I've noticed for sometime a compulsion when I eat. Put a plate of food in front of me and it has been not so much an invitation to savor but an assignment: "Finish this." To finish my food has seemed like both the responsible thing to do--a way to be a good boy and not waste anything--and also as a means to an end: a way to get fueled up in order to move on and do something "more important." Yesterday, I announced officially to my friend whom I visiting here in Budapest that I'm taking a different approach. At our next meal, I nibbled at whatever on my plate I felt like eating--a french fry here, a piece of gyro there. And I stopped not when the food was done, but when I was done. To my horror, a chasm opened up and swallowed me in the abyss for transgressing the divine unwritten law not to "waste food." Wait, no. That was just the bizarre fear fueled by nothing but my habitual thinking. What actually happened is that I enjoyed the meal more, and didn't walk away feeling uncomfortably full as I often used to. I want to keep doing this. I've heard the theory in more than one place that when we enjoy our food, without regard for anything else--nutritional value, social expectations, time of day--everything falls into place. We'll naturally gravitate towards health and our ideal weight when we're aligned inside, instead of fighting a constant civil war over what we should be eating. And I do know people who are very fit and eat whatever they feel like. At any rate, I'm going to try it. Thoughts? Experiences with this? Let's get this party started.