Mindful Eating 101

This article is designed to introduce you to mindful eating and strategies for establishing a more peaceful and joyful relationship to food, eating, and your body and provide you resources for learning more.

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Mindful eating is an attention-based practice that has arisen alongside the greater mindfulness movement. It is a practice that involves being fully present and aware of your food, your body, and your experience of eating.

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Why Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is important because many Americans have lost their way when it comes to what to eat, how to eat, when to eat, and even why to eat.

Eating feels confusing for many. 

What’s good to eat? 

What’s bad to eat?

We often get conflicting responses.

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Americans have complicated relationships with food and bodies. Our struggles with food can lead to serious health issues, mental health issues, and even premature death.

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While there are dozens of diets out there, there is mounting evidence that diets don’t work in the long run. According to research, diets are often unsuccessful at helping people maintain weight loss in the long term. Some studies suggest that 95% of dieters regain the weight they lose within one to five years, regardless of whether they maintain their diet or exercise.

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What exactly is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is an attention-based practice that has arisen alongside the greater mindfulness movement. It is a practice that involves being fully present and aware of your food, your body, and your experience of eating. Mindful eating embraces making food choices that promote wellbeing while taking pleasure in the eating experience.

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How can Mindful Eating help?

Mindful eating can help free us from unhealthy eating habits that lead to suffering and mindful eating can improve our quality of life. Mindful eating strategies encourage making sustainable lifestyle changes that can lead to better health. Additionally, mindfulness can help people avoid the cycle of feeling "good" or "bad" about food, and instead look at their eating choices with curiosity. Research shows that mindful eating may help people control binge eating and overeating, enjoy food and feel more in touch with the body's internal hunger and satiety signals.

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How Mindful Eating Works

Mindful eating involves focusing on the experience of eating including the sensations in your body, your thoughts and feelings about food, and doing this with awareness and without judgment. The goal is to promote a more enjoyable experience of eating and an understanding of:

• What to eat
• Why you eat what you eat
• How much to eat
• How to eat

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According to Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Mindful Eating

• Is awareness of the wider spectrum of the meal: where the food came from, how it was prepared, and who prepared it
• Is noticing internal and external cues that affect how much we eat
• Is being conscious of how the food looks, tastes, smells, and feels in our bodies as we eat
• Is acknowledging how the body feels after eating the meal
• Is expressing gratitude for the meal
• May include deep breathing or meditation before or after the meal
• Involves reflecting on how our food got to us and how our choices affect our local and global environment

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Here 7 Practices for Mindful Eating adopted from SAVOR: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life

• Honor your food. Acknowledge where the food you are eating was grown and who prepared the meal. Eat without distractions to help deepen the your eating experience.
• Engage your senses. Notice the sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and textures of your food and how you feel when eating. Pause periodically to engage these senses.
• Be mindful of portions. Taking modest portions can help avoid overeating and food waste. 
• Savor small bites, and chew thoroughly. Doing this can help you slow down and fully experience the flavors and textures or your food.

• Eat slowly to avoid overeating. When you eat slowly, you are more likely to recognize when you are feeling satisfied, or when you are about 80% full, and then you can stop eating.
• Don’t skip meals. Going too long without eating increases the risk of strong hunger, which may lead you to eat the quickest and easiest food choice, which may not always be healthy. Setting meals at around the same time each day, as well as meal planning and planning for enough time to enjoy a meal or snack reduces these risks.
• Be aware of how your diet affects the planet. Consider the long-term effects of eating certain foods. Processed meat and saturated fat are associated with an increased risk of certain diseases such as colon cancer and heart disease. Production of animal-based foods like meat and dairy takes a heavier toll on our environment than plant-based foods.

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Resources

If you are interested in more resources on Mindful Eating, I recommend the following two books:

• Savor, Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian W. Y. Cheung, D.Sc., R.D.
• Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food by Jan Chozen Bays

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