An afternoon orange is my daily call to mindfulness. 
It’s the perfect little bundle – full of vitamins, bursting with juice that tastes like sunshine, and can be easily experienced with all 5 senses:
- You can see the striking orange color, the tiny pores on the outside.
- You can feel the peel beneath your fingernails; then the sweet juice running down your hand.
- You can hear the coarse peel separating from the rest.
- You can smell the bright, uplifting scent that bursts from the peel as you lift it back.
- Best of all, you can taste its citrusy, happy goodness.
How often do you experience food in this way, with all 5 senses?
I can tell ya how many times I did this weekend: ZE-RO.
I ate pizza, pancakes, ice cream, fast food and more handfuls of M&Ms than I care to remember (why would my dad buy the biggest bag he could find – and then leave it on the counter?!)
All of this, devoured as mindlessly as humanly possible. I’m not sure if I was even hungry for half of it – but in my mouth it went. Again, and again and again. Damn those M&Ms, seriously – peanut AND plain? Like I could choose between the two.
Realizing the error of my gluttonous ways, as I sat down to my orange today, I tried to be mindful.
I tried… and then I started thinking of this post and daydreaming. Until my orange shot juice all over me and just barely missed my eye.
Oh nature, I love your gentle reminders.
Thanks to my feisty orange, I finished my snack with total presence.
Mindful eating is SUPER important. Why?
- When you’re paying attention to what you eat, you eat the right amount. Not too much, not too little – just the amount that is right for your body at that time. You feel when you’re hungry, eat slowly, feel when you’re full, and then you stop. It’s hard to binge recklessly when you’re mindful of how your stomach feels.
- You really taste your food. I ate some of my favorite junk food this weekend, but how much did I really taste it? Not a whole lot, honestly. I sped through it like it was a million dollar contest. Had I slowed down, been present to what I was eating, I would’ve really experienced all the flavors.
- It brings you joy! Good food makes me happy, but not when I’m not paying any attention to it. Really experiencing and appreciating the food definitely increases the happiness factor.
- It improves your relationship with food. Clearly, my unhealthy food fest over the weekend does not demonstrate a healthy relationship with food. I used and abused it – to kill time, keep my hands busy and satiate cravings. That’s not what food is for. Food is for nourishing you. I’m not saying you should adopt the “eat to live, don’t live to eat” philosophy – to me, that’s crazy talk. If you can do it, good for you! But I just love food too damn much to not enjoy it, to treat it merely as fuel. It IS fuel – joyful, yummy, nourishing fuel. So when you pay attention to it – appreciate it, eat until you’re appropriately full, but don’t obsess over it and binge your little heart out – then you’re establishing a much healthier relationship with it.
- It improves your mindfulness practice. Eating is something we all do every day, several times a day. If you use it as a reminder to be present, there are several built-in checkpoints throughout the day. Perfect!
There are tons of good reasons to be more mindful when eating, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. As you can tell from my bingeing bonanza, slipping into old habits is.
But there were periods of time that I did eat mindfully, and the difference is incredible – so I’m gettin’ back at it. Here’s how:
How can you practice mindful eating?
- Start slowly. Pick one meal a day to be completely present for – once that gets comfy, add in another. You get it. I’m starting with breakfast – should be easy enough, as I eat most mornings with my love. I don’t mind being present for that. Dinner’s gonna be the challenge for me – I typically like to sink into the couch and shovel it in while I watch “Chopped.” So I’ll work up to that.
- Get rid of distractions. Put your phone away, turn off the TV, hide the books and magazines. This is all about you and your food – nobody else is invited to this party.
- Make it special and start a pre-feasting ritual: light a candle, put on soft music, ring a bell, whatever. Some of these sound date-worthy, I know. Do what you’re comfortable with. The point is to let it be a kind of transition; doing this action means you’re about to sit down, tune in and enjoy your food.
- Thank the food. Say a prayer, if that’s your thing. Or simply recognize how lucky you are to have that food and feel grateful. When you stop to appreciate what’s in front of you, it’s pretty impossible to scarf it down mindlessly.
- Pay attention to the 5 senses. How does your food look? Is it visually appealing? How does it feel, both in your hands and on your tongue? How is the taste – sweet; salty; bitter? What’s the smell like? How does it sound as you eat it? Really pay attention and fully experience the meal with all 5 senses.
- Chew enough. Westchester University of Pennsylvania suggests 30 to 50 times per bite. When you chew each bite thoroughly, you’re giving yourself a chance to really taste it (and improve digestion – bonus!) Plus, when you chew more, you eat at a slower pace, giving your body time to release the “I’m full!” signal and prevent you from overeating.
