I apologize if I'm late starting this thread. I thought about staying up til midnight and posting but it didn't happen and today, I actually slept in!!
So the last few days we've joined Julia, thinking about our food choices and their preparation. This brings us to eating and more precisely, how we eat our food. How much attention do we give to the act of eating? Do we eat quickly or on the run? Do we eat because we have to or do we take the time to appreciate our food? Is how we eat even something we have thought about?
I must admit that despite enjoying food, I eat quickly- very quickly. I'm not sure if I was/am always like this but it doesn't help that I work in a hospital and eat on the ward at random times. I can go 12 hours without having the time to eat anything and other days I can spend the 12 hours grazing. Or I can start my meal and get called away and finish it hours later. Over time, I've learned to eat quickly and without giving it much thought and it's only recently that I've become aware of how quickly I eat when compared to others. It's something I'd like to address and I think that being mindful of how I eat might help.
So what is mindful eating? Basically, it's just taking the time to be more aware, more conscious of how we relate to our food. For example, before putting our food in our mouths, we might take a few seconds to appreciate it: thinking about how this food was produced/prepared and came to be on the plate, noticing how it looks, its colours, shapes, how it is arranged on our plate, etc. On a side note, there is now evidence that the way in which vegetables are prepared affects their taste. For example, diced tomatoes will taste differently from sliced tomatoes due to the different enzymes that are released during the different preparation processes (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/11/485235765/slice-dice-chop-or-julienne-does-the-cut-change-the-flavor?t=1612453694239&t=1612521218180).
Once we put our food in our mouths, again we can take a few more seconds before chewing to just let it sit there and notice how the food feels in our mouths- the texture, whether it's hot or cold, if it's melting, etc. Just a few seconds before we begin to actually eat, chewing slowly.
These are just examples of how to be more mindful when eating but you will see that it doesn't take a lot of time. Just a minute or so of awareness. Is it something that is worth doing? I would like to try it....maybe just once a day for a week, with a bit of chocolate or a piece of fruit or my meal. If I can do this and see benefit, maybe I'll develop the habit of doing it more regularly. Because I do think that how we eat is as important as what we eat. Maybe it will give us insight into why we're eating and our patterns of eating and let us explore a bit more thoroughly our relationship with food. In any case, it can't hurt.
Sorry, blenders, this is long winded. But I'll leave you with this: a challenge. Is anyone up for joining me in trying to do it at least once a day for a week?? Just to experiment? Maybe we could discuss it again at a later date? Again, this is just an idea I'm throwing out.
Okay, over and out. I think I've more than said my bit.
"Food for thought- Feb 5"
Hi Blenders,
I apologize if I'm late starting this thread. I thought about staying up til midnight and posting but it didn't happen and today, I actually slept in!!
So the last few days we've joined Julia, thinking about our food choices and their preparation. This brings us to eating and more precisely, how we eat our food. How much attention do we give to the act of eating? Do we eat quickly or on the run? Do we eat because we have to or do we take the time to appreciate our food? Is how we eat even something we have thought about?
I must admit that despite enjoying food, I eat quickly- very quickly. I'm not sure if I was/am always like this but it doesn't help that I work in a hospital and eat on the ward at random times. I can go 12 hours without having the time to eat anything and other days I can spend the 12 hours grazing. Or I can start my meal and get called away and finish it hours later. Over time, I've learned to eat quickly and without giving it much thought and it's only recently that I've become aware of how quickly I eat when compared to others. It's something I'd like to address and I think that being mindful of how I eat might help.
So what is mindful eating? Basically, it's just taking the time to be more aware, more conscious of how we relate to our food. For example, before putting our food in our mouths, we might take a few seconds to appreciate it: thinking about how this food was produced/prepared and came to be on the plate, noticing how it looks, its colours, shapes, how it is arranged on our plate, etc. On a side note, there is now evidence that the way in which vegetables are prepared affects their taste. For example, diced tomatoes will taste differently from sliced tomatoes due to the different enzymes that are released during the different preparation processes (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/11/485235765/slice-dice-chop-or-julienne-does-the-cut-change-the-flavor?t=1612453694239&t=1612521218180).
Once we put our food in our mouths, again we can take a few more seconds before chewing to just let it sit there and notice how the food feels in our mouths- the texture, whether it's hot or cold, if it's melting, etc. Just a few seconds before we begin to actually eat, chewing slowly.
These are just examples of how to be more mindful when eating but you will see that it doesn't take a lot of time. Just a minute or so of awareness. Is it something that is worth doing? I would like to try it....maybe just once a day for a week, with a bit of chocolate or a piece of fruit or my meal. If I can do this and see benefit, maybe I'll develop the habit of doing it more regularly. Because I do think that how we eat is as important as what we eat. Maybe it will give us insight into why we're eating and our patterns of eating and let us explore a bit more thoroughly our relationship with food. In any case, it can't hurt.
Sorry, blenders, this is long winded. But I'll leave you with this: a challenge. Is anyone up for joining me in trying to do it at least once a day for a week?? Just to experiment? Maybe we could discuss it again at a later date? Again, this is just an idea I'm throwing out.
Okay, over and out. I think I've more than said my bit.
Have a great day, everyone.