Many of you know this routine all too well: you come home late from work hungry and tired, and you whip up a quick dinner and wolf it down before you’ve even had a chance to decide which one to eat. Netflix show you were going to watch while eating. While this practice is relevant, believe it or not, it’s not the healthiest for your diet.
Mindful eating is important: the practice of staying present while you eat, feeling all the sensations of the food, and noticing when you start to feel full. While mindful eating may recall its growing popularity in the wellness industry and on social media, it’s actually an ancient practice that can overall make us feel better about our eating habits.
I spoke to two experts, Kristen Bunichdietitian nutritionist and owner of The intuitive dietitian based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and David GaviriaPhD student in the Department of Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill, to learn more about the art of staying present while eating and how you can practice mindful eating every day.
What is Mindful Eating?
Mindful eating uses many of the main tenets of mindfulness, including staying mindful and thinking deeply about our behaviors and feelings. Mindfulness is a concept based on Zen Buddhism and first defined by Jon Kabat Zinn, professor and head of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Mindfulness is about learning how to deal with the stresses of life and improving your mental and physical health.
Bunich said mindful eating is specifically the act of developing an awareness of the eating experience. It involves becoming aware of your senses and feelings around the meal, as well as the physical sensations and how your body reacts, all without judgment. It’s a way to change their eating behaviors and their relationship to food.
Mindful eating is more than eating when hungry and not eating when full. And the sensory experience goes beyond simply thinking about taste. Mindful eating can include how the food looks on the plate, how it smells, feels, crunches or sweetness, and how it all makes you feel during the eating process.
Read also: What is body neutrality and how can I start practicing it?
To minimize distractions while you eat, put away your phone, turn off the TV, and don’t put on any music.
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What are the benefits of mindful eating?
Distracted eating is now the norm. It’s common for people to have lunch at their desk, eat snacks while browsing social media, or finish dinner while watching TV. Bunich points out that we live in a world where many take pride in being busy and multitasking, but when we lose focus on our diet, we can lose satisfaction with food and lose the link between hunger and fullness.
“There are many benefits to being a more mindful eater,” Bunich said. “Slowing down the pace of eating will aid digestion and bloating. The slower pace also helps reconnect with signals of satiety. If you ate too much before, it can help prevent weight gain or even weight loss. But the biggest benefit can be a newfound satisfaction with food and increased enjoyment of your meals.”
Gaviria said mindful eating is a great practice that he recommends to many people, as long as people are careful not to add aspects of diet. It’s a way to deeply appreciate food and how your body reacts to it, rather than being a weight loss method.
Mindful eating is a way to deeply appreciate food and how your body responds to it, rather than being a weight loss method.
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How to practice mindful eating?
It’s easy to get busy and not prioritize meals, but there are steps you can take to refocus your relationship with food. Bunich explained that mindful eating starts before you prepare your plate. Before you start eating, pause to ask yourself, “Why am I eating? Am I hungry, bored, stressed or emotional right now? and go from there.
Gaviria told me what he does with his clients to practice more mindful eating.
“I tell them to go somewhere distraction-free, so put their phone away, turn off the TV, turn off the radio and just start sitting there,” Gaviria said. “Close your eyes, be present and notice how you feel. Then grab any morsel of food you want to try mindful eating with.” (This method originally started with raisins, but it can be used on any food.)
The first thing you should do is look at the food on the table and really understand what it looks like. Think about colors, if there are textures. Is it straight, curved, curved? After spending time thinking about food, you take it. Notice if it’s rough, smooth, sticky, greasy, or something else. After doing this, you might even start gently squeezing the food with your hands. Then feel it. Hold it in front of your nose and take time to define all the different notes that hit your nose with each breath.
Finally, take a bite and start asking yourself questions to really observe the flavor of the food: Does it taste different after doing these exercises? Do you like the taste or don’t you like the taste? How does your mouth feel? Is it a texture you like? Does it spread in your mouth or does it stick in a certain area? How does it taste initially and how does it change over time? Are there any noises you notice when chewing? And how did that make you feel?
This routine touches on every sensory aspect of eating, making it a great way to start eating more mindfully. Gaviria said people probably won’t use this routine every day, every meal, or every bite of food, but it’s a good starting point for a more in-depth introduction.
A good way to be more mindful while eating is to take lunch breaks rather than working from your desk.
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More examples of mindful eating
Experts break down some effective steps to be more mindful that you can use with any meal:
- Create a detailed grocery list before you hit the store.
- Don’t watch TV or be on social media while eating.
- Don’t eat at your desk while you’re working.
- Reserve certain times of the day only for cooking and eating.
- Sit at the table rather than eating on the sofa or eating standing up.
- Start with a manageable portion on your plate and add more as needed.
- Eat when you’re hungry, but don’t wait until you’re hungry (and don’t skip meals).
- Eat slowly and note the different flavors you taste with each bite.
- Use all your senses taking into account the color, smell, taste and texture of food.
- Take smaller bites.
- Chew each bite completely before swallowing (experts recommend chewing 20-40 times per bite).
To practice mindful eating, pay attention to the different colors, textures, smells, and flavors of your meal.
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How is mindful eating different from intuitive eating?
Although some may use these terms interchangeably, there are key differences between mindful eating and intuitive eating. “Mindfulness really boils down to a sensory experience with food,” Gaviria said, “whereas intuitive eating encompasses a broader field of [the] diet setting, where you notice your hunger cues before entering a meal. You take into account factors in your day related to how much food you’re going to eat and so on.” He added: “Intuitive eating is also about respecting the body and noticing how you feel about your body and appreciating it no matter what it looks like.”
Gaviria emphasizes that context really matters with intuitive eating. An example would be a situation in which a mother eats a light dinner before her child’s football game, even though she is not really hungry at the time. She knows she will be away from home and unable to eat for several hours, which will prevent her from overeating later. It could also include an athlete who eats before or after a workout to fuel their physical activity or to recover. It just goes beyond the sensory element of mindfulness and takes into account your whole day and its impact on eating habits.
The bottom line
Centering yourself is always important to get through the chaos of everyday life, and mindful eating can help. Being distracted during meals can lead to both overeating and undereating, so it’s crucial to pay attention and make sure we’re fueling our bodies in a way that makes us feel good.
Mindful eating is not about losing weight or eating less, but about refocusing our experience with food, or as Bunich put it: “It’s a great tool in the toolbox for connecting and healing a relationship with food.
More for your diet
The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical or health advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have about a medical condition or health goals.
