It's All About Awareness

It takes a conscious decision to eat well in today’s world. Here in Sonoma County we have an abundance of fresh, whole foods to choose from. We also have an abundance of artisan cheeses, award winning bakeries, hand crafted wines, and isles of packaged foods ready to eat or pop into the microwave. It’s not that these foods can’t be part of a healthy diet; but they can take over our diet if we aren’t paying attention. Even healthy food can be excessive when we eat too much.

Eating with awareness has a whole different texture than going on a diet. A diet cuts things off: you stop eating certain foods, you learn to ignore the hunger signals and you stick with the plan. When you eat with awareness, or mindfulness, it is a more organic and inclusive approach. You listen to what you body is telling you. You notice how hungry or how full you are, and you tune in to how different foods make you feel physically.

Our body speaks to us all the time, but years of dieting turns the volume down so low that we can no longer hear it. Just like when your baby cries and you learn when to feed her and when to hold her; when you keep listening to your body, you begin to learn the language. You can tell when you are hungry for food and when you’re hungry for something else.

When we don’t pay attention, our eating becomes mindless. The book Mindless Eating by food scientist Brian Wansink exposes just how pervasive it is. We eat more popcorn from a big bag than from a small one, even when it’s stale. Even nutrition experts serve themselves more ice cream with big spoons. We eat food because it’s there, not because we are hungry.

Mindful eating reverses this. When you eat with mindfulness, you make conscious food choices. For example when you choose to eat chocolate, you fully enjoy it. Instead of eating it quickly and guiltily, you savor it, letting it melt on your tongue. In making a conscious choice, you may have chosen dark chocolate because it has less sugar and is less likely to make you want more. No matter what you choose to eat, it is easier to stop when you eat mindfully because it is more satisfying and you are more likely to feel done.

I’ve just released a CD on Mindful Eating, filled with exercises and visualizations to help you slow down and eat with awareness. One of the tracks is a wonderful exercise where I take you through the experience of eating a raisin; it’s amazing how complex and rich even a simple raisin can be when you really pay attention.

The raisin exercise involves looking at the raisin  and really seeing the colors and texture; feeling it with your fingers and later with your tongue and mouth; thinking about where it comes from and how it connects you to earth, sun and rain; appreciating the flavor and texture as you begin to very slowly chew it. Raisins have three distinct layers, the skin, pulp and juice, each with their own taste and texture. It is surprising how much juice drips down your throat.

When you eat this way, even one raisin is satisfying. It slows you down so that less feels like more. This is not the way most of us habitually eat. It is sensual and visceral: the direct experience of eating! What a contrast to mindless eating when you see an empty bowl and don’t remember eating the contents!

When you aren’t paying attention, you may keep eating as long as food is there. When you eat with awareness, you are tuned in to what you are eating. You are able to stop when you feel done, even if there is still more food on your plate. You respond to your own internal cues instead of eating just because it’s there.

If you want to eat well, it really is all about awareness.

Kathy Nichols is the Healthy Habits Coach. Kathy blends her background as a registered dietitian with life coaching to help you create healthy and sustainable habits. Contact Kathy at 707 431-7524, Kathy@HealthyHabitsCoach.com or www.HealthyHabitsCoach.com. Blog: www.HealthyHabitsCoach.wordpress.com