Mindful Eating

How do you approach eating? It is a numbers game? Do you have shame around the foods you eat? Do you barely think about what you’re actually putting in your mouth?

Everyone has a unique relationship to food, one that can be challenging to change. If you are looking to change the way you eat, it is likely because there is something else that needs improved: your weight, your muscle mass, your insulin sensitivity, etc. For type A people, tracking calories and macros can be a fun little game, and for Type B people that can lead to increased stress. Mindful eating is a tool that can help all of you Type B’s out there, without adding extra stress.

As a nutritionist, I can give those Type A people the numbers they need to meet for optimal health. Yet, I am a Type B person and have found mindful eating to be much more effective, without adding extra stress.

With mindful eating, you aren’t tracking specific macronutrients, weighing food, or counting calories. Instead, you are tuning into what your body needs and is asking for each time you’re hungry.

The first step is sorting out your hunger and satiety signals. These signals aren’t as black and white as it may sound on the surface. When babies are born, they are great at knowing when they are hungry and when they are no longer hungry (often not full as adults think about it). But as babies grow up they are taught to ignore their hunger signals in favor of external signals such as the time and how much food is on their plate. Did you ever get pressured into being in the “clean plate club?” That is encouraging a person to ignore their body’s full signal. And many other things can interfere as well such as trauma, disordered eating, emotional stress, and eating ultra-processed foods. Re-learning what true hunger feels like may take some practice. You can start by taking 3 deep breaths every time you feel hungry and asking yourself these 3 questions:

“Am I truly hungry?”

“How hungry am I?”

“What would make me feel good right now, and still feel good in an hour?”

Such a powerful pause before eating. You may be bored and not actually hungry, and the pause gave you the space to realize that so you can go do something else. Perhaps it is dinner time but you’re only a little bit hungry so don’t want a dinner sized portion. And perhaps the most important question: what would make you feel good? There are so many foods out there that taste good, and you enjoy in the moment, but an hour later you feel sluggish, tired, maybe even bloated or experiencing acid reflux. What could you eat that would sustain your energy and have you feeling healthy?

Mindful eating isn’t about creating rules. In the beginning there may be some parameters to stay within as you learn to sort through the signals and cravings you may be having, but in the long run it will give you the freedom to eat what you want, when you want. The key here is that what you want will have shifted to be in alignment with what makes you feel good, which is often healthy, whole foods that nourish your body and soul.