Did you even notice what you just put in your mouth?

Raise a glass! It’s almost Thanksgiving you know what that means...it’s officially eating season. 

Are you eating right now?  Put down that utensil and let’s talk mindful eating.  

Do you eat standing up or sitting down? Do you eat in your car?  Do you eat fast, barely chewing? Do you watch television, or talk on the phone while you eat? 

The truth is, often we barely pay attention to what we eat, let alone how much. Until it’s too late. 

This was our typical habit, eating when we were no longer hungry, overstuffing ourselves (sometimes on purpose!) and feeling gross for the rest of the day and maybe the rest of the week. 

Until we began practicing our bulletproof approach for enjoying a guilt free holiday season.

Mindful eating. 

Mindful eating is essentially eating with both, attention and intention. In simple terms, it means being purposeful when you eat, and devoting your full attention to eating.   

Try this exercise in Mindful Eating: 

Get a small piece of food, such as a piece of fruit, a nut, or a small cookie. Make sure it’s something you want to eat - eating with mindfulness is not about deprivation or rules.

Begin by exploring this little piece of food, using as many of your senses as possible. 

First, look at the food. Notice its texture. Notice its color. 

Now, close your eyes, and explore the food with your sense of touch. What does this food feel like? Is it hard or soft? Grainy or sticky? Moist or dry? 

Notice that you’re not being asked to think, but just to notice different aspects of your experience, using one sense at a time. This is what it means to eat mindfully. 

Before you eat, explore this food with your sense of smell. What do you notice? 

Now, begin eating. No matter how small the bite of food is, take at least two bites to finish it. 

Chew very slowly, noticing the actual sensory experience of chewing and tasting. Remember, you don’t need to think about your food to experience it. You might want to close your eyes for a moment to focus on the sensations of chewing and tasting, before continuing. 

Notice the texture of the food; the way it feels in your mouth. Notice if the intensity of its flavor changes, moment to moment. 

Take about 20 more seconds to very slowly finish this first bite of food, being aware of the simple sensations of chewing and tasting. 

It isn’t always necessary to eat slowly in order to eat with mindfulness. But it’s helpful at first to slow down, in order to be as mindful as you can. 

Now, please take your second and last bite. 

As before, chew very slowly, while paying close attention to the actual sensory experience of eating: the sensations and movements of chewing, the flavor of the food as it changes, and the sensations of swallowing. Just pay attention, moment by moment. 

Using a mindfulness eating exercise on a regular basis and practicing before the big day will give you the best chance of making through the day guilt-free and feeling the way you want to feel. 

Don’t take this too seriously…this is fun stuff, right? Play with your food! 

Happy mindful eating, 

XO, Kelle and Nina 

“He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations.  Guilt was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response from the French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration.” 

- Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food