is to focus on the first few bites
and enjoy the experience of taste and quality. When the body tells you it’s
full by sending a “meh” signal to your taste buds, you listen and you stop
eating. It sounds simple, but if you’ve lost touch with your body, it requires
practice.
Alongside teaching about alliesthesia, Health at Every
Size educates readers about creating better ways of enjoying oneself
and existing in the world. The book points out how often people tell
themselves, “I’ll be happy once I’m thin,” or “I’ll feel confident if I lose
that last 10 pounds.” So many people are waiting to be happy, waiting for their
lives to start.
Often, people worry that if they accept themselves physically,
they’ll never be motivated to be healthy. They believe they’ll be fat and ugly
and complacent. They believe that self-hate creates boundaries and keeps them
safe. But self-hate just results in misery. Health at Every Size says,
“Start living life fully now, in your present body, because waiting until you
lose weight is a big old waste of time.” The idea is this: Ask not, How
can I get thin? Instead ask, What can I do to be happier?
There are two unhealthy ends of the spectrum here: There are
trance eaters, who are tuned out, mindlessly unhappy. There are strivers, who
are so tuned in to perfectionistic, rigid ideas about food and goal-weight that
they’re too mindful, and mindfully miserable.
The middle ground is to tune into your body while relaxing into it
as well, to be aware and to be accepting. We are not powerless. In fact, Linda
Bacon says, “The single most powerful act available to you is to own your
body—to walk proud and let others see you enjoying your body.” Happiness,
health, and self-acceptance are within reach, and Health at Every Size reminds
us of that.
~ From www.spiritualityhealth.com
Comments
Post a Comment