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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/mindful-eating-as-food-for-thought.html

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Here is a short little explanation of what mindful eating is and how it has shaped one person's outlook on eating. It includes some lists of benefits and links to further articles regarding the topic.

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What is Mindful Eating?

There was a time when I stuffed my face with junk food and fast food on a daily basis. I was overweight and unhealthy, addicted to snacks and fried and fatty food, and would mindlessly overeat.

This wasn't a healthy way of eating. What I ate (junk) was a big part of it, but just as big a part was how I ate - emotionally and mindlessly. These bad eating habits built up over time, after years of eating to socialize, to relieve stress, to make myself feel better, to satisfy cravings.

When I finally started changing my eating habits, I realized how bad things were. I realized how hard it was to change, simply because eating was filling so many needs, and because I ate mostly without thinking.

The biggest change I made: I learned to pay attention. I paid attention to what I ate, the textures and flavors, how it made me feel during and after eating. I paid attention to my eating urges, to the emotions that triggered the eating.

The changes came slowly, but paying attention turned out to be the key habit change. Once I made this change, other changes finally happened, after years of trying.

What Is Mindful Eating?

I certainly didn't invent mindful eating, but it has helped me tremendously. There is a growing field of people adopting the approach and writing about it (I'd recommend Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung), and a growing body of research showing the benefits (more in the next section).

But what is mindful eating?

There are a variety of approaches to mindful eating, some rooted in Zen and other forms of Buddhism, others tied to yoga. I take a very simple approach, and that's what we'll be mainly talking about in this course.

Simply put, my approach to mindful eating is learning to pay attention. Instead of eating mindlessly, putting food into your mouth almost unconsciously, not really tasting the food you're eating ... you notice your thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

You learn to pay attention to:

Why you feel like eating, and what emotions or needs might be triggering the eating.

What you're eating, and whether it is healthy or not.

The look, smell, taste, feel of the food you're eating.

How it makes you feel as you taste it, as you digest it, and throughout the day.

How full (or sated) you are before, during and after eating.

Your emotions during and after eating.

Where the food came from, who might have grown it, how much it might have suffered before it was killed, whether it was grown organically, how much it was processed, how much it was fried or overcooked, etc.

This is a skill, a form of meditation really, that you don't just acquire overnight. It takes practice, and there will be times when you forget to eat mindfully, and there will be starts and stops. But with practice and attention, you can become very good at this.

We'll go more into how to learn to eat mindfully in the video, How to Learn Mindful Eating.

The Benefits of Mindful Eating

The benefits of eating mindfully are amazing, and it's important to know these benefits as you consider the practice.

I'm going to go over just a handful of the most important benefits, though as you learn the practice I'm sure you'll find many more. Many of these are from personal experience, but many of them are supported by research (I've linked to some of the research when I had the link handy).

My favorite benefits:

1. You learn to eat when you're hungry, and stop when you're sated.

2. You learn to really taste food, and to enjoy the taste of healthy food.

3. You slowly start to realize that unhealthy food isn't as tasty as you thought, nor does it make you feel very good.

4. As a result of the above three points, you will often lose weight if you're overweight.

5. You begin to sort through the emotional issues you have around food and eating. This takes a bit longer, but it's important.

6. Social overeating can become less of a problem - you can eat mindfully while socializing, with practice, and not overeat.

7. You begin to enjoy the eating experience more, and as a result enjoy life more, when you're more present.

8. It can become a mindfulness ritual you look forward to.

9. You learn how food affects your mood and energy throughout the day.

10. You learn what food best fuels your exercise and work and play.

Again, there are other benefits, but these are some of the most important, in my experience.

Further reading

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Mindful Eating: What is Mindful Eating? : zen habits

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There was a time when I stuffed my face with junk food and fast food on a daily basis. I was overweight and unhealthy, addicted to snacks and fried and fatty food, and would mindlessly overeat. This wasn't a healthy way of eating.

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Here is a link to an interesting article I found that breaks down mindful eating. I think it's an easy way to get started on mindfulness.

