Mindfulness & food

With the New Year come New Year resolutions, many of which revolve around becoming more healthy. Recently I’ve been doing some research about Mindful Eating.

Does anyone of you practice the art of presence while you eat? What’s your experience with mindfulness & food?

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Such an important issue yet so often forgotten. I love the tradition of celebrating food and slow eating with family and friends, especially popular in mediterranean countries. I’m implementing this style of mindful eating as often as possible. Every meal deserves attention and full focus on smells and taste. Mindful eating is definitely something i want to try more in 2022.

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Mindful eating can help you eat more slowly, which can improve digestion and reduce digestive problems like bloating and gas.

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@mindfulmarket That’s right :slight_smile:

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What a cool topic!
I’m curious if there are certain dishes/types of dishes/foods that you find most suitable for mindful eating.
Let’s take a plate of pasta with marinara sauce. It’s delicious, but every bite tastes and feels almost the same.

I find spreads great for mindfulness. Be it Indian dhals, Spanish tapas or an Israeli Friday night dinner, focusing on the tastes and textures and differences can take an energy intake (what else is a meal, really) to exciting heights.

On a different note, how do you feel about combining mindful eating with eating with people? It’s hard to be fully focused on a bite, when you’re also engaging in a conversation.

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I have been practicing mindfulness for a while now. It has been tough at the beginning to pay attention to the body’s hunger and fullness signals and eat in response to those signals. This practice requires attention to the present moment and fully experiencing the taste, texture, and aroma of food.
What do I eat?
Well, I gave up on meat, sweets, and fast food completely. Veggies, fruits, and a lot of water are essential positions on my personal menu. However, I can’t say no to Alfredo sauce and pesto pasta that I indulge in from time to time. Anyway, I got a healthy Alfredo sauce recipe that I prepare at home.

Good luck if you are about to start mindfulness & food!

I like the idea of being Mindful of how you eat, as well as what you eat. Being vegetarian, I as well tend to pay close attention to the foods I choose, as opposed to just picking it up at the supermarket.

To put things on a lighter note, I’ve heard that in order for the proper digestion process to take place, it’s best to chew each bite 32 times on average. Here is a mindfulness practice for you: take the time to enjoy and count each bite all the way through your meal :wink:

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Wow, great topic! I’ve been practising presence with eating for years - it started because of digestive issues, if I didn’t want to get sick I had to be very aware of what I was choosing to put into my body. Years later it evolved into presence with every bite - I used to ask is this helpful or harmful?
Over time it evolved to listening to my body when in the market, to know which foods to choose, how to prepare them, what to mix together, when to eat them and how much to eat - sounds like a lot but presence with it means all of this flows naturally - just as I believe it’s meant to for humans.
When fuelling our amazing bodies, why NOT be present and ENJOY the foods we choose to eat, and what we choose to drink?

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I see “Is this helpful or harmful” as a wise way to live, not only eat. Thanks for this post!

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