What is Mindful Eating?
September 30, 2018
This post was first published on Lake Louise Wellness.
Mindful eating is about creating a new relationship with food and your body rather than a type of diet. It involved paying attention to your body’s signals of hunger and fullness, your own preferences and knowledge, and your own history and experience. Mindful eating involves paying attention to all your senses while eating, including the taste, appearance, aromas, and physical sensations. Over time, practicing mindful eating helps you to make emotionally balanced choices about food.
10 tips for practicing:
1. Take the time.
Set aside time to practice. Even short periods like 5 minutes can go a long way. It will help you develop the ability to understand what you are thinking and feeling.
2. Pause before eating.
Before taking the first bite, tune into your physical signals of hunger and fullness. Rating these on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not hungry, and 10 being very hungry, can be helpful. Pause during eating as well. This can provide you with information about how much to eat and when to stop eating.
3. Slow down and notice.
Try eating more slowly and pay attention to all the sensory aspects of eating. Notice your physical sensations, thoughts and emotions, and practice returning your attention to eating when you become distracted.
4. Patience and persistence.
It takes time and practice to feel the benefits of mindful eating. Trying it once, or even for a week, is usually not enough.
5. Be open to whatever comes up.
Mindfulness helps you to become aware and accepting of whatever is going on in the present moment. Sometimes you may feel relaxed after practicing mindfulness. Sometimes you may not. Both are okay. You are practicing mindful eating as long as you bring your attention back to the experience of eating.
6. Be willing to let go of judgment.
People who struggle with their weight often have many negative feelings about themselves. Sometimes the people around them are critical and judgmental too. Mindfulness is an opportunity to notice those judgments for what they are—thoughts or opinions, not facts—and to come back to what is happening in the present moment.
7. Do just one thing.
Mindfulness involves paying attention to one thing in the moment. This means focusing on eating instead of eating in front of the TV or while reading.
8. Combine your inner wisdom and outer wisdom.
Outer wisdom is information based on nutrition research, professional knowledge and other peoples’ experience. This includes the many guidelines about the kinds of foods you should and should not eat, the nutritional value of certain foods, and when to eat them. Inner wisdom is your hunger and fullness cues, your own experience and preferences. It is your actual experience of eating and how you feel physically and emotionally after eating.
9. Value quality over quantity.
Many people have been raised to believe that they have to eat everything on their plate. Mindful eating helps us develop an appreciation for the quality of food. Quality involves freshness, nutritional value and taste. It also means giving yourself permission to leave food on your plate when you have had enough.
10. Learn your personal triggers for mindless eating and overeating.
Mindful eating helps people to become more aware of the types of food, situations, and emotions that trigger overeating. You can use this information to make better choices about how to handle those triggers.
10 tips for practicing:
1. Take the time.
Set aside time to practice. Even short periods like 5 minutes can go a long way. It will help you develop the ability to understand what you are thinking and feeling.
2. Pause before eating.
Before taking the first bite, tune into your physical signals of hunger and fullness. Rating these on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not hungry, and 10 being very hungry, can be helpful. Pause during eating as well. This can provide you with information about how much to eat and when to stop eating.
3. Slow down and notice.
Try eating more slowly and pay attention to all the sensory aspects of eating. Notice your physical sensations, thoughts and emotions, and practice returning your attention to eating when you become distracted.
4. Patience and persistence.
It takes time and practice to feel the benefits of mindful eating. Trying it once, or even for a week, is usually not enough.
5. Be open to whatever comes up.
Mindfulness helps you to become aware and accepting of whatever is going on in the present moment. Sometimes you may feel relaxed after practicing mindfulness. Sometimes you may not. Both are okay. You are practicing mindful eating as long as you bring your attention back to the experience of eating.
6. Be willing to let go of judgment.
People who struggle with their weight often have many negative feelings about themselves. Sometimes the people around them are critical and judgmental too. Mindfulness is an opportunity to notice those judgments for what they are—thoughts or opinions, not facts—and to come back to what is happening in the present moment.
7. Do just one thing.
Mindfulness involves paying attention to one thing in the moment. This means focusing on eating instead of eating in front of the TV or while reading.
