Sept 18 Weekly Challenge: Mindful Eating
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themedalist
Posts: 3,212 Member
Theme: Healthy Eating
Challenge: Mindful Eating
Our challenge this week is to practice mindful eating at least one meal a day. Since mindful eating is a term that has gained popularity recently but can have lots of different connotations, let's start with a definition:
This week, let's focus on really paying attention when we eat. Let's notice why, when, and how we eat. Let's be fully present during mealtimes and let's get more enjoyment from our food!
Mindful eating can be one of the keys to losing weight or maintaining a weight-loss and it's also a useful technique in recovering from many eating disorders. Mindful eating is a flexible and adaptable practice. There is no right way or wrong way to eat mindfully. It's up to you. Experiment this week and see what works best for you.
This Week's Challenge: Using the guidelines in the resources below, choose at least one meal a day to focus on mindful eating. Take your time eating and enjoy the experience!
Wednesday Check-in: Look for the updates post this Wednesday. Please post any frustrations, suggestions, or questions you may have for our group. We can all learn from each other!
Make it a great week!
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Suggested Resources:
9 Simple Tricks to Eat More Mindfully — Starting Now
http://dailyburn.com/life/health/mindful-eating-tips-weight-loss/
Mindful Eating: 5 Easy Tips to Get Started
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/mindful-eating-tips_n_3941528.html
6 Ways to Practice Mindful Eating
https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-practice-mindful-eating/
Free Mindful Eating Resources:
https://megrette.com/free-appetizers/
Megrette Fletcher is a Registered Dietician and diabetes educator and the cofounder of The Center for Mindful Eating. She is also the author of several books on Mindful Eating. You can get 3 free e-books on Mindful Eating as well as access to the Center's free weekly e-newsletter, Food for Thought, from the link above.
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Challenge: Mindful Eating
Our challenge this week is to practice mindful eating at least one meal a day. Since mindful eating is a term that has gained popularity recently but can have lots of different connotations, let's start with a definition:
"Mindful eating involves paying full attention to the experience of eating and drinking, both inside and outside the body. We pay attention to the colors, smells, textures, flavors, temperatures, and even the sounds (crunch!) of our food. We pay attention to the experience of the body. Where in the body do we feel hunger? Where do we feel satisfaction? What does half-full feel like, or three quarters full?
We also pay attention to the mind. While avoiding judgement or criticism, we watch when the mind gets distracted, pulling away from full attention to what we are eating or drinking. We watch the impulses that arise after we've taken a few sips or bites: to grab a book, to turn on the TV, to call someone on our cell phone, or to do web search on some interesting subject. We notice the impulse and return to just eating.
We notice how eating affects our mood and how our emotions like anxiety influence our eating. Gradually we regain the sense of ease and freedom with eating that we had in childhood. It is our natural birthright.
The old habits of eating and not paying attention are not easy to change. Don't try to make drastic changes. Lasting change takes time, and is built on many small changes. We start simply."
--Jan Chozen Bays, MD, author of Mindful Eating
This week, let's focus on really paying attention when we eat. Let's notice why, when, and how we eat. Let's be fully present during mealtimes and let's get more enjoyment from our food!
Mindful eating can be one of the keys to losing weight or maintaining a weight-loss and it's also a useful technique in recovering from many eating disorders. Mindful eating is a flexible and adaptable practice. There is no right way or wrong way to eat mindfully. It's up to you. Experiment this week and see what works best for you.
This Week's Challenge: Using the guidelines in the resources below, choose at least one meal a day to focus on mindful eating. Take your time eating and enjoy the experience!
Wednesday Check-in: Look for the updates post this Wednesday. Please post any frustrations, suggestions, or questions you may have for our group. We can all learn from each other!
Make it a great week!
...............................................................................................
Suggested Resources:
9 Simple Tricks to Eat More Mindfully — Starting Now
http://dailyburn.com/life/health/mindful-eating-tips-weight-loss/
Mindful Eating: 5 Easy Tips to Get Started
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/mindful-eating-tips_n_3941528.html
6 Ways to Practice Mindful Eating
https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-practice-mindful-eating/
Free Mindful Eating Resources:
https://megrette.com/free-appetizers/
Megrette Fletcher is a Registered Dietician and diabetes educator and the cofounder of The Center for Mindful Eating. She is also the author of several books on Mindful Eating. You can get 3 free e-books on Mindful Eating as well as access to the Center's free weekly e-newsletter, Food for Thought, from the link above.