- Pay attention to your stomach. How does it feel to be hungry? Notice how you feel as you eat, as the sensation subsides and fullness takes its place.
- Watch your mind. What’re you thinking about? Is your mind focused on the food or is it wandering off to your to-do list? If you are focused on the food, what are those thoughts like? Are you judging? - “I’m sooo bad for eating this.” -If so, let go of the judgment. You’re not bad for eating a brownie. It might not be the healthiest food ever, but eating it changes nothing about your character. It’s just food.
- Take your time. Chewing enough and paying attention will definitely help with this, but in addition, make a conscious effort to slow down. It’s tough to do when your to-do list is reeling with every mouthful, but do it anyway, just for this one meal. The rest of the day will come, regardless of how quickly you eat your food. Let that go, become present and remind yourself that it’s not a race – it’s an experience.
Mindful eating is really about being present and fully experiencing the meal, as well as your mind and body’s reactions to it.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Simple, yes.
Easy? No. It’s oh sooo tempting to dive into a bowl of ice cream in front of the television, or flip through a magazine while you eat lunch. I know. It’s habit.
Habits take time to change. Don’t expect it to be easy, or feel good. In fact, it’ll probably be a little uncomfortable at first.
Push through it. Start small. Enjoy the benefits.
Join me at breakfast – or the meal of your choosing – and lemme know how it goes!
Do you eat mindfully? How do you think you’d benefit if you did? I’d love to hear your opinions and experiences in the comments!
Peace, love and a steaming cup of Zen,
- K
Hey Kaylee, I totally get this post because I have tried and am totally bad at eating mindfully! I know . . . it’s a practice. Sigh.
You covered all of the upsides really well. I think, also, that one benefit to mindful eating is that because you’re actually TASTING your food, you have a better idea of when you’re full and whether you actually LIKE the food or not. One of my colleagues pointed out to me that after you’ve eaten ice cream for awhile, you’re taste buds get numb and you can’t really taste it anymore. When I slowed the spoon with ice cream going into my mouth like a bullet train for a bit, I realized she’s right. What’s the fun of food if you can’t taste it?
Sometimes I watch my partner eat and I quietly say to her, “Take a breath. Taste your food.” She appreciates the reminder.
Where did we get these habits, anyway?
That’s funny, Bobbi – I actually wrote a post about a disappointing hot fudge sundae quite a few months ago. I ate the sundae mindfully and discovered that it wasn’t even that great! As a life-long ice cream fanatic, I was SHOCKED, ha ha. Your friend is so right – you really do stop tasting it after a while. Amazing what we miss when we just shovel it in, right?
I don’t know where we get ‘em, but they’re pretty annoying. I WANT to eat mindfully…but there’s a part of me that really doesn’t want to at the same time. So I’m pretty bad at it too, at least I have been. But that’s the beautiful thing about a practice – you can pick it back up at any ol’ time! Starting as soon as your next meal. It’s nice that you remind your partner to eat mindfully – it probably helps you do the same.
You describe perfectly the Cara Cara Orange that I had this morning! Yum yum!
Excellent tips on mindful eating we all need to do this more!
Definitely Lori. I think it’d be a game-changer if we all ate more mindfully…But it’s sooo hard to do! That’s why I’m starting small. Hopefully these tips help everyone else as much as they’ve helped me!
Cara cara orange, eh? Not sure if I’ve ever had one of those. I feel kinda silly for not knowing that kind, actually! I really like the tiny ones, the cuties. Yummmmy. :)
A few months ago, back when I was still a consultant, my boss took us out to a $350 a person dinner. There were seven courses, with a different wine served for each course.
It was heavenly. I felt tingles spontaneously arise throughout my body. I found my eyes closing to focus in on the beautiful combination of taste buds getting activated. I needed to keep watch over my mouth, as it kept on creating a creepy smile.
But you know what? The food sucked. I mean, I hate seafood – and half of the dishes were seafood. Excluding a few of the items, I generally disliked most of what I ate. And yet it was still heavenly.
Because it was so frikken expensive, I was (unintentionally) eating the most mindful meal of my life. So… even though I didn’t like the taste, it was still a super awesome experience! But man is it difficult to do this with normal food. I tried with my breakfast (pancakes), and it worked – I ate less and they tasted better. Still, I can see myself only doing this once in a while, unless I actually set some goals or get accountability. Great tip!
