What is Mindful Eating?
– and how can it help your relationship with food?
Let's check in on your relationship with food. Would you consider it a healthy relationship? Is it one where you're connected to your body, your physical eating cues and your enjoyment with food?
No? Don't worry, you're not alone. For most women a healthy relationship with food, much like other relationships in our life, is pretty complicated.
There is a simple approach you can use to start moving towards the healthy food relationship that you crave. A strategy that will help you listen to your body and reduce the impact of all the other ‘stuff' that makes you crazy around food.
Sound good? Enter mindful eating.
At its most basic, mindful eating is simply being in the present moment when you eat.
While there is no one definition, there are common elements that make up mindful eating:
- Non-judgemental engagement with food
- Interaction with food using all the senses
- Cueing into internal messages around hunger and satisfaction
- Conscious awareness around food choices
- Being aware of any physical or emotional response to eating
The benefits of mindful eating
The research into mindful eating, like many mindfulness areas, is quite young. So we can't make unquestionable sweeping statements. However, there are some promising benefits emerging including:
- Reducing binge eating
- Reducing emotional eating
- Increasing awareness of hunger and satisfaction cues
- Reducing impact of external cues (eg: time of day or food packaging) on food intake
- Reducing food cravings
Basically mindful eating can help you listen to the cues that your body is sending you around food and drown out all the food rules that are getting in the way of you trusting your body around food.
How can you be more mindful around food?
There is no one size fits all approach. It is generally a matter of trying a few different strategies to find what works for you. Here are a couple of mindful eating exercises that you can get started on.
- One mindful bite
- Choose one bite to bring full awareness to during a meal or snack. It could be the first, the last or any random bite you like.
- Take a few deep breaths to focus on your body.
- Look at the food you are about to eat – what do you notice?
- Are there any physical sensations trying to get your attention? Scan your head, mouth and stomach.
- Take the bite – what do you feel? what are the textures? what do you taste? how does your body react?
- Take one breath before you reload your fork or pick up your food.
- Continue eating and enjoy.
Pre-eating check in
- Take a couple of deep breaths to focus on your body.
- Bring your focus to your mind – what thoughts are there? Let them be fluffy clouds that move through your mind. Notice them without judgement.
- Bring your focus to your mouth – what sensations are there? Are you imagining that first mouthful? Is your body getting ready (releasing saliva, building anticipation etc)?
- Bring your focus to your chest – what sensations are there? Any tightness or worry? Take a few deep breaths to release any feeling you find here.
- Bring your focus to your stomach, physically place your hand there if it helps. What feelings are you experiencing? Is your body sending any messages about its readiness to accept food?
- Bring your focus to your external environment – what do you see, smell and feel?
- Take your first bite. Enjoy.
Sensation stimulation
- Take a couple of deep breaths to focus on your body.
- Sit down somewhere away from distractions with your meal or snack.
- Take some time to connect with each of your senses before you start eating:
- What are you feeling? What are you seeing? What are you smelling? What are you hearing? What are you tasting?
- Take a bite of food and check in again with each of the senses (as above).
- Continue to eat your meal or snack as you normally would (you don't have to turn this into a mindful eating epic!!)
- At the end of your meal or snack check in with your senses again (as above).
Mindful eating, like any mindful strategy, is a practice. Take some time to flex your mindful eating muscle and enjoy the benefits to your health and your taste-buds.
Image credit: Icons8 team
About the author
Laura is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian who focuses on the 'whys' of eating and how you can connect to your body to guide your interaction with food. She is passionate about helping women develop a healthier relationship with food and enjoy every eating experience. Laura helps women to ditch diets and be 'less crazy' around food. She empowers you to reclaim your inbuilt ability to interact with food and become the expert in your own food journey. Laura works with individuals, families and workplaces to promote mindful connected eating.