8. Combine your inner wisdom and outer wisdom.
Outer wisdom is information based on nutrition research, professional knowledge and other peoples’ experience. This includes the many guidelines about the kinds of foods you should and should not eat, the nutritional value of certain foods, and when to eat them. Inner wisdom is your hunger and fullness cues, your own experience and preferences. It is your actual experience of eating and how you feel physically and emotionally after eating.
9. Value quality over quantity.
Many people have been raised to believe that they have to eat everything on their plate. Mindful eating helps us develop an appreciation for the quality of food. Quality involves freshness, nutritional value and taste. It also means giving yourself permission to leave food on your plate when you have had enough.
10. Learn your personal triggers for mindless eating and overeating.
Mindful eating helps people to become more aware of the types of food, situations, and emotions that trigger overeating. You can use this information to make better choices about how to handle those triggers.
Befriending Your Body with Mindful Eating: Remember "CHEW"
August 7, 2018
This post was co-authored with Chau Du and first published on Lake Louise Wellness.
Many of us can feel tremendous pressure to have our bodies conform to an ideal size and shape, usually an unrealistically thin one. This pressure comes from the media, family attitudes, social norms and negative past experiences like being bullied or criticized for our bodies. Internal events like emotions, memories, internalized beliefs and physical sensations can also add to this pressure. This can give rise to yo-yo dieting, negative body image, eating disorders, depression, anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. In an effort to fix these problems, many develop problematic relationships with food, where food can become an enemy or sometimes becomes a friend. We can develop black and white thinking, categorizing foods as “good or bad” and alternating between deprivation and indulgence.
Mindfulness and mindful eating can help you “befriend” your body – without you having to fix or change it, but to accept it with compassion, and use it as a source of wisdom. You can begin this practice with four steps: CHEW.
C - Commit to Befriending your Body with Mindful Eating
Making a commitment is not a one-time decision and does not happen overnight. It needs to be revisited and repeated, sometimes daily. It is usually more effective to commit to small steps, like eating more regularly, eating more fruits and vegetables or drinking more water, rather than setting an unrealistic or more dramatic goal like completely denying yourself of sweets or carbohydrates.
Physician, psychotherapist and author Russ Harris says, “Commitment isn’t about being perfect, always following through, or never going astray. Commitment means that when you (inevitably) stumble or get off track, you pick yourself up, find your bearings, and carry on in the direction you want to go.”
It is normal to fall back into old eating habits but this does not mean you need to give up. Instead, recognize non-judgmentally what happened, learn from your challenges, be open to alternative possibilities, and recommit to your intentions and goals.
H - Heart-centred Planning
Heart-centred planning involves practicing self-compassion, purposeful action and honoring your uniqueness. Firstly, it is vital to practice compassion for your body rather than being overly self-critical. When you respond kindly to the myriad of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations connected to your body and food, you can be more flexible with your food choices. Purposeful action means setting aside time to plan for nutritious meals, and to eat regularly and mindfully. While mindful eating does not prescribe a particular diet, it does recognize the importance of fresh, whole foods that have been shown to enhance health and satisfaction.
Finally, it is important to honor and take into account your unique situation and responsibilities. For example, do you have any medical conditions? Do you have a hectic work schedule and/or a family? Do you help care for an elderly relative? All of these factors need to be included in your planning so that you can achieve your goals. Stay focused on your own journey and progress rather than comparing yourself with others.
E - Eat Mindfully
Eating mindfully is about creating a new relationship with food and your body, rather than a type of diet. It involves paying attention to your body’s signals of hunger and fullness, your food preferences and knowledge, and your own history, culture and experience. When it is time to eat a meal or snack, devote your attention to the food and eating. As best as you can, avoid multitasking. Give yourself the gift of time to chew the food, taste it fully, and notice the textures, temperatures and flavours of the food. You may notice that eating is more enjoyable and satisfying when your senses are fully engaged. Reflecting during and after eating can also help you gain insight: How satisfied are you with the food? How full do you feel? What thoughts or emotions are present? This can provide valuable information about your relationship with food and your body.
