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Many people eat mindlessly, without thinking about what they’re doing. When eating becomes automatic you barely even taste the food, or know how much you’re consuming. As a result, people eat too much of all the wrong foods. If you are stressed or depressed it gets worse, leading to a downward spiral of being annoyed with yourself for not eating right. Then you go eat more of what you shouldn’t, and your mind goes completely blank while you are busy texting while finishing a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies. In case you didn’t know what eating mindlessly meant – now you do.
Throughout our pages you will see references to living while practicing mindfulness. If you don’t yet know what mindfulness is, it simply means awareness. Awareness that is always in the present moment and is non-judgemental. An awareness that is receptive and observant of what is present and happening here and now.
Eating Mindfully
The opposite of eating mindlessly is to eat mindfully. By making a few simple changes, not only will you be more aware of what you are eating, you will thoroughly enjoy the eating experience like you never have before.
The key to eating mindfully is to put everything out of your mind with the exception of the food you are about to have a relationship with. Set aside the proper amount of uninterrupted time to savor and enjoy all the flavors, textures, aromas and colors of each morsel of food. Practicing mindfulness regardless of the activity, in this case eating, is the opportunity to become directly aware of the moment-to-moment sensory feedback of your meal. It can be the simplest meal or the grandest. The interaction with your food remains the same. By making a conscious effort to put all the cares and worries of your day aside and become totally, one hundred percent aware of the explosion of flavor that happens with each bite, the pleasure of eating will be enhanced over time, which in turn can help you make more careful food choices.
Eating mindfully will cause you to think about how much you are missing out in other areas of your life. Mindfulness will make all aspects of your life much more enjoyable and rewarding.
Mindfulness Tunes You into Your Body’s Signals
With practice you will abandon eating mindlessly altogether, and the experience of mindful eating will become one of purpose and pleasure. As you pay attention to what you are doing in the present moment with clear thinking and without distraction, you tune into your body’s natural signals when you are completely satisfied and have eaten enough.
Try shopping for your groceries mindfully next time so that you consciously observe the colors, textures and aromas of the foods you select. Then make your cooking preparation another soothing, mindful experience.
This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life.
Review our Knowledge Base or the links displayed on this page for similar and related topics.