Recently I participated in an online mindful eating mentoring group
with fellow colleagues to fine tune our teaching skills and
methodologies in order to better help others. Unexpected side
benefits such as weight loss, jaw alignment, and health improvements
occurred among us as a result of digging deep into the work. A
beautiful example of the adage – to help oneself, look to helping
another.
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness
on the present moment, on one’s thoughts, feelings and sensations
without judgement. It is particularly helpful when used as a
therapeutic technique.
Many people strive to achieve this state through formal means such as
yoga, Feldenkrais, meditation and a variety of intuitive trainings.
Others tap into the mindful state when they are gardening, walking or
running. For myself, achieving this state while playing tennis or
golf may take me many lifetimes to achieve. Sigh.
Practicing mindful eating creates wonderful lifelong benefits such as
weight loss, better health, more enjoyment and pleasure, feelings of
fullness and satiety, and ultimately more self-compassion – How
does it get any better than that?
Here are five simple tips as a starter pack:
- Put down your food or fork after every single bite.
Habits of eating actually begin with the reach of the hand and have
nothing to do with hunger. Watch yourself go into auto pilot with
your hands. If necessary, sit on your hands between bites in order
to convince your brain you really would like to change this habit.
- WAIT!
As you bring the tiny morsel of food to your lips pause to smell it,
really look at it, and anticipate the experience of it. If it’s
something especially tasty like chocolate you can make a game of how
long you can wait for it. How long is a nanosecond again?
- Prolong the Bite – food foreplay
Hold the food on your tongue for as long as you can, move it gently
and slowly to different parts of your mouth and notice all the
sensations – taste, temperature, texture, moisture…
- Chew verrrrrry slowwwly.
This has many benefits for the digestive system, the taste of your
food, and your weight. Have you ever wolfed down your food so fast
you don’t even taste it? When you eat fast you do not give your
brain a chance to tell you when you are full! Hello? How did these
hips get here?
5 Concentrate on the Un-bite – the letting go stage.
Biting and chomping are aggressive actions – necessary when you are
being chased or have to eat and run. Time to choose differently.
Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy Your Food and everything about the experience of
eating. Otherwise what is the point? A fun way to try these steps
is with a friend so you can give each other feedback. Allow at least
an hour to eat a meal together. You will reach your fullness
sensation long before the time is up and well before your plate is
empty. If you are thinking - but my mother said it was a sin to
waste food and I have to eat everything on my plate or I don’t get
dessert Get over it.
Cathy Lidster, GCFP, ABF, ACN, is a local and international health
practitioner and teacher. For more info on Mindful Eating webinars
or to challenge her in tennis or golf, call 250-819-9041. Email:
cathylidster@gmail.com.
Or visit www.naturalmovesforlife.com
