Are You Eating on Autopilot? How to catch and change the habits and be more mindful!

Dish of healthy food options

Ever find yourself sitting down with a plate of food, only to realize halfway through that you've barely tasted a thing? I certainly know I have! Distracted eating has almost become a norm in our fast-paced, multitasking world. Between juggling emails, running from this responsibility to that, scrolling through social media, or zoning out to Netflix, meals become something we rush through rather than enjoy. But what if we could flip the script?

Enter mindful eating—a practice designed to bring awareness and enjoyment back to every bite.

What Is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is about slowing down and being fully present during meals. It’s not just about what you eat; that's definitely a key aspect, but it's more about how you eat. By paying attention to the colors, textures, flavors, and how food is nourishing your body, you can learn how to identify your hunger and fullness signals. You can also develop a healthier relationship with food in general and transform your eating habits. This isn't just another fleeting diet trend—it’s a holistic approach to eating that positively impacts your body, mind, and emotions.

The Benefits of Mindful Eating

1. Better relationship with food: Of the numerous benefits, this one tops the list in my book! When you stay mindful of the food you are putting in your mouth and why you are even eating, you can develop a healthier relationship with food. You'll also quickly realize other reasons you are eating that are not at all hunger-related.

2. Better Digestion: When we rush through meals or eat in a state of stress, our digestive system suffers. Mindful eating promotes relaxation, allowing your body to optimize digestion, which can help reduce bloating, discomfort, and indigestion.

3. Enhanced Satisfaction: How often do you eat beyond the point of being full because you’re distracted or not paying attention to your body’s cues? By tuning into your hunger signals and savoring each bite, you’ll naturally eat the right amount and feel more satisfied with smaller portions.

4. Fewer Cravings: Mindfully eating can inadvertently help curb those mid-day cravings.

5. Increased Mindfulness in Life: Developing mindful eating habits spills over into other areas of life. When you practice being present at the table, it’s easier to become more aware and focused in other daily activities, like work, relationships, and even self-care.

   
   

6. Improved Self-Esteem: Mindful eating can help you feel empowered about your food and can potentially improve your self-esteem.

   
   

7. Weight Management: If weight loss is your goal, mindful eating can help in that aspect, too. By listening to your body and actual hunger cues, you could find yourself eating less food overall. And you might find yourself picking up those healthier choices.

Common Roadblocks on the Path to Mindful Eating

While the benefits of mindful eating are clear, the journey isn’t always easy. With every good intention I've had over the years, I know I've also had countless times where I've found myself in the kitchen devouring something faster than I realized. Let's look at some of these challenges:

1. Distractions: They are truly everywhere! And before we know it, mindless scrolling on social media can lead to mindless eating (yes, there are connections here!). Distractions aren't always that obvious, either. How about that work project? Ever find yourself in the kitchen avoiding it? What about when you have nothing to do? Is that one of the moments you found yourself bored snacking? The key here is staying in control of you and your thoughts and paying attention to where they are!

   
   

2. Overindulging or Emotional Eating: Let's face it—we have all been there! You think or feel something, and bam, you're back in the kitchen! Stress, boredom, or sadness can often trigger mindless snacking. Using food as an emotional crutch can undermine our body’s natural hunger signals, making it difficult to eat mindfully.

   
   

3. Habit: Have you ever tracked your food or eating habits? It's a very interesting exercise that I highly recommend. You may quickly see that truly habitual eating may be the culprit that is sabotaging your progress.

   
   

4. Lack of Planning: I know, I know—we all have busy lives, right? And how often have you told yourself, "I don't have time to plan ahead?" Perhaps I'll address this one in a future post. For now, ask yourself what simple things you can do to have food prepared. Trust me, friends. As someone who has been food prepping for a LONG time, it doesn't have to take long. I can have my meats ready for the following week in a matter of 60-90 minutes and be on with my day.

   
   

5. Lack of desire or motivation: This one could probably go to the top of the list for many. When you've been on the rollercoaster for so long, you may not feel that there is any way out of it. Eating healthy, removing snacking, and mindfully eating can feel like "great, more to do, right?" The key here is to change your mind about how you look at things in order to help make things more effortless!

How to practice more mindful eating - Changing habits

To really embrace mindful eating, we have to change our habits in more ways than one! That said, it's important to remember that breaking habits involves changing what might be long-standing behaviors for you. It's critical that you give yourself time to change! You didn't build the habits overnight, and you are likely not going to break them overnight.

1. Start tracking your habits, thoughts, and mood around food: Awareness is essential! If we don't know where we are and why we do the things we do, it's hard to know what we need instead. I often tell clients to track for a week before changing anything. It will give you a lot of information about yourself. If you are looking for a food journal, check this one out.

   
   

   

   Food/Mood Journal

   
   
   
   

2. Plan ahead, even if it's the night before: If you can't get over your story about not having time to meal prep, start by simply planning the night before what your meals will be the following day. It can be a simple exercise that doesn't take more than 5 minutes, and it saves your brain the decision-making at the moment, which can often trip up our goals!

   
   

3. Get an accountability partner: I'm not going to touch on why it happens, but I can tell you, I've seen it time and again: When we tell someone our goals or tell them what we are doing, we are often more accountable to that person than ourselves.

   
   

4. Actively pay attention to your Hunger Cues: We all have them, and often, they are not at all related to being hungry. It's time to start paying attention to when they show up. When they do, ask yourself, "What do I really need right now?" You might need water to move, emotional support, or something else altogether. The more you start asking and learning your cues, the more you will realize when you are actually hungry versus something else.

   
   

5. Practice Gratitude and pay attention to what food does for your body: This one might sound a bit hippy-dippity to some of you, but trust me, it works! It could also help you to slow down and catch that full feeling more effectively.

Take Your First Step Toward a Healthier Relationship with Food

It's truly a journey, my friends. I've been on this one for 47 years now, and although I haven't perfected it, I certainly am further ahead of my 23-year-old self. Things evolve; you evolve. Pick where it feels best to get started and take one little step. A week from now, a month from now, a year from now, you will be SO glad you did!

Mindful eating is not about being perfect or never slipping up. It’s about cultivating awareness, being kind to yourself, and approaching each meal as an opportunity to nourish both your body and your mind. Start by setting aside distractions and committing to being fully present at your next meal. You might be surprised by how much more enjoyable—and satisfying—your food becomes.

As always, stay well and Be KIND to yourself!