Sea Change 2014 - Week 2: Mindful Eating

Another habit that I am working on cultivating this month, along with drinking my litre of water in the morning, is mindful eating. In Sea Change, Leo suggests two minutes of Mindful Eating. In a bid to get healthier and release some excess weight on my body that is no longer serving me, John and I have started eating our meals with cake forks. I have a bit of a 'thing' for wee things and cake forks are one of the ultimate utensils in my mind. No only are they a tiny fork, a lot of them have a little built-in knife. Woot woot! (As it happens, I seem to love multi-purpose utensils. I also really like sporks, but that's a story for another day.) 

Soooo anyhow, back to mindful eating: each meal I sit with my food on a small plate or bowl with a little fork. I focus on each mouthful, savouring the taste, the smell, the sensations. I feel how the food sits with my body, whether I have any resistance to it. I feel when I am starting to feel full and I stop eating. 

A friend read that the ideal mouthful size for best chewing and digestion is about the size of a cherry. This is perfect with a cake fork, even if you load it up, it never exceeds this. Of course if I was shoveling food in with the wee fork I would still over-eat, but the mindfulness of purposefully eating each bite and tasting it has stopped me from doing this for the most part. If I am really hungry the first few mouthfuls can be a little rushed, but I am practising slowing down and being aware of this. 

Leo suggests mindful eating for one meal a day, but as I have already practised that, I have upped my goal to all food that I consume. It's really making a difference and I really want to continue with this and ensure it becomes a firm habit!