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I can still remember the raisin from that first mindfulness class I took in a family friend's basement office, almost twenty years ago. I myself was only 20 years old and that first awe-inspiring taste of that raisin onward, I was hooked on exploring mindfulness. I walked out of the basement promising myself I would eat every meal like I ate that raisin. Fast-forward just a few hours, and I as eating my dinner as mindlessly as ever. I have however kept up with a few mindful meals to myself each month, and been exploring ways to bring more mindfulness, informal mindfulness into daily life.

Eating as mindfully as we do on retreat or in a mindfulness course is not realistic for many of us, especially with families, jobs, and the myriad distractions around us. This is not to mention that our friends, family and colleagues might not have the patience to eat with us as we take five minutes with each bite. So have some self-compassion, and consider formal mindful eating on retreat and special occasions, as well as informal mindful eating in your daily life.

What I want to offer in this piece is what I call more mindful eating, perhaps "informal" mindful eating as opposed to formal mindful eating. Especially during the craziness and stress and extra food of the holidays, that Halloween to New Years stretch in which are more likely to eat mindlessly than mindfully. Here are six simple guidelines to keep in mind to discern between mindless and (more) mindful eating, and bring our bodies and minds back together.

1) Let your body catch up to your brain
Eating rapidly past full and ignoring your body's signals vs. slowing down and eating and stopping when your body says its full.
Slowing down is one of the best ways we can get our mind and body to communicate what we really need for nutrition. The body actually sends its satiation signal about 20 minutes after the brain, which is why we often unconsciously overeat. But, if we slow down, you can give your body a chance to catch up to your brain and hear the signals to eat the right amount. Simple ways to slow down might just include follow many of your grandmother's manners, like sitting down to eat, chewing each bite 25 times (or more), setting your fork down between bites, and all those old manners that are maybe not as pointless as they seemed. What are some ways you can slow down eating and listen more deeply to your body's signals

2) Know your body's personal hunger signals
Are you responding to an emotional want or responding to your body's needs?
Often we listen first to our minds, but like many mindfulness practices, we might discover more wisdom by tuning into our bodies first. Rather than just eating when we get emotional signals, which may be different for each of us, be they stress, sadness, frustration, loneliness or even just boredom, we can listen to our bodies. Is your stomach growling, energy low, or feeling a little lightheaded? Too often, we eat when our mind tells us to, rather than our bodies. True mindful eating is actually listening deeply to our body's signals for hunger. Ask yourself: What are your body's hunger signals, and what are your emotional hunger triggers?

3) Develop healthy eating environments
Eating alone and randomly vs. Eating with others at set times and places
Another way that we eat mindlessly is by wandering around looking through cabinets, eating at random times and places, rather than just thinking proactively about our meals and snacks. This slows us down for one thing, but prevents us from developing healthy environmental cues about what and how much to eat, and wires our brains for new cues for eating that not always ideal. (do you really want to create a habit to eat every time you get in the car, or other situations?) Sure, we all snack from time to time, but it can boost both your mind and body's health, not to mention greatly helping your mood and sleep schedule to eat at consistent times and places. Yes, that means sitting down (at a table!), putting food on a plate or bowl, not eating it out of the container, and using utensils not our hands. It also helps to eat with others, not only are you sharing and getting some healthy connection, but you also slow down and can enjoy the food and conversation more, and we take our cues from our dinner partner, not over or undereating out of emotion.

When we put our food away in cabinets and the fridge, we also are more likely to eat healthy amounts of healthy food, so consider what's around, where it is and whether it's in sight. If we limit eating to kitchen and dining room, we are also less likely to eat mindlessly or eat while multitasking. When food is around, we eat it. And food, not always the healthiest, is often around at the holidays.

There are many reasons that the raisin eating it is such a powerful exercise, but one is that when we slow down and eat healthy foods like raisins, we often enjoy them more than the story we tell ourselves about healthy foods.

You don't have to plan your food down to each bite, and its important to be flexible especially at special occasions, but just be aware of the fact that you might be changing your eating habits at different times of year or for different occasions. And when you do plan ahead, you are also more likely to eat the amount your body needs in that moment than undereating and indulging later, or overeating and regretting it later.

