Mindful Eating

I was reading an article the other day in my Yoga Journal magazine. It was about this very topic!! (imagine that). It had some awesome rules to live by when eating, but really, when doing anything. One of my goals this year has been to sssssssssllllllllllllloooooooooowwwwwww down so that I can enjoy what I'm doing. This kind of discusses how to do that.

I think I've talked about this before but I really struggle with 1) saying no and 2) purposefully staying busy so I don't have to deal with whatever is going on in my life. I remember a time when someone mentioned a retreat where people would go and there would be no television, no music, no nothing. You just sat in silence. The idea of that cause me MAJOR ANXIETY - i'm going to be honest, it still kind of does. Why is it that we don't want to be with ourselves? What are we trying to avoid? I think that's the key. Through a regular yoga practice which includes all of the above, I am becoming more comfortable with the idea of being alone and being okay.

p.s. when i say alone, I don't mean, alone at home watching tv or cleaning. I mean, sitting in silence, no distractions - no book, no music, no tv, no activities. 


One of the things the article said to do was to chew your food fully. The Ayurvedic way says to chew your food 32 times before swallowing. Benefits are better digestion, you become full quicker and you actually enjoy the taste of your food. The author said that when you chew your food 32 times (each bite), processed food is not as easy to eat because you realize, it just doesn't taste good.

my attempt at this - It's actually REALLY REALLY hard to chew my food that long. I want to swallow immediately. It's not the taste or anything, it's just simply how I've eaten my whole life and now trying to do something different is SO weird. Also, the things that taste the best when doing this - fruit and veggies. Meat tastes pretty good, but not quite as good as the others. Granola bars do NOT taste as good when doing this.

The article also said that in ayurvedic style of eating, you don't eat until you're full. You eat until you are satisfied. They are very specific saying that you're tummy is 1/3 full of food, 1/3 full of liquid and 1/3 empty. I think the goal is not overeat.

my attempt - if I chew everything up that much, I can tell when I'm full. BUT I will be hungry again in 30 minutes to an hour so I have to make sure I have plenty of food around me at work. At homes, it's no biggie, at work, I need to be prepared.


I can't remember if the article said this or if I just think it, but sitting at the table. This actually seems like an easy thing that we should already be doing but we typically eat in front of the TV. Our old dining room was full of crap and it really wasn't super comfortable to sit in. Now that we have a dining room, it's off the of the kitchen, we actually eat there and enjoy it. I can talk to my husband about his day, I can talk to the girls, when we have them, about their school, etc. It's something I never realized I would enjoy as much as I do. It also makes me pay attention to my food!! How many times have you just mindlessly ate while doing something else and then you're like, oh... whoops, I just ate a whole sleeve of Ritz. (actual example).

I even ate lunch by myself at the dinner table the other day and came up with some pretty good ideas, if I do say so myself. So I think there's something to this being present when doing things.

A good book to read if you struggle with eating issues that discusses mindful eating is "Women, Food and God" by Geneen Roth. It's amazing and really put me on this mindful eating journey. She has some simple food rules to follow when eating. Check out the current issue of Yoga Journal as well!!