Mindful Eating

 Mindless Munching or Mindful Eating?

Published on June 21, 2012 by fitnfree in Food Fitness

Mindless Munching

It seems our society has refined the art of mindless eating as it grows ever busier and less connected to food preparation. Mindless eating is when people are not paying attention when they are eating. They look down at an empty plate or a bag of cookies and ask, “Where did it go?”

People are eating on the run without tasting food; without an awareness of what they are putting into their mouths. By buying prepared foods, people are putting less personal preparation into it. Even when you make a simple sandwich there is a level of awareness and appreciation for the food. What’s the downside to mindless eating? Experts believe that it may be contributing to our nation’s obesity problem, which increases the risk for chronic diseases.

Mindful Eating

A new concept called mindful eating draws upon the recognized practice of mindfulness-based stress reduction, which helps people focus on the present moment rather than continuing habitual and unsatisfying behaviors.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction has been shown to improve pain, anxiety, and depression. Building upon this strategy, mindful eating practices promote a satisfying relationship with food and eating on a deep emotional level and encourage a better sense of well being. There is a physical awareness of the food; the taste, smell, texture and how it feels traveling to your belly.
You can expand that awareness to observations like who grew the food, how it was packaged, where it comes from and who prepared it. Will it work? Jury is out… Visit tcme.org for more information.

How To Eat Mindfully

Mindfulness instructor Tim Kiely of Discovering Your Balance shows Rick Heller how to eat chocolate mindfully.
When eating mindfully, one eats slowly and with exquisite attention to food. The taste of food becomes more intense when you pay attention to it.
Slowing down the pace of food consumption is goal of the Slow Food Movement and can help prevent the overeating that leads to obesity.

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Tomorrow I will post on mindless eating and midnight snacking, how to curb and control it.