Can Mindful Eating Fix all my Problems?
I'm refraining from using a sassy line right here.
When I was in school studying nutrition, mindful eating was all the rage. I remember reading a book with a green apple on it and thinking it was going to change everything about nutrition counseling. Mindful eating was the solution to all of your woes about overeating/mindless eating/binge eating/ eating foods you feel guilty about eating. If you can just pay attention and be present while eating, you will never have a past comfortably full tummy again. In my early nutrition years, this felt like a win, win win (the office, anyone?). I have a feeling that at least one person reading this today has had a similar thought. Commonly, I hear phrases such as “If I can just pay better attention while I’m eating and not get distracted, I will be able to make better food choices and finally see the changes I want to see”.
Fast forward to today, and this is the exact beef I have with mindful eating. It gets positioned as just another way to diet, but with really wholesome packaging. It pulls from religion and cultures that utilize mindfulness… which is the “it’s not a diet, it’s wellness” flair that seems to bamboozle the best of us. But it’s also that background that makes me wish we could utilize it more effectively and helpfully. So that’s where we’re going to head right now.
Mindful eating doesn’t have to be just another way to diet, but in so many articles pushing for this eating style, the primary benefit listed is eating less. If you’re wondering to yourself, “Am I dieting when I try to eat mindfully?”, here’s a little checklist to see if your pursuit of mindfulness is actually a diet in disguise.
I feel guilty when I feel full, or even past my comfortable fullness.
I believe that mindful eating will prevent me from eating snack foods or highly palatable foods.
I limit my food intake first and then use mindfulness to see if I really need to eat more.
Mindfulness remains in your head because checking in with your body while eating is highly uncomfortable.
You feel upset if you don’t notice body changes or “better” food choices when you are trying to eat mindfully.
In a world of body shame and food guilt, it’s not crazy to have a complex relationship with food or to search for an answer to how and what to eat. Overall, mindful eating can be a supportive tool to use when we’re re-learning how to compassionately and intuitively feed ourselves. I think the most important part is that it remains a tool and not a rule.
Self-awareness is the first piece of this tool. Building internal awareness is a tough business and can be incredibly uncomfortable in the beginning. We start this mindfulness journey by being aware of ourselves, not aware of the food. Having awareness of our hunger cues, our emotions, our vulnerabilities, and our body image informs how we are showing up to the meal. It gives us some insight into the influences impacting our hunger, our cravings, and how our body might have some opinions in the moment. Using these internal cues gives us the information to make informed choices about food and eating. This information can provide some nuance as well - having low hunger cues could be a sign of fullness, or it could be a physical manifestation of anxiety or other big emotions. Self-awareness is a tool to explore how to take care of ourselves with eating without relying solely on one piece of information.
Food awareness is our second component. Hunger and fullness cues can be incredibly intricate, giving us different signals even among types of foods that we might desire or not desire. Have you ever heard the awful advice “if you aren’t hungry for an apple, you aren’t that hungry”? There are so many reasons I hate that particular adage, but most of all, it promotes distrust in our bodies. It’s okay to have variety in your cravings and hunger cues. It’s also okay to lean into the ways that your body is communicating you, seeing these cues as data and information to learn from. As we eat food, having awareness of what is on our plate and how we are feeling about it gives our body a chance to further communicate with us. You’re allowed to feel full on your broccoli, but still be craving more pasta. It is normal to feel full from your meal, but still want a little dessert after you’re done. Variety is necessary to have a well-rounded intake of nutrients, so forcing ourselves to eat specific foods and reduce others can displace the balance our body craves.
Being present is the piece of this framework that can be the hardest to sit with. Our 21st-century minds are accustomed to distraction and stimulus throughout most of our days. If we are also feeling some type of way about eating food, sitting in the presence of those feelings and sensations is going to be pretty uncomfortable. Thankfully, being present doesn’t have to be any one particular thing. I typically recommend trying to be mindful/present at three times in your meal - the beginning, the middle, and the end. As we build tolerance for being present in our mind and bodies while eating, we can add check-ins into our meal in a way that feels natural. Eating alone may offer more opportunities to be truly present, while eating with others makes it more challenging. And it should be more challenging because you are being present in conversation, connection, and friendship - all things that are just as health-promoting as having a good relationship with food.
Speaking of eating with others, there are appropriate times to be distracted while eating. My personal favorite is when I’m sharing a meal with someone else and I’m more engaged in our conversation than with every bite of food I put in my mouth. Distraction is also an important skill for people who are new to an eating recovery journey if hyper-awareness of the eating experience feels triggering. If mindfulness is a tool, let’s use it appropriately and know when its opposite is going to be the more helpful choice. If mindless eating (or distracted eating) is a skill you need to adequately feed your body, try listening to a podcast, watching a TV show, playing a great playlist, or using conversation cards with those you are eating with. A reminder that eating food is always preferable to not getting enough, even if it means using skills that don’t look like the “right” way to eat.
If, after reading this, you have some interest in trying out different methods of exploring mindful eating, here are my favorites! Each of these should be used as an experiment, not as a way of trying to eat regularly. The goal is to see what comes up, what you notice, how it feels - not to overwhelm you or become the new “right” way of eating.
Silent meal - no talking, no noise, just you and your food.
Journal while eating - take the extra time to write down what comes up for you while eating.
Be a food critic when you sit down at the table - use neutral descriptors to describe your food in as much detail as possible. Notice which words you have personal judgment toward.
Divide your meal in half when you sit down - after you finish the first half, take a 5-minute break before finishing what you are still hungry for.
Start your meal with deep breathing, a body scan, or a guided meditation - get into your body and see what is coming up for you before you start eating.
Set regular check-ins for yourself - use a timer or the clock to see if you can check in with your body and brain more regularly as you eat.
Time your bites - this is a tough one and not for those struggling with counting bites or rigidity. Set a timer for 30-45 seconds and take one bite each time the timer goes off. This will slow down your pace and bring greater awareness to each bite.
Eat “in the round” - take 1-2 bites of one food on your plate before moving to another. Try to eat around your plate instead of eating one food at a time.
Eat with your non-dominant hand - see how it feels to have to focus on each bite and not have the process come naturally.
Eat in a different space in your house or outside - it can shift our awareness when we put ourselves outside of our normal eating routine.
There isn’t a single topic I will write about where the goal isn’t nuance and flexibility. While mindful (and mindless!) eating has its benefits, it can become rigid and unhelpful if used to control what and how we eat. If you are already a mindful eating expert, it might be time to see if you can notice what comes up for you when you can’t be as mindful. As always, I’m here if you want to leave any questions in the comments!