Making Mindful Eating Easy: One Word and One Tip!
Making Mindful Eating Easy and Simple
This blog post and episode will give you:
A simple definition of Mindful Eating.
One simple word to understand it.
One simple tip to make mindful eating easy.
ANY WAY THAT YOU EAT.
Why am I trying to make mindful eating easy? Two reasons.
I'm working on my communication.
I'm authentically learning and growing as I go.
I've done podcast episodes about mindful eating, way back, when I was new to podcasting, and while I think there's some nuggets in there, BUT, I think my previous episodes on mindful eating are a bit jumbled.
I'm not taking them down.
One of my core values is to be authentic, no matter how overused that word is.
All of my previous communication and resources will stay. I hope this inspires you to allow mistakes, and explore your life, without judgement. I plan to do this with some other health topics here for you, too. #staytuned 🎧
Mindful Eating Made Easy: re-defining of Mindful Eating.
There's many definitions out there, and many “opinions” on what mindful eating is, how it applies to food, and how to practice it.
It seems so esoteric, at times, when I get to discussing this with clients. (I love that word, esoteric. I've always wanted to use it. Thank you)
Esoteric means: thinking that something is only for a small amount of people with certain skills.
I think many think this about Mindful Eating, because of definitions that says it's an ancient practice that's part of Buddhism. People think that mindful eating is a religious practice —> therefore unavailable to them.
Mindful Eating is more like a spiritual practice.
Whatever you call yourself (keto, paleo, low carb, foodie, intuitive etc.), however you are eating, right now, Mindful Eating has something for you.
What is Mindful Eating?
Mindful eating is awareness of what's going on in you, in your mind, in your environment, in your body, in any given moment.
It's rooted in the practice of mindfulness. It's an “awareness that comes from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgment.”
That's not my definition. That is from John Kabat-Zinn, who's written many books on mindfulness, and teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction.
There's some core components, which I can share in another episode because, we're trying to make this simple here!
Mindful Eating does not sound sexy, right?
Diets are sexy. There's BIG promises with these diets.
All those bodies on the internet, showing what life will be like for you, if you go on THIS diet. Sigh. It’s exhausting.
I want to make this a useful skill, that actually helps you with behavior change, not just this “out there concept” of being with your food.
I think women can't relate to these concepts sometimes.
I wonder if this thought pattern is rooted in perfectionism or hustle culture?
If you've been a dieter, it may seem natural to follow the types of meal plans that have measurements and portions and times to eat.
The kind of meal plans that tell you what to eat to be healthy, right?
I think we all know what to eat to be healthy. You need fiber, you need protein, you need hydration, you need vitamins, you need minerals … there's many ways to get all of that.
I think all of these things are like a rule, a parameter, a compass.
We think we have to have a compass to eat. It’s hard to trust ourselves.
Here’s ONE simple WORD to make Mindful Eating Easy.
To put it simply, mindful eating is all about the word NOTICE. Noticing.
It's the crux of mindful eating.
To me, noticing is also the crux of behavior change. Noticing WHAT you do, before you go and CHANGE what you do. You can’t change what you don’t see.
NOTICING, creating awareness, it’s a big part of changing habits, but it's not sexy.
Noticing doesn't seem to be sexy.
Why? Because, as I mentioned, I think we like action in this hustle world.
Even if the action gets us nowhere or keeps us doing the same thing.
Even if it keeps us in the same thought pattern.
Think about it. You go on a diet. When you go off that diet, and inevitably, you always do, you have a little bit of a shame spiral.
You feel bad about yourself, so you enlist some help. Maybe it’s friends, or a familiar program, or book. Maybe you try something “different”, but it’s still a diet in disguise.
When you go back on this next diet, you're going in this circle.
There's anything wrong with this type of action.
If you're learning and growing from it, and you're learning that this isn't working for you, this is valuable action.
Maybe you may argue that being on a diet helps you grow, and maybe it does. Who am I to claim I know you deeply?
I just think it's hard to shake this feeling of needing to do something, in this world of health, nutrition and beauty advice, whatever advice you're seeking or listening to.
It's constantly flowing at us from friends, the internet books, and even me!
When you distill this practice of mindful leading down into that word notice, I think it makes it really simple, if you just allow it to be so.
This is actually very helpful when cravings come up.
When you can stop, take a mental note to ask yourself and notice, what am I feeling right now, you may just connect your emotion to craving.
