7 Ways to Eat More Mindfully

Last week we introduced mindful eating but now let’s talk about the how. In the most simple language, mindful eating is all about slowing down. Mindful eating is about contemplation. It’s about engaging your senses into the experience of eating. Whether you are eating a celery stick or a 14 course meal at Central in Lima, you can approach your meal the same way. It may sound dramatic to approach your food with reverence, but what might be different if we did. Perhaps with a bit more appreciation than slamming a chicken nuggie into our mouths, while sitting in traffic. Let’s look at 7 ways to eat more mindfully, you can start doing today.

7 Ways to play and eat more mindfully

1. Start with mindful shopping – Before you ever start eating a thing, start with mindful shopping. Be thoughtful about what you put in the cart. Even though we have all heard it, we all do it. Don’t go shopping hungry. Go with a plan and take a list so you are less likely to make impulse purchases of ultra processed foods.
2. Review the impulse eats – Do you have a candy jar in your house or on your desk? What kind of snacks do you have laying around and what is most accessible on the run? Candy jars, bars and snacks in packages are unexpected trip-wires when learning to eat more mindfully. Experiment with hiding your candy jars for a week and see what happens. Do you miss it? What happens if you fill a bowl with mandarin oranges and bananas instead of Twix bars? See how these simple environmental changes impact your habits and your tastebuds.
3. Close your eyes – If you have ever done yoga, you already know that closing your eyes can impact your balance. Did you know it can also impact how and what you taste? According to Dr. Susan Albers-Bowling PsyD of the Cleveland Clinic, [the visual cues can shift your perspective about your food]. Try closing your eyes and see if you notice anything different. Are the flavors stronger, the same or something else? Pay attention to the changes when you close your eyes. Perhaps you chew slower or notice the sound of your chewing that you didn’t notice before.
4. Eliminate distractions – We have all heard to put the phone down while you are eating, but research shows that not only does eating distracted lead you to eat more in your current meal, but it can lead you to eat more in your subsequent meals as well. So next time you are considering scrolling the Gram while eating, think again.
5. Chew thoroughly – Want to become a better listener and eat mindfully, chew your food! Chew your food until it is liquid. This is especially true or protein, dense or fibrous foods. While fiber is great for the system, we are designed to consume food that is chewed. As mentioned in our first installment of mindful eating, we are not snakes, so we shouldn’t swallow our food whole. The added bonus is that while you are chewing your food, dining companions have plenty of space to converse while you become the world’s best listener.
6. Pause and Check-in – How is your body feeling? Check in to see if you are still hungry or if you are content. If you are already full, you’re too late so don’t rush.
7. Mind your triggers – Do you tend to eat when you are bored or sad? Perhaps you finish the popcorn before the movie even starts or maybe you MUST have fries when you drink beer, regardless of being hungry or not. Think about why you eat and when. Are you truly hungry or are you eating out of habit. Perhaps you mindlessly eat the samples at Costco even though you just finished a big brunch. It may surprise you what tricky triggers or habits lie behind how you eat, but this is a chance to change those behaviors.

Deepening practice

In case you want more than 7 ways to eat more mindfully, we invite you to deepen your practice. Try this meditation the next time you have a few moments. This was originally created by Jon Kabat-Zinn, “an American professor emeritus of medicine and the creator of the ‘Stress Reduction Clinic’ and the ‘Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society’ at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.” This quick meditation is called the Raisin meditation and is a great place to start your mindful eating journey. Here is the script below, as referenced from the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley:

1. Holding: First, take a raisin and hold it in the palm of your hand or between your finger and thumb.
2. Seeing: Take time to really focus on it; gaze at the raisin with care and full attention—imagine that you’ve just dropped in from Mars and have never seen an object like this before in your life. Let your eyes explore every part of it, examining the highlights where the light shines, the darker hollows, the folds and ridges, and any asymmetries or unique features.
3. Touching: Turn the raisin over between your fingers, exploring its texture. Maybe do this with your eyes closed if that enhances your sense of touch.
4. Smelling: Hold the raisin beneath your nose. With each inhalation, take in any smell, aroma, or fragrance that may arise. As you do this, notice anything interesting that may be happening in your mouth or stomach.
5. Placing: Now slowly bring the raisin up to your lips, noticing how your hand and arm know exactly how and where to position it. Gently place the raisin in your mouth; without chewing, noticing how it gets into your mouth in the first place. Spend a few moments focusing on the sensations of having it in your mouth, exploring it with your tongue.
6. Tasting: When you are ready, prepare to chew the raisin, noticing how and where it needs to be for chewing. Then, very consciously, take one or two bites into it and notice what happens in the aftermath, experiencing any waves of taste that emanate from it as you continue chewing. Without swallowing yet, notice the bare sensations of taste and texture in your mouth and how these may change over time, moment by moment. Also pay attention to any changes in the object itself.
7. Swallowing: When you feel ready to swallow the raisin, see if you can first detect the intention to swallow as it comes up, so that even this is experienced consciously before you actually swallow the raisin.
8. Following: Finally, see if you can feel what is left of the raisin moving down into your stomach, and sense how your body as a whole is feeling after you have completed this exercise.

If you prefer a dreamy voice to walk you through the process, check out Spoon the Voice Guy for a free guided raisin meditation. Allow yourself to settle into the comfortable space of mindful eating and try practicing one of the 7 ways to eat more mindfully. Still not sure how or where to start? Let’s have a conversation and maybe we can help! Book your free breakthrough session here and look for more Wellspiration on the Pomona Wellness blog.