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Great challenge! I plan to follow this challenge this week. I have been feeling miserable and I know my food intake has a lot to do with it. Good luck everyone.6
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Super excited for this one! I have a tendency to keep food by my bed(I do a lot of writing and things while sitting up in bed) and just grab and eat without even thinking about it. I also eat in the middle of the night, when the cat wakes me up for food or I have to use the bathroom. So this challenge is definitely something I need and am going to try my best to stick to.6
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what a great challenge this is definitely something I struggle with not really being aware of what I am eating or how much somedays I do great but others not so well..5
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@prgirl39mfp, @HGSmith0920, and @sandra8841, I'm happy to hear that you're excited about this challenge...so am I! As I read up on the topic, I realized that mindful eating can be as simple or as intricate as someone wants. Simply eating more slowly and tasting and enjoying meals is eating mindfully. And that's where I'm going to start!3
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Yesterday I was out celebrating my son's bday. We went out to eat. I had bread and sweet tea, which were my indulgences, and I ordered a small size steak and lots, lots of veggies and a small salad. I did not feel guilty but do understand that if I already had the bread and tea I needed to be mindful that the rest of the meal needed to be as healthy as possible.
Work in progress!!5 -
I'm trying to be mindful one meal a day this week. Yesterday, I paid special attention to breakfast, and it is always a great meal. Even though morning always is a bit rushed, I make a point of sitting down with my husband and slowing down. I have the same thing pretty much every weekday: breakfast quiche casserole, a piece of fruit, and coffee. All of it is delicious. I just started adding pepper to my quiche, and on Monday I really enjoyed the way it perks up the flavor. The fruit at this time of year is amazing. This week I have had peaches, and oh my!! such deliciousness! I try to say something out loud when my food is yummy because it is a way to reward the cook (even if it is me, or maybe especially if it is for me) and it is a reminder to be grateful for the bounty we enjoy.5
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I did not manage to stay consistent with this and do it once a day so it is definitely something I plan to continue trying to add to my day. It has been a great challenge and surprisingly much harder for me than logging food.
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sandra8841 wrote: »I did not manage to stay consistent with this and do it once a day so it is definitely something I plan to continue trying to add to my day. It has been a great challenge and surprisingly much harder for me than logging food.
@sandra8841, mindful eating is challenging. There is so much that goes through our heads that it's hard to push back and just focus entirely on eating. Like you, I'm going to continue to work at this. I know I'll get better at it and it will become more habitual the more I practice.1 -
sandra8841 wrote: »I did not manage to stay consistent with this and do it once a day so it is definitely something I plan to continue trying to add to my day. It has been a great challenge and surprisingly much harder for me than logging food.
I also have to continue trying to be mindful one meal a day. I failed miserably at this. I tend to eat breakfast and lunch at my desk at work and it's never quiet or uninterrupted. So I thought I would start with supper. The problem I run into is that (1) my husband cannot eat a meal or be in a room without a television on. I just want it to be quiet because I'm trying to de-stress, but he insists on having it on all the time. (2) I seem to either be so hungry by the time I get home that I can't shovel it in fast enough, or I can't wait to get up from the table and go into another room where it is quiet (maybe combo of both?).
So, I'm trying again tonight at dinner. Not sure how I will handle it yet, but I am going to keep trying.1 -
OConnell5483 wrote: »sandra8841 wrote: »I did not manage to stay consistent with this and do it once a day so it is definitely something I plan to continue trying to add to my day. It has been a great challenge and surprisingly much harder for me than logging food.
I also have to continue trying to be mindful one meal a day. I failed miserably at this. I tend to eat breakfast and lunch at my desk at work and it's never quiet or uninterrupted. So I thought I would start with supper. The problem I run into is that (1) my husband cannot eat a meal or be in a room without a television on. I just want it to be quiet because I'm trying to de-stress, but he insists on having it on all the time. (2) I seem to either be so hungry by the time I get home that I can't shovel it in fast enough, or I can't wait to get up from the table and go into another room where it is quiet (maybe combo of both?).
So, I'm trying again tonight at dinner. Not sure how I will handle it yet, but I am going to keep trying.
It sounds like for most of us, mindful eating is going to be a work in progress. It's also possible that mindful eating is just one of those things that doesn't work given our schedule or routine. I think it's good to try and see if it's workable or not.0
