Handprint on My Heart

One of my young-adult children wants to lose a few pounds. “You said eat until you’re satisfied, but not full, right?” she asked. I answered, “Yes.” She continued, “But I’m not satisfied until I’m full.” I said, “You’ll need to learn to adjust what is satisfying to you.” She told me I misunderstood what she was trying to tell me; “I don’t feel anything until I feel full,” was her statement. She isn’t able to “feel satisfied,” she said, because she still feels hungry until she feels full. That’s when I realized what is going on with her. It’s a matter of mindfulness. Really, my daughter does feel something between hungry and full, during the course of consuming her food. She doesn’t eat mindfully, though, like most of us don’t. Instead of considering each bite, and valuing it for what it is, we usually casually move food from table (or plate, or hand), to mouth, most likely while thinking about something unrelated to the intake of food. Many times, we pause briefly (if we pause at all), to eat quickly, with an accompanying underlying unfitting thought; “I’m starving.” Maybe we consider how delicious is the food we’re consuming. Maybe our thoughts are turned to something else, altogether. Mindless eating is a bad habit very easy to form. Mindful eating can become part of your healthier way to live. Always pay attention to what you’re putting into your body. This means pay attention to the food you buy, how it’s prepared, how it’s served and how you consume it. Don’t let eating be something you do in a rush. You might make it a rule to never consume calories in the car. You might make it a rule to pause before eating to appreciate your food, to express gratitude for it and to adjust your focus away from any other pressing concerns and onto the present experience in the moment when you’re pausing to feed your body. Consider all of the work, from beginning to end, that went into preparing the food for you to eat, then eat slowly, with gratitude and awareness. Appreciate the experience for what it is and don’t take for granted the abundance of food available to you. Use a small plate. Order small portions when eating out. It’s a good practice to order child-sized portions or half-orders. This helps to remind you it doesn’t take as much food as you think to satisfy hunger. As you eat slowly, you’ll more easily realize when you’re no longer hungry, and it’s time to stop. Do not eat until you’re full. If you eat until you’re full, you’ve eaten too much. Remember to eat wisely. Eat mindfully. Be well.