BLOG

Transformative Coaching Journey: Life, Executive, Spiritual, and High-Flow - Discover Your Path  

14 Ways to Eat More Mindfully

14 Ways to Eat More Mindfully

July 28, 20247 min read

Mindful eating involves paying attention to the complete experience of eating, including what is happening inside your body, mind, and the world around you. 

Eating mindfully makes you aware of how different foods impact your body, mind, and well-being. To start mindful eating, check out these 14 mindful eating strategies.

1.     Mindfully Imagine Your Future Self

It turns out that when we imagine things, the brain attempts to simulate the responses that would occur if these situations happened. Playing out future scenarios can help us feel more like this future is actual or possible. We can apply this strategy to our food life by imagining how our future self will feel once we eat mindfully and have a healthier relationship with food.

2.     Reflect on Your Reasons for Mindful Eating

If you decide to pursue a mindful eating practice, first reflect on why you are doing it. Are you doing it because you want to truly understand what your body needs, explore what nourishes you, and make changes that fundamentally change your relationship with food?

If so, then your goals are aligned with the powerful benefits of mindful eating, and you are likely to be more successful using this strategy.

3.     Remove Addictive Foods to Better Hear the Body's Voice

Sometimes, our food addictions—especially to sugar, caffeine, and alcohol, but sometimes also to dairy, carbs, and chocolate—scream louder than our hunger, nutrient deficiencies, and food intolerances. So when we try to eat mindfully, we hear—candy, candy!

When our addictions are constantly screaming, it is all we can hear. That is why, to get the full benefit of mindful eating—and possibly any benefit—we first need to remove addictive foods, such as programs like Whole30.

4.     Try Food-Focused Mindful Meditation

To start opening the lines of communication with your body, it can be helpful to do a short, food-focused mindful meditation periodically. To start, sit silently for a few minutes with your eyes closed. Visualize a variety of different foods in your mind. Then, pause to reflect on how that food feels in your body.

Because our imagination is so powerful, this practice can give clues about the foods your body desires and guide your choices when beginning your mindful eating practice.

5.     When Choosing Food, Ask Your Body What It Needs

Before you eat or even cook, ask your body what it needs. You can do this by using your senses when selecting food.

For example, take extra time at the grocery store to look at and smell each food you buy. Your body might react strongly, positively or negatively, to the smell, sight, touch, or taste of particular foods (although I recommend you taste food only after purchasing it).

6.     Prepare for Each Meal by Calming the Body

Stress can cause our digestive processes to go haywire, preventing us from identifying the specific foods our body wants and does not want. That is why calming the body before eating is so important.

Play relaxing music to calm the body before each meal and mellow your nervous system. The earlier you start to calm your body before eating, the better. So, if you are cooking dinner, make a habit of playing calm music while you cook. Alternatively, if you pick up fast food on the way home, listen to calming music during your commute.

7.     Pause for a Mindful Moment When Beginning Each Meal

When you sit down with your food, take a few long, deep breaths and reflect on which types of hunger you are currently feeling:

      Eye Hunger: Did you see food and then want to eat?

      Nose Hunger: Did you smell food and then want to eat?

      Ear Hunger: Did you hear food cooking or being eaten and then want to eat?

      Mouth Hunger: Did you taste food and want to eat more?

      Stomach Hunger: Did your stomach feel empty or growl and then want to eat?

      Mind Hunger: Did you realize it was a specific time of day or that you "should" eat more of a particular food and then want to eat?

      Emotional Hunger: Did you feel sad, lonely, or anxious and then want to eat?

      Cellular Hunger: Did you get an intuitive craving for a specific food and then want to eat?

8.     Eat Mindfully and Kind-Fully

If you are eating with others, keep the conversation upbeat and avoid discussing the day's stresses, disagreements, or other social problems until you have finished eating (preferably while digesting). Moreover, avoid watching anything stressful, exciting, or invigorating on TV (no TV at all is best). By taking these steps, you ensure your parasympathetic nervous system can focus entirely on digestion.

9.     Take a Mindful Pause After a Few Bites

Stop and take a mindful pause after eating a few bites of your food—enough to ensure that the food has reached your stomach and the digestive process has begun.

During this mindful pause, listen to your body to see if you can experience how it receives the food. Pay attention to tummy rumbling, sweating, tiredness, nasal congestion, tingling, goosebumps, or other bodily sensations.

10. Be Mindful About Each Bite

To stay mindful as you eat, ask yourself questions to experience the meal entirely. For example, ask yourself: Is it warm or cold? Is it savory or salty? Is it crunchy or soft?

Explore even further by seeing if you can identify the exact flavors. Ask yourself: What herbs or spices are in this food? Can you tell if the food has any added sugar or salt? Are there other ingredients you can identify?

Next, explore the food emotionally. Does eating this food evoke any emotions? If so, dig deeper and see if you can figure out why.

11. Take a Mindful Pause Sometime Mid-Meal

About halfway through your meal, pause and reflect. Ask yourself the following questions: How is your body feeling now? Are you feeling nourished? Are you feeling full? Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers.

12. Reflect Mindfully at the End of Your Meal

Once you stop eating, whether mid-meal, when your plate is empty, or after eating several helpings and desserts (no judgment!), take a moment to reflect on the entire eating experience. Start by asking yourself out loud or in your head if each of the eight types of hunger (Eye, nose, ear, mouth, stomach, mind, emotional, and cellular) has been satisfied.

13. Be Present with Mindless Eating Habits

Emotional hunger, in particular, can be difficult to satisfy with any food. As a result, emotional hunger often leads us to continue eating mindlessly, hoping to stop our sadness, anxiety, or shame.

However, once we identify a mindless eating pattern like this, we can work through it with mindfulness. Pause and stay present with your experience, even if it is uncomfortable. Do not push the feelings away. Just be with them for as long as it takes for them to dissipate on their own.

14. Mindfully Explore Cellular Hunger and Micronutrients

Our cells may cry out for essential nutrients (such as Iron, Iodine, Vitamin D, B-12, Calcium, Vitamin A, and Magnesium). However, when we continue to eat the same foods we would typically eat, nothing changes in our body, so we might not get the message.

To mindfully explore cellular hunger, try eating many new or different foods. If that food nourishes your cells and body, you may feel your body scream, "Yes! More of that! Thank you!"

Other times, you may notice delayed changes in your body—for example, maybe you no longer experience an afternoon slump or evening headaches. Try to notice the effects, even if they are subtle.

In Summary

Eating mindfully requires effort and a willingness to be aware, open, and accepting. However, with this new skill, you can better identify what nourishes your mind, body, and soul.

Back to Blog

Want to have a Growth Mindset?

886-779-3888

info@theelevatedintelligence.com

www.theelevatedintelligence.com

elevated intelligence logo

Copyright 2024 . All rights reserved