Mindful Eating—Connecting with your food

Mindful Eating—Connecting with your food
Do you multi-task? Where, when and how do you eat? Do you find yourself in a hurry or distracted during mealtime? This week we invite you to eat mindfully.

What is mindful eating?
Eating in general happens only once. Every bite, every flavor every texture is present for a moment…then it is gone and you will never experience that exact food, flavor, or texture ever again. It might be similar the next time you eat your favorite meal, but never the same twice. Think about it. Your taste buds constantly change, so will the flavor of your food. The sense of a food’s beauty changes —when you chew that beautiful apple turned to mush. It will never look the same after you take a bite. Your food, its’ nutrient, flavor and beauty are present for a moment, just a flicker of time, so take note of it.
Mindful eating is about seeing the beauty in food, tasting its’ flavors, feeling the texture, experiencing the satisfaction and feeling how it powers your body.

For people with weight loss goals, mindful eating is very beneficial because often satiation comes at the proper time and people tend not to overeat during mindful eating. People also choose healthier foods. Eating fast, in a hurry or while distracted causes the brain to miss out on critical signals. Think about eating your favorite chips during a big game and all of a sudden, you look down and the bag is empty, and you are not full. Where did they all go? If one were mindful, would the chips be the chosen snack? If so, how many would be left in that bag? So slow down and eat in a calm space with few distractions so you can eat mindfully—it is critical to your health.

How to eat Mindfully?
Simply, take your fork of food, enjoy a bite, be mindful of the food entering your mouth, how it crosses your lips, tantalizes your taste buds, how you chew, and be with your food…all the way till the food gets to your belly. What food is alive? How is the food delivering energy throughout your body? Then take another bite. That is mindful eating. Eat in a non-distracted place where you can focus on food or if you can’t escape co-workers and family distractions, go to a place of quite in your mind where you can focus on each bite.

Mindful cooking and mindful eating can change your world. We invite you to try it for a week and see how you feel. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!