Mindful eating: Get out of autopilot

Have you ever finished a candy bar and wished you had just one more bite? Are you surprised when your hand hits the bottom of the popcorn bucket at the movies? Do you ever feel completely stuffed and miserable after you eat?

These are all symptoms of mindless or unconscious eating.

Many people eat while they watch TV, drive, work – even while talking on the telephone. And many people eat too fast, so busy filling the next forkful that they don’t notice the bite in their mouth. Since your brain works best by focusing on one thing at a time, you’ll miss the subtle signs of fullness, so you won’t stop until you feel uncomfortable or until you run out of food. Most importantly, you won’t enjoy your food as much so you have to eat more to feel satisfied.

Mindful eating is eating with intention and attention

Eating is a natural, healthy, and pleasurable activity for satisfying hunger. Choosing to eat mindfully, in other words, giving food and eating your full attention, will allow you to experience optimal satisfaction and enjoyment without eating to excess.

Mindful eating makes it possible for you to experience the subtle difference between contentment and fullness. Mindful eating also enables you to feel more satisfied with smaller quantities of food. Learning to savor your food simply makes eating more pleasurable.

Simple steps for mindful eating

Practice the following strategies for mindful eating to help you identify your body’s signals and truly enjoy your food:

Start by recognizing whether you’re hungry before you begin eating. If you aren’t hungry, you won’t be as interested so it will be harder to stay focused. Besides, if a craving doesn’t come from hunger, eating will never satisfy it.

Don’t wait until you’re famished. One of the keys to conscious eating is to keep your body adequately fed to avoid becoming overly hungry which increases the likelihood that you’ll slip into mindless overeating.

Decide how full you want to be when you’re finished eating. When you eat with the intention of feeling better when you’re done eating, you’re less likely to keep eating until the food is gone.

Choose food that will satisfy both your body and your mind. Our society is so obsessed with eating right that we sometimes eat things we don’t even like. However, satisfaction comes not just from fullness but from enjoying the taste of your food –without guilt. Feeling guilty about eating certain foods actually causes more overeating, not less.

Set the table in a pleasant manner. Creating a pleasant ambience adds to the enjoyment of eating and to your level of satisfaction. Besides, you deserve it.

Eat without distractions. If you eat while you’re distracted by watching television, driving, or talking on the telephone, you won’t be giving your food or your body’s signals your full attention. As a result, you may feel full but not satisfied.

Eat when you’re sitting down. Choose one or two areas at home and at work to eat. For example, do not eat while standing over the sink, peering into the refrigerator or sitting in bed.

Express gratitude. Appreciate the atmosphere, the company, or simply the fact that you’re giving yourself the opportunity to sit down and enjoy your meal.

Take a few breaths and center yourself before you begin eating. This will help you slow down and give eating your full attention.

Appreciate the aroma and the appearance of your food. Notice the colors, textures, and smells of the food and imagine what it will taste like.

Decide which food looks the most appetizing and start eating that food first. If you save the best until last, you may want to eat it even if you are full.

Savor the aromas and tastes of your food as you eat it. Put your fork down between bites and be conscious of all the different sensations you are experiencing.

If you notice that you’re not enjoying what you chose, choose something else, if possible. Eating food you don’t enjoy will leave you feeling dissatisfied.

Pause in the middle of eating. Check in with yourself to estimate how much more food it will take to fill you to comfortable satiety.

Push your plate forward or get up from the table as soon as you feel satisfied. The desire to keep eating will pass quickly. Keep in mind that you’ll eat again when you’re hungry.

Notice how you feel when you’re finished eating. If you overate, don’t punish yourself. Instead, be aware of the physical and/or emotional discomfort that often accompanies being overly full and create a plan to decrease the likelihood that you’ll overeat next time.

Once you’ve experienced the increased pleasure from mindful eating, you may be inspired to be mindful during other activities too. Living in the moment and becoming more aware will increase your enjoyment and effectiveness in everything you do.

Michelle May MD

Michelle May, M.D. is a recovered yoyo dieter and the award-winning author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle (download Chapter 1 for free). She is the founder of the Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Workshops and Facilitator Training Program. Find more articles and resources at AmIHungry.com.

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