Mindful Eating

So now, as we already know, what to eat, (and what not to eat), in the last section of this module we turn to the question of HOW to eat, as the process is as important, as the content.

Mindful eating, also known as conscious eating, involves fully focusing on your food, your emotions, your hunger signals, and your feelings of fullness. It’s not just about eating slowly or choosing nutritious foods; it’s about fostering a deeper, more conscious connection with what we consume. By learning to eat more slowly and mindfully, we can not only enhance our enjoyment of meals but also become more in tune with our body’s needs, leading to better well-being and satisfaction.

What we’d like to propose is a concept we refer to as more mindful eating, or perhaps “informal” mindful eating as an alternative to formal mindful eating. Mindful eating aids in making healthier food choices and cultivating habits that enhance both physical and mental well-being. Here are several suggestions for beginning to eat in a more mindful manner:

Allow your body to catch up with the brain

 Eating too quickly and ignoring your body’s fullness signals can lead to overeating. On the other hand, slowing down and stopping when your body signals that it’s full can help maintain a healthy diet. Slowing down is an effective way to align our mind and body, helping us understand our true nutritional needs. Our body sends a signal of satiety about 20 minutes after our brain does, which is why we often end up eating more than necessary without realizing it. By slowing down, we give our body an opportunity to synchronize with our brain and respond to its signals.

Simple strategies to slow down can include adopting traditional eating habits, such as sitting down to eat, chewing each bite at least 25 times, and putting down your fork between bites. These seemingly old-fashioned manners can actually be quite beneficial in promoting mindful eating.

Ask yourself: What are some ways you can slow down eating and listen more deeply to your body’s signals?

Understand of your body’s personal hunger signals

Are you responding to an emotional want or responding to your body’s needs? We often prioritize our minds, but like many mindfulness practices, we might find more insight by first tuning into our bodies. Instead of eating solely in response to emotional signals, such as stress, sadness, frustration, loneliness, or even boredom, we can pay attention to our bodies. Is your stomach growling? Is your energy low? Are you feeling slightly lightheaded? Often, we eat because our mind tells us to, not because our bodies need nourishment. Genuine mindful eating involves deeply listening to our body’s hunger signals.

Ask yourself: What are your body’s hunger signals, and what are your emotional hunger triggers?

Cultivate a mindful kitchen for mindful eating

Eating alone or at random times and places can often lead to mindless eating. This involves aimlessly searching through cabinets and eating whenever and wherever, rather than planning our meals and snacks. This not only slows us down but also prevents us from developing healthy cues about what and how much to eat, and conditions our brains to new, not always ideal, cues for eating. For instance, do we really want to create a habit of eating every time we get in the car, or in other similar situations? While we all snack occasionally, it can greatly enhance our physical and mental health, mood, and sleep schedule to eat at consistent times and places. This means sitting down (preferably at a table!), serving food on a plate or in a bowl instead of eating directly from the container, and using utensils instead of our hands. Eating with others is also beneficial as it not only allows us to share and form healthy connections, but also helps us slow down, enjoy our food and conversation more, and take our eating cues from our dining partner, preventing emotional overeating or undereating.

Having a mindful kitchen involves organizing and caring for your kitchen space in a way that promotes healthy eating and nourishing gatherings. Consider what you bring into your kitchen and how you store things. Are healthy foods easily accessible? What types of foods are visible? Remember, when food is within reach, we’re more likely to eat it.

You don’t have to plan every bite of your food, and it’s crucial to maintain flexibility, particularly during special events. However, be mindful that your eating habits may change during different seasons or occasions. When you do plan ahead, you’re more likely to consume the amount your body requires at that moment, rather than under-eating and later indulging, or overeating and subsequently regretting it.

The classic advice is not shopping when hungry still holds, but a balanced approach is also important. A psychological phenomenon known as “moral licensing” indicates that shoppers who purchase healthy items like kale are more likely to subsequently visit the alcohol or ice cream aisle than those who don’t. It appears we believe our karma will counterbalance and allow us to indulge in junk food or other less ideal behaviors.

Understand your motivations

Eating foods that are emotionally comforting vs. eating foods that are nutritionally healthy. Finding a balance between nutritious and satisfying foods can be challenging. Recall the first raisin you ate consciously. When we eat slowly and healthfully, like raisins, we often enjoy them more than foods we think are healthy. When we try to eat healthier and more varied, we are less likely to overeat our favourite foods and enjoy healthy foods more, which ultimately brings us mental and physical satisfaction.

Connect more deeply with your food

Considering where food comes from vs. thinking of food as an end product. If we are not hunters or farmers, we are becoming more and more disconnected from our food. Many of us don’t even think about where our food comes from, apart from the packaging from the supermarket. This is a shame, because food offers us a wonderful opportunity to connect more deeply with nature, the elements and each other. When we stop and think about all the people involved in preparing the food on our plate, from the loved ones who prepared it to those who filled the shelves, planted and harvested the ingredients, it’s hard not to feel grateful and connected. We can also reflect on the cultural traditions that brought us this food, recipes generously shared by friends or passed down from a distant place and time in the family. When we consider all that went into the meal, it is easy to show gratitude to all who gave their time and effort, the elements of the universe that contributed their work, our friends or ancestors who shared recipes, and even the beings who may have given their lives as part of the creation of this meal. With a little more of that awareness, we can begin to make wiser choices about the sustainability and health of our food, not just for ourselves, but also for the planet.

Attend to your plate

Distracted eating vs. mindful eating. Multitasking while eating prevents us from listening deeply to our body’s needs and desires. When we are distracted, it is harder to perceive our body’s signals about food and other needs. At your next meal, try to just eat, without screens or other distractions, and enjoy the company of the people with whom you share food and conversation. While the formal practice of mindful eating may be something we remember when we look back on a course or retreat we attended, the reality is that we live and eat in the real world, which is a busy place. However, we can use the insights gained from our formal practice – slowing down, listening to our bodies, doing one thing at a time, creating even small rituals and considering everything that has entered our food, and incorporating awareness that is more informal into our daily meals more regularly.

It seems to be a lot to take in – next to taking our food. You don’t have to do it all at once. You can choose one-one advise a week,  to build it into your eating habits, just a little more consciousness into your cooking habits. It takes time to change our old habits, and maybe we don’t even need to change everything. Remember your affirmations: you are OK, and whatever small steps you make to change, that’s already something to celebrate.

Source:

https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-practice-mindful-eating/