The Power of a Pleasure Inventory

The experience of eating food is naturally pleasurable. Eating food can release dopamine and opioids and stimulate all of our senses to provide a truly incredible bodily experience. We can normalize that eating is meant to be a pleasurable experience and yet when eating becomes our only form of pleasure is when our relationship with pleasure and food can become confusing. 

When we desire to feel pleasure immediately, we may recall a memory when we ate a particular food that sparked pleasure and feel pulled to eat that food to initiate, in the present,  the same sensations and emotions we felt from that food in the past. The craving for that particular food in the present moment is often not actually for that food but for the experience and sensations of feeling pleasure. The more awareness we foster around particular foods we have connected with feeling pleasure, the more power we can put back in ourselves and less in the food. From that empowered place, we then get to decide if eating that feel will actually support us in feeling pleasure, not just in the moment, but long term as well or if there is some other act we could engage in to spark the sensations of feeling pleasure in our body. Feeling pleasure has been connected to our sense of well being and joy in life. Desiring to feel pleasure is something to be embraced and explored what many different actions support our unique body in feeling pleasure in our life. 

This is where a pleasure inventory can come in. Doing a pleasure inventory can be supportive to foster awareness of what you have connected with the sensations of pleasure to remind yourself that you have choices in how to cultivate this feeling in your body. Take out a piece of paper. Begin writing down everything you have connected with pleasure. This can be food, games, activities, even thoughts. Once you have made this list, then make a note next to each item around memories you have around those items and did the pleasure you receive last longer than the moment of you engaging with that food or activity or did the pleasure end when the meal or activity was complete? 

You may start to discover that eating food is something that often does not provide us with pleasure long term. It lasts for the time we are eating and then dissipates as soon as the food stops coming in. Whereas, activities like spending time with friends and loved ones, physical movement like a yoga class, or taking a walk out in nature, can often provide us with pleasure in the moment and something that perpetuates throughout our day as well as these actions provide the opportunity to also feel more connected to ourselves and our surroundings. 

Desiring pleasure from food is not a “bad” thing. When this desire arises, before automatically reaching for that food, we can first invite in curiosity to explore what does the desire for pleasure have to teach us. Have we been feeling stressed or bored or tired? How is our desire for pleasure from food guiding us in what other emotions might be needing our loving attention? In acknowledging what else is present and what wisdom our craving for pleasure has to provide, we give ourselves a choice to decide whether eating food will be the most supportive act. 

If you do decide that eating food for pleasure is exactly the experience you want to be having, great! Really luxuriate in that experience. Put that food on your favorite plate or in your favorite bowl, without any distractions, find a place in your home you love to be in and slow down with that food. Eat that food as slowly as possible to truly accept the pleasurable experience of giving yourself exactly what you desired in that moment. Being this present with your experience of eating pleasurable food can then decrease the desire to eat more and more as the food was consumed in a slow, mindful, connected, and embodied way. Once the eating experience is done, you can reference your pleasure inventory and explore what other pleasurable actions you could engage in next.