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NO. 191

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The mindful meal• Determine a bite size• Take a bite• Put your fork, spoon or knife down• Put your hands either on the table or in your lap• Chew your food completely and swallow• Pause for a moment (a few seconds is all it takes)• Decide if you’re still hungry.

If you are, take another bite. If you’re not, your meal is done.

Source: The Center for Mindful Eating

MindfulEatingAn awarenessapproach to food

OuterAisle Fresh:Mindful eating means:• Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive andnurturing aspects of preparing and eating food.

• Choosing foods that are both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savor, and taste what you eat.

• Learning to understand your physical hunger and when you’re satisfied to help you decide when to begineating and to stop eating.

• Getting away from the notion that the next diet willsolve all your weight problems, helping you to lose weight quickly, easily, and permanently.

• Respecting your body for what it is, not what you think it should be. Not everyone fits into the same shoesize and not everyone is going to wear the same pant size.

• Honoring your feelings without using food. Many people turn to food when they are anxious, lonely, bored, or angry as a way to comfort, nurture, or distractthemselves. Food won’t fix feelings or problems.

• Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat. When you tell yourself you shouldn’t or can’t have a particular food, it can make you feel deprived. This may make you crave the food even more and eventually you may give in and end up overeating, which then may lead to a feeling of guilt.

Now that’s amazing!

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The grapefruit diet, thecabbage-soup diet, the don’t-eat-any-carbs-or-else diet.

Many of us will try anything to shed a fewpounds — even if we don’t need to loseweight. The problem is that the weight —and then some — usually comes back.There’s a different approach: mindful eating. You eatwhen you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. The idea is that if you truly listen to your body’s wants and needs,you’ll find your natural weight.

What is mindfulness? It’s the awareness of what’s going on at any given moment. When applied to eating, itmeans paying attention to what you’re eating and why. For most people this is easier said than done. We eat meal after meal, snack after snack without really thinking about what we’re putting in our mouths.

As a child my family’s menuconsisted of two choices:take it or leave it.— Buddy Hackett

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What can you do to become more mindfulabout your eating?Belly Check: Before you eat something, stop to ask yourself:• Am I physically hungry?

• What am I hungry for?

It may be that you are physically hungry for food, but it could also be that you are thirsty or really craving something completely different from food. Stop to size up what you’re craving and why.

Assess Your Food: Before you dig in, take a moment to:• Look at your food, its color, its smell, and how appealing it appears.

• Notice if the food is more natural or highly processed.

Ask yourself if this food is what you really want. If you’re craving something else, you may end up eating more. You may eat what's in front of you and then go on to eat what you really wanted all along. Instead, you may want to go straight to satisfying your craving.

Slow Down: By taking your time to eat, you may enjoy your foodmore and notice when your body has had enough. Putyour fork or spoon down between bites and chew yourfood completely. Not only will it help you to really tasteand savor your food, it will help with digestion, too.

Investigate Your Hunger: Remember to keep bringing your attention back to theeating experience. Don’t let distractions like watching TVor surfing the Internet prevent you from gauging yourhunger level.

If you continually check how full you feel, you may no-tice that you’ve had enough before the uncomfortablefeeling of being stuffed sets in. This strategy can also helpto get you away from the old portion-control suggestionof deciding how much you will allow yourself to have atthe beginning of a meal, which can backfire.

Chew Your Food Thoroughly: Chewing your food thoroughly allows your body toprocess food more efficiently. This method may alsoallow you to notice when you’re no longer hungry andfeel satisfied.

Savor Your Food: Food is a wonderful part of living. Enjoy it. Take time tochoose foods you really like and satisfy you. Honor yourbody’s needs and your taste bud's desires. And, whenyou’re eating, don't get distracted by things around you.Be fully present in the eating experience.

Source: Lynn Rossy, PhD, health psychologist at the University of Missouri