Faded Jeans Living

Mindful eating focuses on being fully present during meals without overcomplicating the process. There are no strict rules or diets; instead, you rely on your awareness to guide your eating habits. By following this approach, you naturally become more attuned to your body’s needs, making it easier to make healthier choices without the stress of counting calories or adhering to rigid guidelines.

When I first read the “brochures,” I thought, “Right on, that sounds simple enough.” However, after over 30 days, I’m discovering that mindful eating isn’t so simple for me. I’ve been on again, off again with mindful eating—mostly off. To determine my next steps, I’ll shed some light on what’s been tripping me up by walking through the mindful eating process as outlined in the book below.

This might seem like I’m being way too hard on myself, but for me, this process of honestly examining my actions leads to insights, new actions, and hopefully, growth.

From: Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: A Mindful Eating Program to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle by Michelle May, M.D.

Create a pleasant environment
No problems here. Well, now that I think of it, there have been many times I haven’t cleared off items I’ve piled up on the table.

Minimize distractions
Taking away my iPad as entertainment while I eat alone has been brutal. It sounds simple, but the actual action is hard to experience for some reason. It’s deathly quiet …my mind tells me,

Sit down
I’ve caught myself pulling leftovers from the fridge and eating them cold while leaning against the kitchen counter, talking to my dog, Alice. Most of the time, it’s when I’m in a rush…or too lazy to warm it up and sit down.

Purchase, prepare, or serve only the amount of food you think you’ll need
I do pretty well with this when I purchase and prepare food myself. It’s when I order delivery that things go off the rails. This often happens when I’m stressed, and my ego says, “Screw it!”

Create a speed bump
This is an interesting one. When you’re at a restaurant and don’t have control of the portions, divide your plate at a “speed bump” where you think you might want to stop. This works well for me on my breakfast club mornings.

Center yourself
I’m about 50/50 on taking some time to calm down before I eat.

Express gratitude
When I remember to center myself, this flows naturally.

Look at your food
I haven’t been doing this.

Taste your favorite first
Well, yes, no problem here.

Put your fork down
I haven’t been practicing this enough. My monkey mind takes over, and I end up shoveling down several bites.

Stay connected
When I center myself, this flows.

Take small bites
Not so great on this one—needs work.

Appreciate the occasion
When I center myself, this flows.

Enjoy your food
This area could use some work too—meaning I need to do a better job of choosing food that actually tastes good compared to something that’s just easy.

Okay, there you have it. This session for today is complete, and what I’ve taken away from this exercise is that if I start off by centering myself before eating, everything else may just falls into place.

How will I center myself?
Glad you asked. Here’s your sign. I’ll start off by placing this 3×5 card on my table with each of these items outlined above.

Peace,

Dwight 🦋