Last week, I talked about Chaser’s propensity as she aged to become more and more fussy with what she ate, and to heed her body’s messages around food. This week, I thought I’d focus on Zoey’s habits, which are (not unexpectedly) pretty much the opposite.
Have you heard of the famous “Stanford Marshmallow Experiment?” The brainchild of psychologist (and Stanford professor) Walter Mischel in 1972, it involved Mischel and his team placing little kids, perhaps five or six years old, at a table with a marshmallow in front of them.
An adult researcher informed the child that he was going to leave the room and, if the child waited until he returned to eat the marshmallow, there would be a reward, an additional treat of the child’s choosing. The experimenters wanted to see how many of the children could wait to eat the marshmallow–that is, defer gratification.
In follow-up studies, researchers found that children who were able to endure the 15 minutes or so and delay their gratification had better life outcomes in general, according to such metrics as education, income, and so on.
I think of this experiment every time I watch a dog eat. I mean, does there exist any being less able to delay gratification when it comes to food?
Even as a pup, Zoey was an enthusiastic gourmand.
Nevertheless, there’s something undeniably appealing and even alluring in the unmitigated delight of a dog ripping into a favored foodstuff. They sure do know how to enjoy eating, don’t they?
While Chaser, as I mentioned last week, became a rather finicky eater as a canine nonagenarian, it’s Zoey of the three dogs we’ve lived with thus far who is the most enthusiastic when it comes to consuming food. In fact, virtually none of her training would ever have occurred without this intense drive for anything edible.
Do we want Zoey to sit on command? Reward with a Mother Hubbard bone-shaped biscuit. How about learning more complicated maneuvers like Figure Eights or jumping on multiple rocks? A liver treat does the trick in record time. Or what about coming when called? In that case, we use dehydrated sweet potato or Dentastix™ to get the job done most efficiently.
The multiple rocks (and treat rewards) of Zoey.
As someone who shares this same mighty motivation from food (though sporting human, rather than canine genetics), I did learn to delay gratification at mealtimes. Like most people, I eat the meal and then the dessert, even though the dessert is the preferred course. Because, health. And also, who wants to end up with candida overgrowth, as I did?
Yet once in a while, I dare to defy the rules. I become a refreshment rebel. A nourishment nonconformist. A cuisine iconoclast.
Case in point: in our twenties, a friend and I sat in a favorite restaurant waiting for our order to arrive. For some reason, that day, the club sandwich (hers) and/or vodka penne (mine) were taking far too long.
Frustrated and hangry, we decided to order dessert first. Why the heck not? Two slices of chocolate layer cake later, we happily dug into our main courses. Did the cake fill us so much that we couldn’t eat our meals? Did we enjoy the mains any less because of the previously-scarfed cake? Duh. No, and no.
It actually made me wonder why we don’t do that more often: dig into the food we really want, right now.
It’s a habit that’s hard to overcome: in our house, when I buy coveted treats like Zazubean chocolate bars, the hubs is more likely to eat it all at once and enjoy the “now,” while my tendency is to save it for a “special treat,” sometimes leaving a box or package unopened for a couple of weeks. (Once the chocolate has been opened, however, it’s no holds barred: and also, no bars held for very long).
For Zoey, there is no “save it” or “wait because it’s special.” Even where other dogs might stash away a Greenie™ or rawhide for later, Zoey persists and will nibble, gnaw, chomp and labor at the thing continuously until but a single bite remains, which she then gulps unceremoniously as soon as it’s small enough to slide down her throat without choking her.
In other words, this girl knows how to indulge immediately when it comes to food.
True, the HH and I have had an ongoing debate about whether or not Zoey *really* enjoys the food.
As he has noted, “She barely chews it–how is that enjoying it?”
Perhaps there’s a difference between savoring food in a mindful, Jon Kabat-Zinn sort of way, and diving in with gusto and pure joy, reveling in the immediate sensations the food brings with it.
When I see Zoey plowing into a bowl of ground beef and rice (a rarity) or diving face-first into a container of yogurt, I perceive a kind of letting go, allowing the pure gratification of the sensation to wash over her. She doesn’t react the same way to all food; only those she really likes (in other words, only about 90% of foods).
In reality, Zoey’s dig-in-immediately eating style is a good metaphor for all the things we enjoy in life. What’s wrong with immersing ourselves fully in the sensory pleasure of things and behaviors we love?
Apply the principle generously, and often, I say: dive in, take advantage and savor the moment. This one moment is all we really have, after all.
********************
Follow up to last week’s challenge: Eat what your body wants and needs. How did it go?
It’s been quite some time since I accepted my own love-hate relationship with food. But it wasn’t until I was diagnosed with a particularly horrendous condition that I was finally able to find some peace with it.
In 2009, for the second time, I was diagnosed with candida overgrowth. These days, “candida” has become big business for supplement companies, but back then, it was still relatively unknown and extremely difficult to treat.
Without sharing all the hideous symptoms, I will say that the condition requires an incredibly restrictive diet to reset the system and clear the excess candida. This means no sugars (in any form–no sweeteners, no fruit, no refined flour products such as bread, pasta, baked goods, etc), no alcohol, no dairy, no coffee, no red meat–and more.
I followed the diet religiously for over two years (no, really! Not a granule of sugar passed my lips. And I still haven’t had alcohol since then. And yes, I am a real hoot at a party). After two years, my symptoms were about 90% better, and I’d permanently changed the way I eat.
While I’m still no expert on intuitive eating, I did manage to discover what works for me. I still consume all my favorite sweet treats, just in a form that prevents candida from proliferating (since candida is a form of mold, it loves to chow down on any kind of sugar).
The first thing I noticed after following the regimen for a while was that my sensitivity to sweet flavors intensified exponentially. Even something mildly sweet, like a serving of blueberries, tasted like they’d been doused in sugar. My taste buds had reset themselves.
As for knowing when to stop eating something I love, that’s still a work in progress. While my body now firmly rejects anything resembling a binge these days (hallelujah!), I do sometimes eat more than I should, especially when I like the taste of the food. If that means I eat more than a standard serving of broccoli, so be it. I know that, with time, moderation in that area will come, too.
********************
As always, thank you for reading. If you enjoy Be the Dog, please share it with someone else! Or support me and my writing with a paid or free subscription. I’d be eternally grateful either way.
You have a candid, can-do approach about candida and candy.