Mindful Eating: Cultivating a Healthy Relationship with Food

Mindfulness.

 

It’s the buzzword of the online personal development space these days, and with good reason: in the digital world, we’re faced with challenges no generation before ours had to deal with, and as a consequence, we’re failing to rise to those challenges in all new ways.

One of the biggest threats to our well-being from our digitised existence is the constant demand on our attention from all directions. Our brains crave stimulation, and we’re being bombarded with a constant stream of it from a range of devices designed to steal our attention from the real world.

We move through life with one eye on a device at all times; we scroll through social media while eating our meals, check email while on the train to work, watch YouTube videos while waiting at the doctor’s office, all while navigating the real world on autopilot.

Now, I’m not here to preach the evils of the digital world; it’s here to stay, and it has many upsides. But I do want to help you curb some of the potential negative effects on your mental and physical health, by way of sharing what I know.

The thing is, we live in a world that sets unrealistic beauty standards, especially for women. Social media repeats this messaging over and over again from the very first time we log on, creating a culture where eating disorders are rife and mental and physical health are on the decline.

When we disengage from the real world, where the pleasure of good food and a nurtured body serves to counteract the negative messaging from the digital world, we end up focused exclusively on how we look and not how we feel. Worse, we end up moving less and engaging in diet fads that are unhealthy for both our bodies and our minds, ultimately making ourselves feel even worse.

It’s a spiral that can lead to emotional eating, weight fluctuations, a negative body image, and depression.

 

So, what is mindful eating, and how does it help?

 

Simply put, mindful eating just means paying attention to what you eat.

It means being intentional about what you consume: choosing healthy options as often as possible, and when you indulge, doing it deliberately and allowing yourself to fully enjoy your treat without guilty feelings.

It also means focusing on your food when you have it, so you get to enjoy the experience of tasting and savouring every single bite. Make your food count: switch off your phone, put on some nice music if you like, and be present with the experience of preparing and consuming your food.

Food can be about more than just physical nourishment; it can nourish our mental, emotional, and even our spiritual wellbeing as well. Focusing on the pleasure each bite gives us is an act that is extremely beneficial for us on all fronts: we are conditioned to deny ourselves pleasure and often experience guilt for our indulgences, so the very act of choosing, preparing, consuming, and indulging in something that gives us genuine pleasure is an act of rebellion in a world that tells us self-care is selfish. It’s good for the soul.

When we eat mindfully, we are less likely to overeat or resort to emotional eating when we’re under stress. Our portion sizes shrink because we’re not rushing through meals and we’re paying attention to our body’s cues that let us know when we’re full. As a result, mindful eating can greatly improve digestion and help with weight management issues.

Choosing healthier meal options can also correct or prevent nutrient deficiencies over the long term.

 

Quick tips to start off with

 

So how do you make a start at eating more mindfully?

1.       Check in with yourself before you eat. When you find yourself rummaging around in your pantry or fridge looking for snacks, stop and ask yourself: are you actually hungry or are you responding to some other cue? Are you anxious or stressed? Bored? Thirsty? Reaching for food out of habit? Figure out what the stimulus is and address it in ways other than food if appropriate.

2.       Reduce your portion sizes. Humans are habitual creatures. We tend to dish up the amount of food we think we need based on what we needed yesterday, without considering that we may be less hungry or less active today and therefore, needing less. Make it a habit to use a smaller plate, dish up smaller portions, and go back for seconds only if you’re still hungry twenty minutes after finishing your first portion.

3.       Slow down. This is key. We live in a fast-paced world, and as a result, we tend to rush through everything we do. When we do that with our meals, we end up not enjoying our food, and we overeat because our brains do not get a chance to register that our bellies are full until we’ve already consumed more than we need. Eat slowly, put your utensils down in between mouthfuls and chew with care, savouring every morsel.

4.       Engage the senses. Pay attention to the taste, texture, and smell of your food. Allow yourself to really enjoy every bite and every sensation as you chew.

5.       Practice Gratitude. Practicing gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to change your mindset. A lot of effort went into bringing your food to your table; take time to be grateful for the people who grew your food, the sun and rain that allowed it to thrive, the hands that harvested it and transported it to where you bought it, and the hands that prepared it. A mindset of gratitude will allow so much more pleasure to flow out of eating and leave no room for negativity around meals or body image.

 

Remember: Progress, not Perfection

 

Make small changes and be compassionate with yourself if you don’t nail it all the time. The goal is progress, a little at a time, not perfection straight off the bat. Every change for the better helps.

Start with small changes in your daily routine and incorporate new ones as they become habits, and before you know it, you’ll be doing so much better than when you started!