Health knowledge made personal
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Shifting Toward Mindfulness
You know that eating in front of the TV will allow you to not be accountable—you won’t have to acknowledge how much or what you’ve just eaten. (For many of my anorectic patients this distracted eating is invaluable, quite beneficial at first, as it enables you to begin to eat without focusing so much on the food. It’s just what you may need to do). If you don’t fully use your senses as described above, then there’s less fear you’ll enjoy the food so much you’ll be unable to stop eating.
 In these situations, not being
present while eating may work like a dream. Detaching and eating may seem like
just the answer.
But ultimately, this will fail you.
Mindful eating requires more than mindfulness of the setting and of the food.
Self-regulation for weight management requires awareness—of hunger and of fullness. Eating enough is not based solely on the calories—but on satisfaction, on the experience and pleasure of eating. If you’re underweight and struggling to gain, maybe mindless eating is a helpful short-term strategy. Ultimately, though, you will feel more in control if you are aware of your intake. And, if you begin to allow yourself to truly enjoy eating. Ask yourself –Is it hunger—true stomach hunger, or just an appetite to eat? Is it your reward for a hard day? An “I deserve it” of sorts? Is it punishment for “blowing it” or other self-sabotage? Is it “I’ll eat this because nobody can see me, because I can”, so called opportunistic eating? It requires awareness of eating triggers that we’d generally rather not address. It seems so Zen, so easy in this NY Times article, but it takes a major shift to eat mindfully. To approach mindful eating, you need to ask yourself a few questions. Not just “Am I hungry?” an essential first step, but “What am I looking for this food to do?” And when you do eat without regard to hunger or fullness you need to ask yourself, “Did this work for me—beyond the moment? Or am I left feeling as bad, or worse than I did before I started eating?” Then next time you’re about to eat, think first about the consequence of eating mindlessly. Will it really be worth it, worth the distress afterwards, to mindlessly overeat?  Mindful eating is
achievable and worth striving for. But a necessary prerequisite is being
adequately fed—avoiding long periods without eating, and being prepared with
adequate meals and snacks. You’ll be in much better shape for tackling those
vulnerable times when mindless eating occurs. |
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