8 SIMPLE STEPS TOWARD BEING A MINDFUL EATER

Just eat mindfully is professed everywhere these days. But what does this even mean and how can you engage in mindful eating? Mindful means being consciously aware of something; being attentive to it. And, eating a meal can be one of those activities in our day where we go offline mentally, scrolling on our phone, working through our bites, or munching whilst driving. When we’re in a go-go-go momentum, putting on the brakes to slow down and eat doesn’t always happen. I’m here to say I am guilty of this too!

WHY IS IT GOOD FOR US TO SLOW DOWN AND EAT?

To digest our food well, we need to be in a calm state, moving into our parasympathetic nervous system (the side where we rest and digest). This means optimum absorption of nutrients, less tummy troubles from improper digestive function, and it also increases our enjoyment of food, promotes satiation and reduces our cravings. Because of these last points, it’s one of the super tools of weight management and leaning out. 

Okay, you’re sold? Let’s go over the steps below:

Step 1 — find a calm environment

Stop everything you are doing. Stop working, don’t pick up your phone, turn off the TV, avoid nit picking at your partner…Of course, this is not always possible and I hear you Mumma’s up the front—I know kids need to be factored in. Stop everything in your control then. We want to foster a calm environment for our meal, as much as is humanly possible. It can even be helpful here to take a few deep, belly breaths. The breath is the fastest way to act on our nervous system, so if you are feeling uptight or flighty, take a moment to breathe to re-establish a sense of calm and being grounded. Going outside can be a really nice practice to do if we are able as well.

Step 2 — really see your food

What’re we eating? Check your food out. We start digesting with our eyes. Looking at what we are about to consume helps initiate the digestive process. 

Step 3 — Engage all your senses

What else is going on around you? Engage all senses. What can we hear and smell, what does our body feel like, where is our breath? In doing so, we become even more present where we are and less distracted with our thoughts. These can pull us away from mindful eating as well. Wow, can you believe we haven’t even taken a bite yet?

Step 4 — Chew your food

Okay, okay—take a bite! But don’t swallow yet. We want to chew our food until it’s a ball of liquidy goop. It will probably take about 20-30 chews to arrive here. I know, it seems like a lot, though this part is important. We are setting our digestive system up really well by chewing our food. It allows time for the next chain of events to initiate and takes a load off of the stomach (the more you chew, the less the stomach will have to churn). 

Step 5 — taste your food

Whilst you are here chewing your food, take a moment to really taste your food. The raisin activity can help guide you as to what I mean by this (pssst I actually use a square of dark Lindt choc for this activity, not a raisin, like in this video here—grab a square of chocolate and try it for yourself). 

Step 6 — fork down between mouthfuls

Put your cutlery down between mouthfuls to slow the process of eating your meal. This acts as a cue to remind us we don’t need to eat so fast and if we are chewing an ample number of times we won't want to be holding our cutlery in the air for the entirety of our meal anyway.

Step 7 — eat until not longer hungry

Eat until you are 80% full (hello, hara hachi bu). Consider when you are no longer hungry (not arriving at ‘full as a goog’ and then stopping). To actually be able to do this, we have to have eaten slow enough for our hunger hormones to help us out here. If we gobble our lunch down, hardly chewing and without tasting our food, we will slow the progression of our intrinsic hunger alerts that tell us to stop eating because we have had enough. 

Step 8 — take a moment to digest

Allow a couple of moments to let your food digest. If you’re sitting outside, muse the sky, people watch, or tune into your breath. If you’re at dinner, engage in light conversation. This really doesn’t need to take longer than a minute, though the longer the better! Allowing down time after feeding aids digestion and it’s when we are the least likely to want to focus anyway. If we can, it’s the prime time to take a moment to relax.

WRAPPING IT ALL UP

Even engaging in just one of these steps is going to have a profound impact on the state of being during a meal. It’s not something we can just overthrow and start doing every step—and it’s also not reasonable for everyone—though having some mindfulness while we eat has a tonne of benefits.

NEXT ACTION: This week, choose one meal or snack a day where you can aim to engage in a couple (or all) of these steps and sense the differences you notice. They can be quite remarkable. 

PLEASE NOTE: Because this is a practice in rebuilding your relationship with food, you might notice some discomfort arise in implementing these steps as you front up against some past patterning. If you do, be patient and kind with yourself. If you feel like you might want support during this process, reach out and send me a line. I’d love to hear your takeaways and your personal experience in attending to mindful eating. You deserve to take this time for yourself.