Good afternoon everyone! It's Day 4 of Week 1 already!
Today, I wanted to take some time to share with you a Mindful Eating Tool. During my Wellness Coaching Certification Course, one of the books I had to read was "The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solutions: Proven Strategies to End Overeating, Satisfy Your Hunger, and Savor Your Life" Written by Lynn Rossy, PhD. The foundation of the text is based around the acronym BASICS - it is a complete set of guidelines that walk you through the mindful eating process from beginning to end, while you're eating, and as you determine when to stop eating. These are not rules, only guidelines that help guide the Mindful Eating
B- Breathe and belly check for hunger and satiety before you eat
A- Assess your food
S- Slow down
I- Investigate your hunger throughout the meal, particularly halfway through
C- Chew your food thoroughly
S- Savor your food
Let's talk about them one at a time as they relate to eating mindfully.
1. B- Breathe and Belly Check for Hunger and Satiety Before You Eat.
First, take a few deep breaths and relax the body. As you're doing this, check in with your belly. Are there sensations of physical hunger? How hungry are you? What are you hungry for? Is there a particular food you'd like to have? You might want food. You might be thirsty. You might be hungry for something entirely different from food (waking, stretching, more deep breaths, relief from stress). Listen to what your body is telling you mindfully. General mindful eating rule: eat when you're hungry; don't eat when you're not hungry. Next, take notice of how you're breathing in this moment. You will probably discover that you're holding some tension in your belly region. Relax and let it go. Take a few more deep breaths. Let your belly be soft and allow the breath to be deep and full. Notice how different this breathe feels. The more shallow your breathing is, the more stressed and anxious you will feel. Symptoms of stress include muscle tension, rapid heartbeat, clenched jaw, shakiness, upset stomach, cold or sweaty hands, and dry mouth. These symptoms are indications that you have been triggered with the fight-or-flight response, When triggered, the fight-or-flight mechanisms in the body can override your brain's capacity to make good decisions. As a result, you easily fall into habitual behavior that often includes reaching for food. Why you might ask? (Sorry as a RN Why has become my favorite question!) One of the reasons you turn to food is because stress induces secretion of glucocorticoids, which increases the desire for food, and insulin, which promotes food intake. Eating actually reduces stress response and reinforces your tendency to eat when stressed. Due to these mechanisms, stress and obesity are, not surprisingly, linked together. In addition when you eat when you're stressed, your body stores more food as fat. This bodily process is part of our survival mechanism. Ever find yourself reaching for food when you get angry, frustrated, irritated, afraid, or stressed? Your body is really asking for relief from tension. However, when food is sought out as the answer to an emotional state, you end up eating junk you don't need and you're still left with your original problem. Alternatively, when you simple take a few deep breaths before eating you place yourself in a more relaxed state. Bring the focus to your belly with nonjudgmental curiosity and kindness. When you take a few deep breaths, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in, reversing the signs of stress in the body and alleviating the desire to reach for food when your not actually hungry. Over time you will begin to recognize the difference between the symptoms of stress and the physical symptoms of hunger.
2. A- Assess Your Food
After breathing and checking in with your belly to see if you're even hungry, the next step in the practice of mindful eating is to assess what you're planning on eating. You can actually get a sense of how healthy the food is by tuning in mindfully to the ways it looks, smells, and feels in your hands. See if you sense your body wanting it or not. Did you know that primitive neurochemical reward centers in the brain are triggered by food (even memories of food) laced with sugar, fat, and salt and mimic responses found in people addicted to alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes. AS you practice assessing your food mindfully before you eat, notice whether you can sense the difference between signs that your body desires particular food for its health or taste and signs that you have developed a biological craving for it. Think about it as "body hunger" or "brain hunger." It's important to take note that assessing your food mindfully DOES NOT include an evaluation of calories, carbs, fats, salts, or calories. AS you are learning to become a mindful eater, a focus on these aspects of your food distracts you from learning about your food through direct experience. People who "eat by numbers" seems constantly concerned with the products they eat and often guide their eating by the latest fad diet, or diet claim. Although the important scientific recommendations available to us should not be completely discounted, many people have begun to rely solely on this information and block out their own well of mindful wisdom inside their bodies. In her research she discovered that "healthier and more natural foods are actually more appealing to the senses of the brain than processed convenience foods.
3. S- Slow down
Slowing down while you are practicing mindful eating helps you be aware of when you're getting full and when the body's physical hunger is satisfied. Slowing down can help you enjoy your food more fully. Simple methods to help you slow down and practice mindful eating include putting down your fork or spoon between bites, pausing and taking a breath between bites, and chewing your food completely/ If you are eating with others, try talking and listening without having your eating utensil constantly in hand and notice how it changes the pace of the meal. How slow is slow enough for mindful eating? For starters, on Day 1 I wrote that it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register fullness. That's correct and that's pretty bad news for most of us who have eaten a meal and long forgotten about it in 20 minutes. So, if you're not really paying attention, you will be way too full by the time the brain fully catches on. Slowing down can result in eating less because the awareness of fullness will help you stop.
4. I - Investigate your hunger throughout the meal, particularly halfway through
To be a mindful eater, it is important to be aware of your distractions and to keep bringing attention back to eating, tasting, and assessing your hunger and satiety throughout the meal. In particular, if you bring an investigative awareness to your meal when you are halfway through, you may discover you are no longer hungry even though there is still food on your plate. Give yourself permission to stop or to continue based on how hungry you are, not on old rules like "you need to clean your plate."
5. C- Chew your food thoroughly
Pay attention to the multitude of sensations available to you as you mindfully chew your food. Biologically, chewing your food activates many processes. Chewing breaks down food particles into smaller pieces upon which the digestive enzymes can act, lubricating, and softening food so that it is more easily absorbed in the stomach and digested, lessening problems such as constipation and acid reflux.
6. S- Savor your food
Savoring your food means taking the time to choose food that you really like and that would satisfy you right now- food that honors your taste buds and your body. Savoring your food happens when you are fully present for the mindful experience of eating and the pleasure that it can bring. Your attention rests on the complete range of sensations in each bite. How do you choose the food you want to eat? Do you pause to reflect on the type of food or flavor that would satisfy you, or do you fall prey to the "see food, eat food" trap, eat when you're distracted, and eat out of habit? Studies have demonstrated that taste is truly acquired. If you are exposed to certain kinds of food over and over again, you will begin to prefer them. Savoring your food is a whole-body experience, making mindful eating a holistic endeavor. When you notice the effect of food on your body, lots of information can begin to flood into your awareness. Too much fat can make your stomach feel queasy. Overly processed foods don't satisfy you for long or give you energy to last throughout the day. Sugar makes you feel famished and exhausted. In contrast, notice the energy and vitality your body gets from fresh fruit and vegetables. Whole foods are processed more slowly in the body and sustain you through all of the demands of your day. Savor the food you're eating mindfully and notice how the body feels.
Learning how to become a mindful eater is a process- complete with its ups and downs. Rather than focus on weight loss, the focus will be on how you feel and how food tastes, smells, and appeals to the senses. When you keep bringing your focus to your internal signals in a relaxed manner with kindness and compassion, you will learn many things about yourself and the food you eat. Your internal wisdom will guide you into the direction of health and well-being.
Rossy, L. (2016). The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution: Proven strategies to end overeating, satisfy your hunger, and savor your life. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
Much love,
Katie
RN, CPT, Wellness Coach
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