sunday life: mindful eating
This week I eat mindfully
Now here’s a thought: what if all those folk who take photos of their every meal and post them on their blog/Twitter/Facebook were actually onto something? I’m sure you’ve seen them about. I was at lunch recently and watched a table of six whip out their iphones as their food arrived, repositioning the Maldon salt pot artfully and angling the lighting all Petrina Tinsley-like. In a flurry of thumbs they then tweeted the images on to their cyber followers replete, no doubt, with foodie-ese captions (“River Café-inspired mascarpone-stuffed chook with intriguing heirloom tomato smear”; “Well, if those toffee shards don’t take me straight back to 1992!”).
I’ve previously found such faddish behaviour bewildering. But this week I discerned a point to it all. Fastidiously honouring your food in this way is mindfulness in action. Pausing to reflect on what’s about to go down your gullet, appreciating the brininess of the bisque or the appropriateness of the enoki garnish, can create a respectful awareness. And is evidence of a new way of eating that’s – hallelujah! – blowing diets off the menu.
After all the misery of portion control, and the grim failure of calorie counting, there’s mindfulness. Mindfulness is the Buddhist practice of being aware, moment-to-moment. It’s sitting with yourself, instead of reaching for an external stimulus or fix. Mindful eating, then, is eating this Tupperware container of leftover beetroot risotto and being wholly conscious of doing so. It’s being aware of every texture (“I am now biting into a slippery beet chunk”) and every flavour burst (“Hello, salty goats cheese topping!”), while not typing this column at the same time. When you’re mindful, you don’t overeat, you take care to eat good food prepared with care and you’re satiated – emotionally and otherwise. You don’t have to try, you just be mindful.
Bizarrely, a recovering anorexic got me onto mindful eating. Back when I hosted a small show called MasterChef, one of the Top 50 contestants, Sarah, told me about a Eating Disorders Victoria program that taught her to eat with 100 per cent awareness. Over time it helped her appreciate food again. The reason most of the Western world has disordered eating and more than one billion people are obese is we’ve lost the ability to listen to our bodies. From a young age we defer to external cues – eating at set hours, eating set amounts. Then we’re bombarded with competing messages for several decades. Before finally trying to remedy things handing our appetites over to the Jenny’s and the Aitkins to control.
Mindful eating does the opposite. It brings control home to us.
Me, I can be a shockingly mindless eater. Mostly I eat well. But I’m also an emotional over-eater. When I get anxious I shove food down my gob as a way of squashing and silencing the fluttery self-doubt in my gut. I also love food. I cry, sometimes, when I eat something really good. That’s how much I love food. So I get rather threatened by the idea of having to change my ways.
But on Thursday I got bold and tried out EDV’s program. This involved a number of gentle rituals that bring me into my body. Before eating, I take five deep breaths and acknowledge what I’m about to eat. I say it out loud, like old-school grace. I then look at the food. Name it. Note the colour, the texture. In my mouth, I note whether it’s salty or sweet. I chew slowly. I put down my fork between mouthfuls.
Mindful eating is on the up and up. Experts are emerging with fresh tricks and techniques. One advises learning from young kids, who are naturally mindful: when you think you’ve had enough, push your plate away (that is, take it to the sink; this creates “closure”). Another suggests lighting a candle and using lovely crockery as a way to access awareness. My favourite Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh publishes his book Savor early next year. He advises eating in silence for the first half of the meal, then talking only about food after that.
To be frank, this week I found this mindful eating caper bloody annoying. Mostly because I’m not good at it. But the EDV counselor I spoke to put it nicely: “You can’t do mindfulness well or not well.”
Indeed, that’s the beauty of mindfulness. Once you’re aware of it, it kind of infiltrates. And soon enough you’re saying grace and sending photos of your oxtail risotto to your fans.
[...] sunday life: mindful eating | Sarah Wilson [...]
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
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I read a book a few years ago that I saw on Oprah; “Why French Women Don’t Get Fat?”
Basically the author translated this same idea: eat slower & be mindful. experience the food.
