THE FOOD DILEMMA // In economics there is a Law of Diminishing Returns that says there is a certain point where you hit optimal level of capacity. Once you go above this point you’ll see a smaller increase in output. I have found this same rule to apply in my life with food, but I have a bad habit of ignoring it.
Have you ever eaten something, like a huge piece of cheesecake, where the first three or four bites were absolutely amazing, your next few were still delightful, but by the time you got to the last three or so bites you were stuffed, just forcing it, not because of satisfaction, but it was merely the principle of the thing and there’s no way you’re wasting a single bite of a $10 piece of cheesecake!
In this example, the diminishing return is the decrease in satisfaction from each bite of food. By the time you get to the end, there’s almost no satisfaction at all. If you’re anything like me, I find this law in my food habits almost daily. It’s the last few drinks of the watered-down pop. No bite compares to that first chance to sink your teeth into your favorite burger, but halfway through, you’re mindlessly eating. At the movies, you don’t even know what you’re shoving in your mouth as you’re so engrossed in the movie – you just know that it sounded good before the show started. Does any of this sound familiar?
The problem isn’t the diminishing return in what we consume. For me, one problem is that I continue to consume when I’m not even hungry. This might look playing board games with friends and snacking away even though I’m already full. Finishing my supper even though I wasn’t even that hungry, but didn’t want to waste – I mean, weren’t we taught to clean our plates and not waste? The other problem is eating food like sweets and not stopping when it’s not even worth it anymore. This could look like the cheesecake example I gave above. It also can look like eating sweets when I’m not hungry at all but they just sound yummy to my brain.
NEXT STEPS // Would your eating habits look different if you ate slower, listened to your body, and paid attention to food satisfaction? The goal isn’t to just eat food that tastes good. I eats lots of foods I don’t enjoy that are good for my body, like cooked carrots. The goal is to stop overeating mindlessly and actually enjoy those foods you are eating for satisfaction and stop when they aren’t worth it anymore.
If this is something you struggle with too, you can track what you eat on apps like Noom or MyFitnessPal to start seeing your habits and areas you can improve. This isn’t about calorie counting, but getting a better understanding of what you’re putting in your body and if that’s what you want to do.
That leads to my One Thing for the month of November: I’m going to focus on not eating after 7:00 PM. That’s one of my worst snacking times that I can live without.
TO MY BOYS // “I’m so proud of you. I’m thankful every day that I get to be your dad! You are the very best parts of me. You are dearly loved by your mom and me. Now go out there and do your best.” – Dad
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