Mindful Eating

Are you interested in learning more about how to enjoy your food, take control of your cravings, and avoid mindless-overeating?

The key is Mindful Eating

Mindful eating means giving your full attention to the food that you eat and to how you are eating it. This includes becoming aware of when and why you are eating and doing so with the intention of taking good care of yourself. This involves 3 steps:

• Accepting yourself and the food you are going to eat
• Being present in the moment, and thinking about what you are eating instead of getting distracted by other things
• Avoiding negative self-judgment

Read about mindfulness meditation.

How can you start eating mindfully and decrease over-eating?

There are some tips that help to eat mindfully that may lead you to enjoy your food more, make healthier choices and limit the quantity of food consumed.

1. Always sit to eat
2. Before starting a meal, give yourself some time to notice and appreciate the colours, the texture and the smell of the food that is on your plate.
3. When you take the first bite notice the different flavours and textures of the food and how it changes in your mouth as you chew it
4. Chew each bite between 20 and 40 times
5. Put your fork and knife down between bites and take a deep breath
6. Smile between bites and feel grateful for the pleasure of the bite you just had

Adapted by Dr. Silvina Galperin from Susan Albers’ presentation at The Mindfulness Summit, October 6, 2015

Additional Reading:

• • Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
  • Mindfulness Meditation Resources