Classic advice is to also not shop when hungry, but the middle path applies here as well. A psychological effect known as "moral licensing" has shown that shoppers who buy kale are more likely to then head to the alcohol or ice cream section than those who don't. We seem to think that our karma will balance out and we can "spend" it on junk food, or other less than ideal behaviors.

4) Eat food not stories
Eating foods that are emotionally comforting vs. eating foods that are nutritionally healthy
This is another tricky balance, and ideally we can find nourishing foods that are also satisfying and comforting. But think back to that first mindful raisin. Did that seem appealing before you tried it? There are many reasons that the raisin eating it is such a powerful exercise, but one is that when we slow down and eat healthy foods like raisins, we often enjoy them more than the story we tell ourselves about healthy foods. As we practice eating healthier and a greater variety foods, we are less inclined to binge on our comfort foods, and more inclined to enjoy healthy foods, ultimately finding many foods mentally and physically satisfying as opposed to just a few.

5) Consider the life cycle of your food
Considering where food comes from vs. thinking of food as an end product.
Unless you are a hunter-gatherer or sustenance farmer, we have all become ever more disconnected from our food in recent years. Many of us don't even consider where a meal comes from beyond the supermarket packaging. This is a loss, because eating offers an incredible opportunity to connect us more deeply to the natural world, the elements and to each other.

When we pause to consider all of the people involved in the meal that has arrived on your plate, from the loved ones (and yourself) who prepared it, to those who stocked the shelves, to those who planted and harvested the raw ingredients, to those who supported them, it is hard to not feel both grateful and interconnected. Be mindful of the water, soil, and other elements that were part of its creation as you sit down to eat whatever you are eating. You can reflect on the cultural traditions that brought you this food, the recipes generously shared from friends, or brought from a distant place and time to be a handed down in the family.

As you consider everything that went into the meal, it becomes effortless to experience and express gratitude to all of the people who gave their time and effort, the elements of the universe that contributed their share, our friends or ancestors who shared recipes and even the beings who may have given their lives to a part of creating this meal. With just a little more mindfulness like this, we may begin to make wiser choices about sustainability and health in our food, not just for us but for the whole planet.

6) Attend to your plate
Distracted eating vs. just eating
Multitasking and eating is a recipe for not being able to listen deeply to our body's needs and wants. We've all had the experience of going to the movies with our bag full of popcorn, and before the coming attractions are over, we are asking who ate all of our popcorn. When we are distracted, it becomes harder to listen to our body's signals about food and other needs. With your next meal, try single-tasking and just eating, with no screens or distractions besides enjoying the company you are sharing a meal and conversation with.

So while formal mindful eating practices may be what we think of when we look back on a mindfulness course or retreat we attended, the reality is that we do live, and eat, in the real world which is a busy place. But we can take the insights gained from our formal practice- slowing down, listening to our bodies, doing one thing at a time, making even small rituals, and considering all that went into our meal on a more regular basis and bring more informal mindfulness to our daily meals.

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I can still remember the raisin from that first mindfulness class I took in a family friend's basement office, almost twenty years ago. I myself was only 20 years old and that first awe-inspiring taste of that raisin onward, I was hooked on exploring mindfulness.

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Mindful Eating vs. Dieting + Mindful Eating Exercise 

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Mindful Eating vs. Dieting + Mindful Eating Exercise 

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This picture gives someone a brief, simpler understanding of mindful eating. I attached the mindful eating in comparison to dieting because I think some might view mindful eating as a way to deprive yourself, but really it is to enrich yourself.

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This is my favorite brownie recipe, since it makes really fudgy and chewy brownies.  I think if I were to mindfully eat anything, I would want to do it with these brownies.  (I recommend leaving them in the fridge for a while because the butter flavor comes out more).
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-chewy-brownies-223699

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Below I will attach an interesting article from the New York Times about mindful eating chocolates, seeing as it is something most of us enjoy and will make mindful eating easier. :)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/well/mind/how-to-be-mindful-while-eating-chocolate.html

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A few good tips to introducing mindfulness to your meal time.