Eating Mindfully – Improve Your Relationship with Food
Have you ever watched wine experts in a restaurant taking time to sample the wine they are offered by the waiter? They take their time, breathing in the aroma of the wine, tasting it slowly and deliberately, concentrating on the wine and nothing else. Well, according to Dr Susan Albers of the Cleveland Clinic Women’s Health Centre and a specialist in relationship and weight problems, we should be doing something similar with our food.
Bad eating habits
We come home from work hungry and grab a packet of biscuits and munch through most of them as we check our emails, then it’s a rushed meal in front of the TV. We all know that’s not healthy but it’s a habit we’ve got into and when we’re bored or a bit depressed the problem gets worse.
So what is ‘Mindful Eating’?
Mindful eating means being conscious about why you are eating: are you hungry, bored, tired or depressed? We need to look at our behaviour and our attitude to food. Often our addiction to comfort food such as chocolate needs to be looked at more closely if we want to improve our health. . Dr Albers says: “The problem is that people often think about eating the next piece of candy before they’ve even finished enjoying the one they have, then they feel unsatisfied and go for more.”
Instead of rushing and eating the chocolate or candy as quickly as possible she recommends slowing down and enjoying it in stages:
- Sit comfortably and be aware of all your senses and what emotions are involved.
- Notice the sound of the paper as you unwrap it and the weight of it in your hand.
- Be aware of its shape, colour, the smell of the chocolate and your thoughts and emotions during this whole process.
- Place the chocolate in your mouth and notice the texture, flavour and richness of taste
Just like enjoying fine wine
In other words, behaving just like the wine expert I mentioned at the start. The belief is that when people are more ‘mindful’ or, in other words, more aware and thoughtful about what they are eating then they are less likely to over-indulge. I also think she has a good point about monitoring your feelings while you are eating as it could reveal a lot about your state of mind and how food may be not just a hunger thing but part of a deeper emotional problem.
According to Dr Albers: “A mindful eater is nonjudgmental, compassionate and above all aware of the taste, texture and process of eating. Being mindful means knowing exactly how your body feels at all times. You are so closely in touch with what is going on inside that you know the exact moment you are satisfied rather than stuffed or starving by learning the why, what, when and how you eat.”
If you want to snack try and have healthy snacks in the house and avoid buying biscuits and chocolate on a regular basis: keep them for occasional treats. By eating sensibly throughout the day you will be less tempted to snack. Remember: be mindful not only of the food you eat but of the effect it has on your health.
Those of you wanting to find out more about Dr Susan Albers work go to: www.eatingmindfully.com
October 21st, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Hi Hugo – I thought this was a great post, and mindful eating is something I’ve been trying to get my head back around (no pun intendned) for some time now. It’s something I used to be able to do, but find myself forgetting to practise in the moment; and this post was a valuable reminder that a big part of getting back in control of my eating is re-developing the practice of being mindful of it.
Thank you for the reminder.
Starfire
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
This is actually great advice. One of the main reaosn people gain weight is because their tendency to just swallow everything they eat instead of enjoying it. Great article with the comparison to wine tasting. Love it!
November 15th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Fantastic advice Hugo. When I was really young (pre-teens) I used to eat because I was bored. I had no interest in health and fitness at that age so the reasons I ate were hunger and boredom. Luckily I have always had a fast metabolism so this “boredom eating” never had much of an impact on my physique.
However, now that I am older and have developed an interest in health and fitness I am much more mindful of what I eat. Yes there are still times when I over indulge and slip away from mindful eating but overall I am eating a lot better and thinking about the food I eat.
Another tip along similar lines would be to do more home cooking. If you have invested your own time in cooking a meal you are much more likely to savour it and enjoy it. I for one would not want to spend an hour cooking only for my efforts to be wolfed down in 2 minutes.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Great post. I’m a trainer and one of the hardest things to do is to get clients to be more conscious with their diets. It doesn’t matter how hard you train in the gym, if your diet is off, your results will be slow. Great article. Keep up the good work.