It’s easy in our busy society to eat mindlessly. We all do it: eating while watching TV, scrolling through our phones, working at our desks, and so on. In other words, mindless eating is when we’re eating while distracted and usually rushed. As opposed to mindful eating, which is when we’re in tune with our senses as we eat and paying attention to our hunger and fullness cues. Mindful eating is challenging when we’re eating on the go or eating out of stress or boredom. But taking the time to eat mindfully has many benefits:
- Avoiding overeating: your stomach and brain need about 20 minutes to communicate that you are full. By eating slower, you give yourself time to recognize that you are full and knowing when to stop eating.
- Helps with weight loss: Increased awareness of your food decisions (we make over 200 food decisions per day) creates more positive eating habits, such as choosing more nutritious food and only eating when you feel hungry.
- Better relationship with food: understanding your body’s cues for hunger, cravings, and fullness makes you more aware of whether you are physically or emotionally eating (which can embolden you to find healthy ways to cope with certain emotions that trigger you to eat).
So how do you start? Try these tips (Willard, 2022):
- Acknowledge that you’re physically hungry and not emotionally craving something
- Eat slowly so you can notice the flavors, aromas, and textures
- Eat in a distraction-free environment
- Stop eating when you notice you’re satisfied (before you feel uncomfortable or overfull)
- Feel connected to the food by appreciating all that went into it: the effort it took for the various ingredients to arrive at the grocery store, the people involved in making it (you or your loved ones), the natural elements that went into growing the food (water, soil, and so on), and other reflections that make you feel grateful for your food and where it comes from.
References:
Davis, K. (2021). Mindful Eating. Retrieved from: https://mecklenburg.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/05/mindful-eating-2/
The Benefits of Mindful Eating (2022). Retrieved from: https://my.sjcme.edu/employees/the-benefits-of-mindful-eating/
Willard, C. (2022). 6 Ways to Practice Mindful Eating. Retrieved from: https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-practice-mindful-eating/
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