Mindful eating

Mindful eating is the idea based on Buddhist principles of intuition. The main goal is to reconnect with physical cues surrounding eating, rather than emotional cues. Physical cues are also known as hunger cues: feelings of hunger, fullness, and feeling neutral. Eating behaviors, mealtime environments, and eating attitudes can have a greater influence on what you eat than you may think. Eating mindfully is practiced by savoring, exploring the senses, and consuming foods with a conscious intention to reach fullness. Using all your senses includes sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. To eat mindfully it is paramount to focus on a single task. Eat slowly and focus your attention on food.

There are six steps to create the optimal mindful eating environment.

Create a space for mindful eating. This means no computers, no phone, no work, and not at your desk.

Put the item of food in front of you and consider it. Look at it, notice the color, texture, imperfections and the smell of the food.

Think about where the food came from. Look at the sticker. Who grew it? Where did it come from? Is it from a different continent? Who picked it? Be grateful for how the food got in front of you today.

Taste the food. Savor it … one bite at a time. What is the texture like? Is it soft, juicy, or citrusy? How does it feel to you? What nutrients is it giving you?

Assess how you feel when you eat it. Are you hungry, full, or not very hungry or full? Pause between bites. Stay with each bite at a time and savor it. You do not have to finish it, however you can if you would like.

Emotions are naturally evoked when we are eating. Common emotions are fulfillment, excitement, nervousness, anxiousness, satisfaction, and completeness. Another key element of mindful eating is to stretch the experience as long as possible. This results in an increased taste, decreased consumption, fun, gratitude toward food and your body; and also leads to the enjoyment of foods, and limiting regret and fear of new foods.

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Samantha Worden is a senior in the University of Idaho Coordinated Program in Dietetics.