Eating

It's a touchy subject, I know.  But, today, we're going to be paying attention to what we eat.  Yesterday, we discussed the concept of mindfulness as an approach to improving performance in any area.  This can be especially useful when trying to make new habits of eating stick.  Mindful eating has been getting more and more attention in the last few years, and there seems to be some evidence that it works for many dietary goals.  I mean, they even have a Center for Mindful Eating....

What was I doing? Oh yeah, eating.

What's the punchline?  Don't just scarf down your food, chief.  Actually paying attention to the process of being hungry, choosing foods, and eating foods, makes it more likely that we will eat the way we want to eat.  Let me be clear, though: the point of this post isn't to push a particular diet or promote some nutritional dogma.  How you eat is up to you.  However, if you've been meaning to change your dietary habits and been unsuccessful, simply paying attention to what you eat seems to be an important thing.  OMG!

Eating

Task: Pay attention to your dietary behavior.

Info: An emphasized feature of a "mindfulness" approach to behavior modification is remaining non-judgmental.  In other words, don't get all negative today while you're eating.  Show self-empathy.  Remain calm and simply observe your own behavior like a scientist might.  The point of today is to not criticize ourselves for poor eating, but to become aware of our eating behavior.  Later, if you decide to change your eating in some way, you'll be more informed about what might work for you.

Also, to incorporate yesterday's Daily Mind Game, make a note of the physical sensations of hunger.  Calmly, feel hunger and observe the sensation as part of today's challenge.

Goal: Get a general sense of what, when, how, and why you eat.  

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Links: Return to the Week of Self-Awareness - Continue to the next Daily Mind Game...