Mindful Eating
Mindfulness practices, in general, have been shown to have a positive impact on many areas of psychological and physical health, including stress, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and heart disease.
How many times you have told yourself, “I will eat better from now on”, “I will lose ten pounds by next month” or “I will fit in those jeans again”. We start off with good intentions then 3 weeks, 2 months; even 6 months later we look up and we haven’t even come close to reaching our goals. Sometimes we have even gained more weight while trying to lose weight.
What are we doing wrong? Where is the breakdown? Is it the food we eat our enemy? Most of us have heard the phrase dieting doesn’t work. Have you ever wondered why? How does how we eat affect our healthy eating goals? Have you ever started a meal, took the first bite and then something catches your attention, TV, internet, a book? Then you have lapse of conscious that you are actually eating. You look down when your fork scrapes the empty plate and the food is gone, you’re clueless to how you missed the whole meal and you feel guilty for wasting the experience.
Now that we have identified the problem we can begin the search for the correct solution, learn to really enjoy the food we eat, listen to our hunger signals and remove the guilt associated with food. This act of “mindful eating” can be broken down into two categories: internal and external influences.
Let’s begin with the external influences; it can be easier to control your environment over trying to control your own mind. Turn off the TV, move away from the computer, create a space for you to eat that puts the focus on enjoying your food with as little distractions as possible. Now really look at your food before you just dive in, is it warm and steaming or is it cool and crisp looking, breath in the aroma, then what does the first bite feel like, is the texture creamy, smooth, and crunchy salty. There is no guilt associated with these thoughts, no more thought of calories or fat grams, not now. If you’re going to worry about calories, carbohydrates and fats consider those as you plan your meal, and prepare your foods. Save the act of eating simply for awareness and enjoyment.
This can be done by starting with really tuning in to the first few bites. Life gets in the way, phones ring, children need help, work your way into this process slowly. This is not a diet; it is a life style change that takes time.