Are we finally realising what an unhealthy lifestyle we (as in Western society) lead (with the lead of USA dinner plate size) and moving back (or introducing? I wouldn’t know. I’ve only lived in an Americanised Australia) to a European way of thinking? Maybe it’s a human way of thinking? American’s just want more?
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sarah wilson, Aran Goyoaga. Aran Goyoaga said: “@_sarahwilson_: sunday life post: how to do mindful eating http://bit.ly/dtg2Dp” love this! [...]
Loved this article! It’d be great if more people could tune into their bodies and eating experiences everyday
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Thankyou it is lovely to see such an important topic discussed! Bringing awareness in to meals and eating and is something that I find benefits all my client (I’m a dietitian!)
Also being mindful allows us to enjoy all foods and find the balace of normal eating where we get to eat the cake too!
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Great post. I feel like I can definitely be a mindless eater, and have even banned certain foods (Doritos) from the shopping list because I can’t stop myself. I am marrying a chef next year, so food is a very important part of our lives and time that we share with others. I do think though, that as we’ve gotten older (early 30′s now) we care more and more about the quality of the food we eat, and enjoy it more. I travel for my job, so I am definitely guilty of photographing a meal in a random city and posting it various places. People joke that all I do is eat! Thanks for the post, I am going to commit to being even more mindful in my choices and in the act of eating.
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I remember learning the “Five Reflections on food” while studying at the buddhist discussion centre in Upwey many years ago. Repeating these reflections before eating is a good way of bringing about mindfulness
1. This meal is the labour of countless beings. Let us accept this offering with gratitude.
2. This meal is taken to strengthen our exertions, for greed and opinion are strong. Let us deserve this offering.
3. This meal is taken to help us become clear and generous. Let us pay attention.
4. This meal is taken to nourish and sustain our practice. Let us be moderate.
5. This meal is taken to help all beings attain Buddha way. Let us practice wholeheartedly.
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[...] according to my doctor, we should have none. Zero. we am additionally perplexing to be a better, mindful eater, so when we ate these on Saturday, we enjoyed each singular [...]
What a great post. I wish I could get those around me to slow down too, I find the faster they are shovelling it in, the faster I am. Often I have to just close my eyes. Maybe a timer or something would work. Every 30 seconds everyone has to stop eating for 30 seconds and reflect.
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I found this post very interesting as I am a psychologist doing reserach on the connection between over-eating and the psychological concepts of mindfulness and acceptance. If people are interested in finding out more about my research they are invited to go to my website
http://www.psy.mq.edu.au/research/problemeating.html
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I’m glad I’m not the only one to find ‘Mindful Eating’ bloody annoying. I have just started a Mindfullness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook and one of the practices is to eat at least one meal mindfully each day. I just eat and I find it hard to be mindful – I don’t enjoy food preparation/cooking at all I find it totally unappealing, necessary I know, but unappealing all the same. Having said that I have noticed things during my practice about how I eat and what I do when I eat and I can genuinely appreciate how automatic some aspects of our lives have become. Oh well, practice is just that I suppose – maybe soon it will stop being practice and just be mindful!
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[...] EAT MINDFULLY One of my favourite bloggers, Sarah Wilson, writes a concise and witty article on Mindful Eating which has helped me slow down and enjoy my [...]
[...] kindness and respect. For further inspiration on mindful eating you might like to read this recent blog post by former Master Chef host Sarah [...]
this post is very interesting
thanks for your time and sharing this post!!!
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“You can’t do mindfulness well or not well.”
Indeed, we could only choose between these two; to be mindful or not to be mindful. Thanks for this enlightening post, eh.
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[...] is even a Centre) — http://www.tcme.org/ * Sarah Wilson’s amusing article — http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2010/06/sunday-life-mindful-eating/ * Sydney Morning Herald article [...]
[...] days. In fact, according to my doctor, I should have none. Zero. I am also trying to be a better, mindful eater, so when I ate these on Saturday, I enjoyed every single [...]
[...] did a bit of research about being mindful and read this great little post from Sarah Wilson. Some ideas in it are a little extreme but I do like the general [...]