Recently I went out to dinner and ate too much. Drinks (bread?), appetizer, dinner, dessert. I have a bit of poverty consciousness in me – I clean my plate (That’s not good, but I don’t like to waste…)
Well, when I do that, I don’t feel good after, and I do not sleep well. I know this, – but food-as-entertainment is pretty common in society.
Well, let me get to the point. I was listening to a book called Ikigai. It’s a Japanese term that refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose – a reason for living. They were talking to people who were over 100 years old and looking at their habits and why they lived so long. One thing they came up with was to only fill your stomach to 70% of capacity.
Basically, don’t eat until you are full. Stop before you are full. A simple trick is to drink a full glass of water once you are done eating. After 20 minutes you feel full.
When I eat too much my body spends a lot of energy on digesting all of it, and I feel like I need a nap.
70%. It sounds like good advice to me.
I’ve lost 20-25 lbs. since I had a stroke in August. I have lost the sense of taste, which is annoying because I loved food and drinks. However, I notice that I only really eat for “purpose” now instead of entertainment. No more grazing and snacking on things that taste good like candy or other sugary snacks. I ordered a pizza the other day and realized after eating one slice, I didn’t want any more because I wasn’t hungry any longer. It smelled amazing, but I couldn’t taste it anyways, so no need to eat any more slices.
Go, Josh!
Great advise!!
It’s called “Hara hachi bu”: eat until you are 80% full.