Getting Too Full? You Need Scaffolding

It’s a simple principle, really: Eat when you are hungry; stop when you are comfortably full. How is it, then, that I still stuff myself at times? Yesterday, we went to an amazing Taiwanese restaurant, the kind where the courses just keep coming, and every dish is better than the one before it—you know the kind. Well, I blew past “comfortably full” long before I stopped eating. Not only that, but I came home looking for something else to eat, something salty and crunchy, always my “go-to” kind of food when I’m not really hungry. And I did eat popcorn until I almost popped. I’m guessing these behaviors are familiar to you—to eat is human, to eat mindfully is divine.

Generally, I do a pretty good job of stopping when I’m comfortably full. Not only that, but I can eyeball the portions that will be just right for me, so the gross eating story is not an everyday occurrence. However, I find that I need some help, not just when dining in a great restaurant, but for each meal. I propose what I want to call “scaffolding.”

Scaffolding, that structure that allows people to build skyscrapers, is also a term for the layered kind of assistance that we might provide a child who is learning a new skill. To learn to ride a two-wheeler, for instance, you might start with the tricycle, move to the two-wheeler with training wheels, take the wheels off and hold the bike as the child pedals, and then let go.

My scaffolding starts with a blank piece of paper and a pen. I make my grocery shopping list, focusing on the fruits and vegetables I love, referring to recipes I’ll use. When I go to the store, I stick to the periphery, foraging into the aisles for coffee, tea, tortillas, pasta, and other essentials. When I get my goodies home, I put them where I can see them, continually getting cues about what to eat. I eat big salads, huge portions of vegetables and fruit, because that’s what I have and that’s what I see. When I sit down to a meal, I try to pay attention to the food and how I feel. My scaffold doesn’t even have any junk food in it! It is constructed to give me constant cues about “what’s good” and “what can I eat now.”

I didn’t feel the need to forgive myself for ignoring my body cues and bypassing the scaffolding altogether, because I felt no guilt. Actually, I just felt a little sick!