Each season has its own eating pleasures to offer. In the summer, the juicy sweet watery goodness of that oblong green and white striped globe with red flesh and black seeds makes my body hum with delight. If that particular fruit of nature brings you joy like it brings me, then you know that the name “watermelon” does not do it justice. Of course, that two dimensional description, water + melon provides some idea of what’s in store for us.

There is a sublime beauty in the natural ebb and flow of what we eat.  Watermelon on a hot summer day or mashed potatoes on a cold winter’s night has a way of providing the type of satisfaction that our bodies crave. As one season passes into the next, most people probably eat intuitively on some level. In spring and summer, we tend to gravitate toward “lighter” foods and more heavy foods have less appeal.  In the fall and winter, our “comfort” foods take center stage.

Last night, I ventured out to socialize at a game night in a group I’ve joined through Meetup.com. I was looking forward to playing cards, Taboo or Boggle while getting to know other adults in the area. I even took my Playstation 2,  Dance Dance Revolution games, and mat in case there would be space for us to play a game that incorporates movement that I love.

Incidentally, the woman hosting the event offered to cook all of the food and the attendees contributed money toward her efforts.  Before the event, the menu was emailed to us:

BBQ Pork Sandwiches, BBQ Beef Kielbasa, Chicken Pasta with Alfredo Sauce, Jambalaya Quiche, Potato Salad, Seafood Pasta Salad, Corn on the Cob, Cornbread, Fruit Salad, Dessert, Soda, Lemonade, Water and  Sweet Tea (Since moving to North Carolina, I’ve discovered that sweet tea is a must have at just about every event.)

My intuitive eating sense immediately zeroed in on the Chicken Pasta with Alfredo Sauce, the Corn on the Cob, and cornbread, while the other items really held no appeal for me.  I was looking forward to my selected evening meal. However, a couple of hours before the event, I noticed my body giving me hunger signals. Because I wanted to experience the food that evening, my body was in agreement with eating something light to respond to my hunger and that would also allow hunger to arise during that event.

So, I arranged a handful of  fresh strawberries and blueberries on a plate with some crackers, a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese and some lightly salted cashews. My roommate commented on how pretty my food presentation looked. I’ve learned that my personal eating satisfaction strongly depends on how appealing food looks to me. As soon as my hunger was met, I immediately lost interest in what I was eating. There was no desire to experience a more complete level of satisfaction and fullness because I knew that I would be eating again later.

About an hour into the event, I knew that I was hungry again and was looking forward to eating the items I wanted and possibly sampling the other food as well. After collecting the food on my plate, I began to eat. When you eat intuitively, it’s always interesting to notice what item you eat first. I chose baked beans as my meal initiator and proceeded around the plate sampling the different items. I love the sampling process because it allows me to determine what foods I will eat more and less of over the course of the meal, thereby maximizing my pleasure and satisfaction.

Unfortunately, nothing on that plate provided the level of satisfaction that I am now accustomed to experiencing. The food didn’t taste bad necessarily and it also didn’t hit my sweet spot. If one of those food choices had tasted unpleasant, I would not have eaten anymore of it. After eating most of what was on my plate, I knew that I  didn’t feel “satisfied.” I thought about eating more food and was certain that I could keeping eating that food and never achieve the sense of contentment that my body wanted.

When I was a non-intuitive eater, I would have continued to eat more food at that event in a futile search for satisfaction that I thought I “should” be able to feel. The hunt for satisfaction is a contributing factor in the chronic weight gain I experienced earlier in my life and affects many other people. Intuitive eating helps eliminate that hunt and trains you in skillfully navigating to foods and eating experiences that deliver the satisfaction you need and crave.  My developed intuitive eating sense gave me the choice to continue eating with the knowledge that satisfaction would never arrive or confidently choose to end that unsatisfactory food experience.  How amazing is that?

This morning, as I was laying in bed reflecting about this eating experience, I realized that I enjoyed the Corn on the  Cob the most. The remainder of the foods actually looked and felt “too heavy” and “too warming.” I also realized that the colors of the foods were very muted. I saw mostly brownish reds and muted yellows in the dishes. The Corn on the Cob was actually the most vibrant looking food on my plate!

Strengthen your intuitive eating senses:

Notice the qualities of foods that you enjoy eating the most at this time of the year and during each season by giving attention to:

• The colors, smells, tastes, and textures of foods
• If a food makes you feel heavy or light
• If your body feels good/content,  heavy, or light after eating certain foods
• If you would ever feel satisfied even with unlimited quantities of a particular food