Why Pleasure Is Important For Your Health

I’m sure we all have heard the phrase “Eat what makes you happy”, but how many people actually apply this saying to their life? Dieting and diet culture takes away the pleasure of food by focusing on perfection.

Think about it: if you have been dieting for years, have you really been able to enjoy food to the fullest? Or are you constantly judging and shaming yourself for failing at an unrealistic diet and then hopping on to another diet bandwagon to soften the blow? 

Food is meant to be enjoyed and that is what drives Intuitive Eating- pleasure and satisfaction. It’s about putting joy at the forefront of our food choices. That doesn’t mean you’ll eat chocolate cake everyday for the rest of your life, because think about it. If you only eat chocolate cake for even 3 days straight, how do you feel? Are you actually enjoying that cake? Do you feel sick? Are you naturally starting to crave something else? 

The same goes for a fish and veggie meal. If you only have that meal for 3 days straight, you may not feel as sick as chocolate cake would, but you would get tired of it and have little satisfaction in your food choice. 

So this is what I am talking about. It’s about choosing what sounds good in that moment with no morality (good vs bad) attached. It means you pick the veggie option at a restaurant because that sounds the most appealing to you, NOT because it is labeled the healthiest option. As I have said, if you have dieted for years you have been told what and how much to eat. You may not even know what you crave or what truly is your favorite food! So let’s get you back to the satisfaction point of eating. 

This activity is from “Just Eat It” by Laura Thomas PhD. She focuses on the pleasure principle and how to dig into what pleasures you. How often do we sit and reflect on what brings us happiness food-wise? There are several different categories with questions in each. Answer the following questions based on you and your preference! 

Flavor- Think about your favorite flavors: sweet, spicy, bitter, umami, sour, or salty. Does that change throughout the day? What type of cuisine do you like to eat? Are there any flavors you don’t like? Do you like a mixture of flavors like sweet and salty?

Texture- Do you prefer crunchy, smooth, creamy, hard, soft, mashed, crispy, or chewy? Which do you dislike? Does your texture preference change throughout the day?

Temperature- Do you prefer stews, steaming drinks or soups when the weather is cold out? Do you prefer ice cream, watermelon, or a salad in the summer? Do you like room temperature or cold food? Does your breakfast need to be cold or hot? What about lunch or dinner?

Variety- Do you typically eat the same thing day to day? Do you like to switch it up or does that stress you out? How could you add more variety to your meals? Speaking in the sense of adding/increasing nutrients, what if you switched things up week to week?

Aroma- This helps give you clues on what food you may be craving or really wanting. What foods do you love the smell of? What foods smell gross to you? Think about walking past a restaurant and you can smell the aroma from outside? Those are my favorite walks, haha!

Appearance- Think about color. We don’t say “eat the rainbow” for nothing! We are naturally attracted to vibrant color foods. Not every meal HAS to be colorful, remember IE is flexible so if you have an all beige meal, that’s fine! But if you want to jazz up your meals add sauces or dips or garnishes. How do you serve your meals? They don’t have to be instagram worthy, just appetizing!

Experience- How are you eating? Are you eating standing up or sitting? Are you watching TV or sitting at the dinner room table? Are you on your phone? How many meals do you typically eat while distracted? How can you make yourself less distracted during meals?

All of these aspects play into satisfaction. I think experience is a great place to start in practicing satisfaction because if we are less distracted while eating, maybe we will notice the textures, the smell, the taste, the crunch of each bite. 

As I have said, it’s about joy and that is what I love about Intuitive Eating (IE). IE is flexible, which fits my life and the lives of many others. Many healthcare professionals believe they have to limit pleasurable food to fit into what they and diet culture believes wellness should be, but wouldn’t it be lovely if we considered the emotional and mental aspect of eating when assessing our health? Satisfaction and joy are key!