For weeks, I had been postponing writing my introductory blog post about mindful eating. But this morning, at last, I made up my mind: “Today’s the day.”
I started with a nature walk to gather my thoughts. Back at my desk, I cleared away distractions, opened a fresh document on my computer, and typed: “What Is Mindful Eating?” 646 words to go.
As I waited for inspiration to strike, an unexpected thought popped into my mind: “I want a cookie.”
I wandered into the kitchen, where I keep a tin of “Emergency Cookies.” Chocolate chip, of course, for maximum energy. After snarfing down a cookie, I returned to my desk, but the words still weren’t coming.
Instead, another thought: “I want another cookie.” Without thinking, I ate cookie number 2.
Before I had even finished it, the little voice whispered: “You might as well have a third.” Although I wasn’t remotely hungry, the urge to eat a third cookie felt overwhelming.
But as my hand reached for the third cookie, I hesitated. “This is weird,” I thought. “Why am I craving cookies at 10 in the morning Am I even hungry?”
And then: “What’s really going on?”
Then it hit me: I was “procrastin-eating!” My cookie cravings weren’t fuelled by physical hunger since I had just eaten breakfast. They were my subconscious trying to “help me out” by delaying a dreaded task with a comforting distraction.
This, my friends, is mindful eating in action.
As soon as I noticed that I was engaging in an unusual eating behavior, I hit the pause button. I needed a moment to investigate what was really driving my cookie cravings. The answer came pretty quickly: I had writer’s block!
Next, I asked myself whether my block and the emotions causing it – anxiety, perfectionism, overwhelm, self-doubt – could be solved by eating cookies. Of course, the answer was “no.”
What could I do instead to break through my block? I reminded myself that the antidote to self-criticism is self-compassion. What might be a self-compassionate response to writer’s block, I wondered? Ah! It would be to permit myself to write the “good-enough” blog post, rather than the perfect one.
As soon as I allowed myself to write a mediocre first draft, my cookie craving vanished, and I sat down to write the first draft of the article that eventually became this one.
It’s not about perfection, it’s about intention and attention
I tell you this story to reassure you: even nutritionists eat for reasons other than hunger! The good news is that mindful eating doesn’t mean perfect eating or never eating cookies (heaven forbid!).
It simply means noticing why, when, what, how, and how much we eat, and making food choices with “intention and attention,” in the words of mindful-eating expert Michelle May, M.D. “It’s about eating with the intention of caring for yourself and with the attention necessary to notice and enjoy your food and its effects on your body,” Dr. May explains.
In a nutshell, mindful eating involves:
- Being present before, during, and after the eating experience. In the example above, noticing that I was eating the cookies more quickly than usual and kept wanting more helped me see that something was off and prompted me to ask what was really going on.
- Understanding why, when, what, how, and how much we want to eat. In the cookie scenario, mindfulness helped me understand that writer’s block was driving my cravings, not hunger, and that eating cookies wouldn’t break through the block, but would actually prolong it.
- Recognizing our eating cues. Once I slowed down and reflected on my cookie cravings, I was able to differentiate between physical hunger and emotional hunger.
- Approaching eating with curiosity and non-judgment: Instead of beating myself up for eating something I “shouldn’t,” I was able to observe my behavior with curiosity (“What’s going on?”) and compassion (“Writing is hard. It’s understandable that you should want to procrastin-eat.”).
I wasn’t always self-aware around food. However, learning about mindful eating, practicing it, and eventually training as a mindful eating teacher has freed me from the cycle of restrictive eating, overeating, and the guilt and shame that often follow.
Inspired by this transformation, I now share this life-changing approach with my clients, many of whom struggle with restrictive eating, overeating, or the endless “eat-repent-repeat” pattern familiar to people who cycle through diet after diet.
As a certified Mindful Eating Group Facilitator, I offer regular courses to help others learn how to eat with intention and attention and heal their relationship with food. For more information on upcoming programs, click here.