Imagine…..
Arriving at a table of delicious food prepared with the dishes you love. You take the time to scan the table, noticing the array of foods, colours, preparation, the smells, textures and anticipating the flavour of each food before you sit down to eat.
You sit at the table and take a plate, fill it with a selection of dishes that are tasting portion sizes and slowly beginning to eat. Curiously tasting each food and noticing the vast flavours you like and experiencing the exciting moment as if it’s the first time you’ve eaten such foods, slowly savouring each bite.
Is this how you approach eating food? Awesome if you do!
Most of us are mindless eaters!
We eat on autopilot rarely looking at the food we’re eating and barely tasting it before it disappears from our plate into our belly. This happens because we are:
Mentally and physically bombarded by many foods 24/7.
Hopelessly distracted by our thoughts, emotions or engaged in media content while we’re eating such as TV, computer (if its on) or reading the newspaper, magazine, or a book.
Ignore looking, smelling, feeling, tasting, or taking time to enjoy food.
Disconnected from our body signals of hunger, fullness and emotions.
This approach to eating can cause acid reflux or heartburn which can lead to Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) , a common digestive illness that invites other serious digestive problems such as IBS, celiac, diverticulitis, Overeating generates bloating and gas that perpetuates habits of stomach extension and overstressing the body’s ability to naturally digest the natural nutrient cycle of macronutrients familiar to the digestive tract for keeping the body in balance. As a result, other illnesses such as IBS, Crohn, Celiac, diverticulitis, diabetes and other autoimmune diseases can occur.
Eating mindfully with intention, naturally triggers the signals for the nervous system to move into parasympathetic for resting and digesting.
I’ve written humorous articles on mindful eating for the past six years. Personally, I find it the hardest thing to master. Which is why I created the course FEED THE BRAIN: A Mindful Eating Approach to Nourish the Body, Heart and Mind.
Why is it called Feed the Brain? The brain’s limbic system first triggers the brain involved in behavioural and emotional responses. Especially when it comes to behaviours we need for survival such as the fight or flight response, feedings, reproduction and caring for the young. The limbic system activates the senses to think and stimulate the hormone Ghrelin to inform the body to feel hunger. Once eating, other hormones are released to digest the food. The brain overrides much of our habits for eating. You can self-regulate your habits with a mindful practice.
Calming the mind before eating is a fundamental step to tapping into hunger and knowing what your body needs. The same goes for fullness after eating when the hormone leptin kicks in to tell you you’ve had enough. It’s all in the body waiting for us to listen.
Here are seven ways to calm the mind:
Take a few minutes before sitting down aa the table to do a breathing meditation or a combined breath and movement exercise before coming to the table.
Sit down at the table, your feet are grounded on the floor, your breath is soft and take three deep breaths. You can close your eyes if you wish.
Check in and reflect how hungry are you. (View this chart of the Ten Levels of Hunger To Fullness). It will determined how slow or fast you’ll devour your food.
Eat slowly…. Concentrate on the food you’re eating without going into autopilot.
Chew, taking smaller bites and putting down your fork or spoon between bites. Chew your food well.
Connect to your senses of the eyes, ears, nose, hands, mouth, stomach and heart. Enjoy food like you’re an expert foodie tasting with curiosity and awareness.
Before sitting down at the table, visualize the meal as described above and throughout the meal regularly check your hunger and full sensations.
In FEED THE BRAIN, you learn about how these body signals work to keep you on track with mindful eating. From the study, Psychological Flexibility and Mindfulness Explain Intuitive Eating in Overweight Adults, mindfulness skills such as acting with awareness, observing, and non-reacting—explains how reliance on hunger/satiety cues helps with self- regulation processes, underlying eating behavior and diminishing depression symptoms.
Imagine how good you’ll feel when you savour the quality of foods by their taste, smell, beauty and satisfaction, everyday!
Sign up for FEED THE BRAIN here. Session beings when six people are enrolled.