Mindful eating: to feel what you eat

Eating has always been an important part of our daily life. We spend quite a few hours for eating. However, the fast-paced society make it less significant. In fact, we usually multitask while eating – we read a book, we check our phones, or we even work. The question is then proposed: When was the last time we fully focused on our eating?

Mindful eating is the action of being fully attentive towards eating. Mindfulness is a meditation technique starting from Buddhism. It means to focus and appreciate on the present of the individuals – the thoughts, the feelings, and the sensations. This technique can actually be apply to our eating, which help control the experience.

Mindful eating has been suggested to have some benefits. By paying full attention to your own eating experience, you can recognize your hunger, whether it is physical or emotional. Moreover, the act of fast-paced, mindlessness eating may prevent you from realize fullness; therefore, eating mindfully may help with signaling fullness. These benefits are directly associated with improvement in emotional eating (eating because of stress and emotion), external eating (eating because of environmental factors such as advertisement), or binge eating (eating without control or limitation in one sitting). All of these habits are linked to weight gain, so mindful eating also helps with weight management.

Simple steps can be taken to develop mindful eating. Start with removing any possible distractions – TV, cellphone, laptop, book. Then practice eating slowly and chewing thoroughly. Focus on what you are eating, and how you are feeling towards the food. Finally, stop eating when you are full. Once you build your habits, mindfulness will come naturally.

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