Ha ha ha… I gotta say, picturing your creepy smile amidst a business dinner made me laugh. What a bummer that the food sucked…but how funny that you enjoyed it anyway. We do that, don’t we? It’s easy to be mindful of the things we think have a lot of value – like a $350/person dinner.
But we brush off the value, and therefore the experience, of an everyday meal. Those matter just as much – hell, maybe more – than those once-in-a-while super expensive ones. After all, those meals are the ones that sustain you on a daily basis – why shouldn’t we be present for and appreciate them?
Even if you don’t make it a goal, I’m glad you at least experienced the magic of mindfulness at a regular ol’ breakfast.
Because it’s hard. Yeah, I’m with you – it really is tough! But that’s awesome that you tried it with your pancakes…even more awesome that it worked! Yay!
Hey Kaylee,
This reminds me of some similar posts from Mark’s Daily Apple and Zen Habits about the same topic. That’s a good thing in my book but you take a good spin on a common subject.
I’m normally mindful when I’m eating dessert (deep breaths in with my eyes closed to savor the sweetness) but I need to apply a similar appreciation to the rest of the food I eat. Thanks for the tips and the reminder that mindfulness should be a part of all facets of our lives (and days).
Hey Joel! I’m a huge fan of Zen Habits, so I definitely don’t mind the similarity.
I haven’t seen that particular post; I’ll have to check it out.
No problemo. Happy to help! I just know what mindfulness does for me, so any way I can help people to incorporate it into their lives is good by me. And eating is something I think we all tend to do mindlessly. I’m glad you mindfully eat dessert though – that’s the most important part of the meal!
Read this while slurping down my soup LOL. You make all great points here – and I felt a little guilty as I continued to read and eat, a habit I developed years ago and am loath to break. When else can I catch up on my favorite magazines and blogs?
seriously, though from a health perspective, slow and mindful eating makes a world of difference. Especially because of what you point out – that we notice our satiety point and we are far less likely to overeat.
Thanks for another important reminder Kayee. And btw, you should really check out those Cara Cara oranges. I discovered them this winter and they are delicious! (I think they’re kind of out of season now though, haven’t seen them at the market..)
Ha ha, ohhh Sarah. Slurping and reading? Tsk tsk… Seriously though, just kidding. I still do it all the time (minus breakfast) – it’s a tough habit to break! Especially when those damn M&Ms are still sitting on the counter (seriously?!) Why are the things that’re good for us so hard to do? :
I’m *going* to check out those oranges! If you’re seconding them, they must be worth a taste. While we’re recommending fruit, you should try an Uglifruit if you haven’t. It’s like a sweeter grapefruit – SO yummy!
Ooh. Today is the perfect day for me to read this. I am triyng so hard to get a daily practice going. For some weird reason routines are really hard for me. I do okay for a few days and then I rebel. Your experience is good motivation for me!
Lovely! I’m about to have very late lunch (it’s now 5:19pm) so this is perfect timing for me. I love how you described peeling an orange and some of it ending up under your nails.
That’s one of my favorite parts about peeling an orange! You end up smelling like sunshine the rest of the day.
How did your lunch go? Did ya eat mindfully?
Very late reply. I actually forgot to savor my lunch the day I gave my first comment
Will try to do better later!
The awesome thing about this is that you can start over as soon as your next meal.
I do hope you give it a try!
This just made me realize that I’m the Queen of MindLESS Eating! I’m so ashamed! I LOVE to it, but I realize that I don’t savor it.
I guess its because I keep eating the same stuff every day. I don’t know how to cook… I really better learn now.
Thanks, Kaylee!
Glori, don’t be ashamed! I think this is something we ALL do. And honestly, I love to do it too! There’s nothing better than curling up on the couch, popping on a movie and eating your favorite food. It just feels good! BUT, in my quest for mindful living, I know that eating is a part of that…and that tuning into what I’m doing is important, and can feel good too.
Btw, I don’t really know how to cook either. I thought I did until I met my boyfriend – now HE can cook. Always makin’ me look bad..
lol. But hey, even if you’re eating the same stuff, try eating it in a new way – mindfully. You might feel like you’re eating something totally different. 
Thanks for the encouragement Kaylee!
I’m so glad I read your post!
Will be trying it at break fast!
This is very awesome, with only one objection: I find that is always acceptable to dive into a big bowl of ice cream.
Wellllll okay. I was gonna come up with an argument for this but I really can’t.
I think it’s okay to indulge and just have at it sometimes, like with ice cream. :) It’s all about balance!
Pingback: How Grateful Are You? Interactive Quiz + Seven Strategies for Cultivating Gratitude