Mindful Eating
What is mindful eating?
Mindful eating is an act when you are in the moment and fully aware of what is happening inside your body, such as your hunger cues, your desires and your mind and outside your body, like in your environment. Mindfulness is also being aware without judgment and guilt. For instance, not comparing ourselves to anyone else and not judging ourselves or others. We are just there feeling the sensations that the food brings to us and the thoughts that we conjure up as we eat as well.
Mindful eating trust.
In addition, it is the act of trusting your body and knowing it has the power of whispering in your ear the food choices you may need. Guiding you to tune into your appetite which means there is no calorie counting, following macros or tracking apps. Therefore, you become more in touch with your internal cues, listening to the messages it tells you of what you need and when you are full or just right.
Mindful eating is also engaging and paying full attention to the experience of eating and drinking. For example, the colours, smells, textures, flavours, sounds “crunch” and the temperature of food. Moreover, you are also aware of how the food makes you feel and the experience of how it feels in your mouth and in your stomach. Take for example my experience of eating tempered chocolate.
My mindful eating experience
It is beautifully presented on the rough textured charcoal brown icing of a three-tier chocolate cake and as I pick it up in my fingers, I notice how cold and hard it is. But as my fingers are warm it slightly melts the corner which gives me the opportunity to take in its aroma. I lift the chocolate to my nose and breathe it in. It smells rich and earthy like roasted nuts and coffee just brewed and has already put a smile on my face. Two of my favourite smells that conjures up so many memories that dance around in my thoughts. But the smell is way too much for me to endure as my mouth waters, so come back to the moment and take my first bite. I hear the crack and then feel the crunch with my teeth. Its cold smooth texture coating my tongue that starts to become warmer, richer almost velvety within seconds. The warm creamy sensation around my mouth makes the chocolate dissolve even quicker but before I swallow, I can sense the chocolate has also become a little sweeter. And all while this is going on, I close my eyes and take the whole chocolaty experience in feeling contentment and love.
After the second bite I ask myself the questions do I still feel hungry? Do I feel satisfied? If I stopped now would I feel comfortable and if I continued and ate another piece would I feel sick?
Mindful questions to ask?
So now you have tasted my experience I would like to ask you; Do you find whilst you are eating that you pay full attention to the process or do you get distracted and want to pull away doing other things, like watching tv, reading a book or looking at your phone?
And how does eating affect your mood and your emotions? Do you feel freedom from eating or do you feel restricted? Is there guilt associated with what you are eating, and do you feel a sense of anxiety?
So, when you answer the above questions do you hear the internal dialogue you tell yourself when you are selecting foods to eat. For example, “ I wish I could eat chocolate”, “This food is making me fat” or “I really want the creamy spaghetti, but I should be eating a salad”.
When we mindfully eat, it puts a stop to the internal dialogue it in its tracks. As mindful eating is not a diet. It does not cleanse, nor eliminate certain foods from your diet, or clean out your cupboards from carbohydrates, listen to fads about eating and follow the quick fixes, such as following a lemon cleanse, high protein or low fat diet.
Mindful eating is an invitation to the whole dining experience to be present whilst eating. Allowing us to genuinely savour our food without guilt, anxiety, judgement or the inner critic.
Mindful eating approach
Mindful eating is approaching food by spending less time thinking and focused on our weight and the conversations we have with ourselves around weight and embracing food for what it is. In return this naturally teaches you how to find the weight that’s right for you. Westernised culture of looking a certain way motivates stress, anxiety and pressure around so many foods and some people tend to view certain foods and food groups as bad, unclean, disgusting, wrong, not needed, unnecessary and dangerous to their figure. Furthermore, people who desire to look a certain way may become obsessed with food which causes them to under eat and suppress feelings of hunger. Whereas, when our portion sizes in takeaways, cafes and restaurants are increasing in size this puts internal pressure for people to overeat and ignore feelings of fullness.
When we are aware in the present moment our mind quietens and when our mind is calm, we are less inclined to being stressed or anxious and eat with our emotions. This releases us from the chains imprisoning our mind and gives us more freedom of clarity and food choice. Thus, we can see patterns of our eating choices, decide to make better food choices if needed and treat each eating occasion, aware. Helping us to decide what we want to eat, how, when and where we want to eat. Thus, creating a calm clear environment, that makes us feel safe and more content about the way we eat. Therefore, when we are feel calm, clear, and content, we show more compassion toward ourselves and less self-judgment. Giving us the freedom to just appreciate being in the moment.
When mindfulness is served at the table, it means we are kinder and gentler to the approach of eating. Focusing on the food we want and need in that moment and changing our thought patterns on the food we choose to eat.
Your mindful journey
There are many ways to get started on your mindfulness journey. However, just keep in mind that you do not have to practice this at every single meal and it may be a slow process in the beginning. In addition, you are creating new habits which may need a bit of practice. The key is to acknowledge this and start by picking one meal throughout your day, where you are not rushing, and simply have more time. To be practical, if you have kids at home that are fussy your mindful time could be at lunch, but if you rush around at work during your lunch break, your time might be at night or instead use this method when eating your snacks. Therefore, pick your times well as this will allow yourself to eat more slowly with less distractions.
My tips to start being more mindful.
1. Take your time to eat your meal, saviour the moment and think about the time it took for you or someone else to prepare and cook that meal. This meal is to be appreciated with your heart and soul. Think about your senses and how you can apply each of them in this moment.
2. When tasting and chewing your food, enjoy all the flavours that it has to offer, this may encourage you to chew more slowly.
3. Eliminate the distractions in your environment by turning off the TV, closing the computer or book and putting your phone somewhere where it is not easily reached. For example, in your handbag, left in the office or somewhere in the house.
4. Eat in silence. I like to eat outside for most of my meals as it gives me the opportunity to also listen to the birds, watch the clouds, and enjoy the sunshine, except of course if it is raining and overcast.
5. Listen to your internal messages and ask yourself how the food is making you feel? Are you feeling full, almost full, satisfied, contentment, not really enjoying the food or unsatisfied? How you answer these questions will give you the green, amber or red light to direct you in how you want to finish the journey. Will you continue eating? Or will you stop?
6. Stop eating when you are full, even if it is delicious or you don’t want to waste it. This is also a good way to teach yourself how much to plate up for next time, share with a friend or family member or not order as much.
7. Ask yourself the question, why are you eating anyway? Were you hungry? Were you bored? Was it offered to me? Was this part of your usual routine? Is what you are eating healthy?
Once you become more aware about being mindful it will become more natural. So, this is the time to then implement these new habits into more meals.
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