Mindful Eating is something that you can practice quietly. It's free, and it will help you on the road to changing habits.
There are so many things you can notice:
What your food looks like.
What it truly smells like.
What does it taste like.
What are your feelings.
What's the experience of your eating.
Are you hungry.
Are you full.
And you can dig deeper. Be curious with yourself.
That's how you identify these feelings that may lead you to eat without hunger.
That's something you can notice too. You can play the notice game and notice through your meal, hmm, I'm getting fuller. Hmm, I'm really full, but I want more. Isn't that curious?
Think of what happens when you do the opposite.
You don't notice anything.
Have you eaten distractedly or mindlessly and lost track of the amount?
Maybe you don't chew. That's actually a big deal when it comes to your digestion. We've talked about digestion a little bit on this podcast in the past, and we think poor digestion is a food sensitivity, or we blame it on our own lack of willpower if we ate something “unhealthy” and get bloated.
What if you're actually NOT chewing?
What if you're eating so quickly because you're working at your computer, you're not chewing, and then later you have stomach upset.
Could poor digestion be as simple as that?
When you're not paying attention to the taste, and you're going through the motions of eating, while doing something else, you may miss the cue of being satisfied with what you eat.
That may be one of the reasons why you want more.
We've all gone through food, and meals, and life like this. Mindless eating can be really a metaphor for life.
Start with just NOTICING. It will help you:
Understand your body's own needs
Internal cues like hunger and fullness
You can be your own compass. Women are a little scared of that.
We're scared to trust ourselves when it comes to food, because we think we are going to eat too much.
Noticing is where you will start to cultivate your emotions, and understand what is surrounding your food when it comes to feelings.
One Simple Tip To Make Mindful Eating Easy.
If you want start bringing in some Mindful Eating to your life, you don't even have to do it with a meal.
Start with a quiet tea, a coffee beverage of your choice.
No judgment here. Maybe it's a margarita.
Start when you have a few moments, to have that beverage and be still, and do nothing.
Maybe it's in the morning with your glass of water.
Maybe it's at night with an herbal tea.
Or your glass of wine, whatever it is, see if you can do it undistracted
Have this beverage undistracted, by yourself, and do nothing.
Take a moment BEFORE you even have your coffee or tea or drink.
Register how you feel.
Are you feeling a little stressed? Are you angry about something that happened in the day? Are you really wanting this coffee because you're so tired? Or the wine because you're so agitated?
What about the smell? Give it a smell before you taste it.
Does it smell like you expected? If so, that's good.
And if not, move on to the taste. How does it taste?
Is the first sip what you expect?
Can you even notice if your second sip isn't as good as the first?
Maybe it is, and maybe you can stop right there, for now. The point is not to be perfect, but to practice this art of pausing and slowing down, and figuring out what you're really hungry for.
That’s called tuning in.
It's kind of like a, “Hey, how you doing right now?”
Your answers may surprise you. Sometimes they aren't answers you expect to hear.
So that's what I have for you today. Back to basics, mindful eating, that's what it is. Paying attention on purpose to your meal and how you feel.
We’ll talk about non judgement in some upcoming posts, and episodes, and even on YouTube!
Slow down, take a sip of coffee, take two.
If that's all you get to do, that's a great beginning. You're going start to register those tastes, those smells, and even textures in food.
It’s the beginning of understanding that health is not perfect.
Mindful Eating will helps you be less perfect in your health, and more INTENTIONAL about your health.
Maybe that'll open the door for deeper self-care. And if you are my age, I think we all deserve a little self-care with food, and beyond.
Buddhism in Mindful Eating?
it's actually seen as a way to cultivate a greater sense of appreciation and gratitude for the food we eat.
I think we've lost a lot of that, lost a lot of connection to what we consume in this culture and even the consequences of what we're consuming, not just to ourselves, but maybe to our planet.
Mindful eating is believed to bring a greater sense of presence, joy, and connectedness to that consumption.
Sounds kind of nice, doesn't it?
I think it also brings a connectedness to ourselves, and if you want to live a full life in menopause, you need to carve that connection to yourself.
You can use food as that vehicle for your emotions, and connection, and the reasons you do things. Allow Mindful Eating to be the vehicle for cultivating your FULLNESS in midlife.
I hope I served you up, something you can chew on, something that turned your shadow into shine today.
Come and find me on Instagram or Facebook or YouTube and lets share all the ways we can seek menopause health, the non diet way.