Mindful Eating

Mindfulness: “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” – Jon Kabat-Zin⠀
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Mindful Eating: using all of our senses to be present in the entire eating experience, including choosing and preparing food, while acknowledging our inner wisdom and body cues without judgment. – The Center for Mindful Eating ⠀
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Mindful eating is not about eating better, getting healthier or losing weight. Unlike a diet with set rules and restrictions, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to eat mindfully. ⠀
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Intuitive Eating (IE) and mindful eating share characteristics, but IE is a framework and Mindful Eating is a skill set. The IE framework involves 10 principles developed by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch meant to foster whole body attunement (mindfulness applies here) and/or break down barriers to attunement (such as the diet mentality, food rules/restrictions).⠀
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Today, I had the pleasure of speaking at my daughter's elementary school PTA meeting . I spoke with parents about what mindful eating is, what it's not, the benefits, and some basic principles. I led those in attendance through a mindful eating assessment from Vincci Tsui's lovely Mindful Eating Workbook and then did a mindful eating exercise using chocolate chips.⠀
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There were some interesting questions that came from the parents in attendance that I thought I'd share with you.⠀
Q: There's an assessment question that implies that categorizing foods into "good" and "bad" is not mindful. But some foods are just not healthy, so why is this not considered mindful? ⠀
A: In mindfulness, we practice nonjudgment, so all foods are created equal, all foods are "healthy." Some foods are healthy because they give us nutrition that helps our bodies and other foods are healthy because they make us smile, connect us socially, taste good, and/or offer comfort (and bonus points to foods that provide all of the above!). We can't successfully tune in to our bodies needs when there is judgement influencing our perception - this hinders attunement. 

Q: I notice my kids often ask me if they can be done with dinner. If they are asking this question, perhaps I am getting in the way of their process? 
A: It may be helpful to give them some tools to connect with their bodies. This is something parents can model too. If dinner is the last meal for the day, I find it helpful to say "if you're tummy has enough food to last until morning, you may be excused from the table. After dinner tonight, the kitchen is closed." This may be set up differently for a family that eats early in the evening and plans to offer a bedtime snack. I think the key here is that the structure around mealtimes is communicated. If kids think the kitchen is open at all times, there is less motivation to eat the meal prepared. So, let them know in advance whether there will or will not be a snack offered later - based on the timing, not based on how much they did or didn't eat. 
There were a few other questions from this presentation and others that I want to share, so I've decided to dedicate one day per week to this because I think these dialogues will be useful to you to hear.

Want to submit a question that I will answer on social media and the blog? Send me a note at janice@socalnw.com :)