Eat Drink and Be Mindful
It’s been a while since my last blog post and it feels so good to be back. I dropped off when Sarah led us all through the amazing Sugar Challenge which was well worth the challenge to rediscover how much better I feel without sugar in my system, making the choice so clear. For a few weeks now though I’ve been waiting for inspiration to hit so I could write something worthwhile for this blog and in the process was reminded of something important. Namely, waiting passively for inspiration to land out of nowhere is not always the most effective tactic.
At the end of the latest Transformative Nutrition course we were discussing ways to keep motivation alive, and seeking out sources of inspiration was one of them. Being inspired is actually an experience we can be responsible to create. Inspiring is not simply a passive experience, but an active one. When we attend a workshop, lecture or film that calls to us, when we pick up a new book, try a new activity, or visit an engaging website we feel drawn to, we are engaged with life and inspiration is sure to follow.
So finally instead of waiting, I started reading. And I stumbled upon an article in the April ‘O’ magazine highlighting the latest book by one of my favorite authors on the topic of emotional eating, Geneen Roth. In an excerpt from her book, Women, Food and God, which I cannot wait to read, she brings up a topic that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and want to share.
She points out people who insist that the reason they overeat is simply that they like food. I hear that all the time, but what she reminds us is that “When you really like something you pay attention to it….You take time with it. You want to be present for every second of the rapture…But overeating does not lead to rapture it leads to burping and farting…That’s not love, that’s suffering.” I love this, because I’ve been thinking a lot about mindful eating and really wanting to practice savoring my food more frequently, because I do love it. It’s been really great to catch myself about to eat standing up or on the go, and remind myself to slow it down and sit or wait until I’ve reached my destination so I can enjoy my meal and not miss it.
I was also inspired by one of my course participants who had noticed that while she was eating well during the week, over the weekend she was overeating by grazing constantly. Food was not special, intentional, or particularly enjoyed in there. She decided to start giving her weekend menu more attention, preparing special weekend meals, setting the table with fine china and allowing eating to be a real source of pleasure.
If we continue on the path that Sarah inspired with the Sugar Challenge, I want to invite a Mindful Eating & Pleasure Challenge. Do you think for 30 days you could eat sitting down all the time, no matter what? Or without the TV or radio or computer on in front of you? I invite you to call out the most obvious way you distract yourself from the true pleasure of your food and to eliminate that distraction or shift your practice to make it more mindful and enjoyable. My personal commitment is to only eat sitting down without exception for the month of April, to tell myself a new story, that I do have the time, that there is no rush and I am worth it. What commitment will you make?