W - Wait and Evaluate
Take some time to pause. Waiting helps you pay attention to what is unfolding after eating. Next, it is important to evaluate your progress over time. It can be helpful to check in with yourself after meals, then after several days. Notice how you feel physically and emotionally. You may notice that you prefer some foods over others. Conversely, some foods may cause physical discomfort. You may notice that you do not like foods you thought were your favorites, or that a preference for certain foods or ways of eating was learned in childhood. You may also observe your thoughts or feelings about your body and food change from one bite to the next or from day to day. Journaling these discoveries or sharing them with a close friend can help make sense of what you’re learning. This can help you revisit your intentions, measure your progress and help you decide on other changes.
By practicing CHEW you can begin to develop a new relationship with your body and food that is based on respect, compassion, honesty and acceptance. Instead of fearing food and feeling ashamed of your body, you can learn to choose foods that are truly nourishing and celebrate your body.
To learn more and begin your journey with mindful eating, join us on our upcoming retreat from October 26 to 29, 2018 in beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies.
Mindfulness and mindful eating can help you “befriend” your body – without you having to fix or change it, but to accept it with compassion, and use it as a source of wisdom. You can begin this practice with four steps: CHEW.
C - Commit to Befriending your Body with Mindful Eating
Making a commitment is not a one-time decision and does not happen overnight. It needs to be revisited and repeated, sometimes daily. It is usually more effective to commit to small steps, like eating more regularly, eating more fruits and vegetables or drinking more water, rather than setting an unrealistic or more dramatic goal like completely denying yourself of sweets or carbohydrates.
Physician, psychotherapist and author Russ Harris says, “Commitment isn’t about being perfect, always following through, or never going astray. Commitment means that when you (inevitably) stumble or get off track, you pick yourself up, find your bearings, and carry on in the direction you want to go.”
It is normal to fall back into old eating habits but this does not mean you need to give up. Instead, recognize non-judgmentally what happened, learn from your challenges, be open to alternative possibilities, and recommit to your intentions and goals.
H - Heart-centred Planning
Heart-centred planning involves practicing self-compassion, purposeful action and honoring your uniqueness. Firstly, it is vital to practice compassion for your body rather than being overly self-critical. When you respond kindly to the myriad of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations connected to your body and food, you can be more flexible with your food choices. Purposeful action means setting aside time to plan for nutritious meals, and to eat regularly and mindfully. While mindful eating does not prescribe a particular diet, it does recognize the importance of fresh, whole foods that have been shown to enhance health and satisfaction.
Finally, it is important to honor and take into account your unique situation and responsibilities. For example, do you have any medical conditions? Do you have a hectic work schedule and/or a family? Do you help care for an elderly relative? All of these factors need to be included in your planning so that you can achieve your goals. Stay focused on your own journey and progress rather than comparing yourself with others.
E - Eat Mindfully
Eating mindfully is about creating a new relationship with food and your body, rather than a type of diet. It involves paying attention to your body’s signals of hunger and fullness, your food preferences and knowledge, and your own history, culture and experience. When it is time to eat a meal or snack, devote your attention to the food and eating. As best as you can, avoid multitasking. Give yourself the gift of time to chew the food, taste it fully, and notice the textures, temperatures and flavours of the food. You may notice that eating is more enjoyable and satisfying when your senses are fully engaged. Reflecting during and after eating can also help you gain insight: How satisfied are you with the food? How full do you feel? What thoughts or emotions are present? This can provide valuable information about your relationship with food and your body.
W - Wait and Evaluate
Take some time to pause. Waiting helps you pay attention to what is unfolding after eating. Next, it is important to evaluate your progress over time. It can be helpful to check in with yourself after meals, then after several days. Notice how you feel physically and emotionally. You may notice that you prefer some foods over others. Conversely, some foods may cause physical discomfort. You may notice that you do not like foods you thought were your favorites, or that a preference for certain foods or ways of eating was learned in childhood. You may also observe your thoughts or feelings about your body and food change from one bite to the next or from day to day. Journaling these discoveries or sharing them with a close friend can help make sense of what you’re learning. This can help you revisit your intentions, measure your progress and help you decide on other changes.
By practicing CHEW you can begin to develop a new relationship with your body and food that is based on respect, compassion, honesty and acceptance. Instead of fearing food and feeling ashamed of your body, you can learn to choose foods that are truly nourishing and celebrate your body.
To learn more and begin your journey with mindful eating, join us on our upcoming retreat from October 26 to 29, 2018 in beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies.
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