Aging Backward Challenge 10 Winners (click here)

Do I even Like food?

Do you even LIKE food??

 

I guess I DON’T like food:/

 

Recently I was reading a book and it made me question whether or not I really like food?!  I realized that the way I was eating did not line up with my deep love and appreciation for FOOD!

 

I have a real struggle with INHALING my food in all of 30 seconds.  It is insane the amount of calories I can put down and hardly even TASTE it!  Often after meals I would have severe abdominal distress because I ate like a wild animal!  This is not the way someone who LOVES food acts.  They enjoy and savor each bite, pause between bites and actually think and feel what they are experiencing with each taste.  Someone who loves food acts like they are a food critic and could write a lovely article about what they just ate.  

 

There are several reasons why I eat/ate fast.  The fact of the matter is now none of those reasons are even true in my life anymore. It is just plain HABBIT for me to eat fast.  In order for me to break the HABBIT I need to PRACTICE.  Now this is something that I have wanted to change for years and I have tried many things- Eating with chop sticks, using only my non dominate hand to eat with, chew each bit 30-40x, use small silverware, use no silverware and eat like a dog (just kidding but I have thought about it)!

--For those of you going “I have no choice, my job, my whatever doesn’t allow this”.  I get it.  I worked night shift in an ER for years (some nights I went to the bathroom downed a cup of coffee and inhaled a granola bar in the same 30 seconds).  I do challenge you to at least ONE meal a day that isn’t rushed!  All of us on most days deserve to find this time!

 

As of recently this has been something I have really tackled.  And let me say I am far from having it down pat, but I am sure as heck am a lot closer!   

 

So WHYam I working on this so hard? 

--MANY REASONS--

-Improved digestion

-Stop feeling SO sluggish after meals

-Weight loss or easier to maintain weight loss

-Wanting my daughter to see healthy eating habits (I don’t want to teach her to be a plate licker like I was..Ok sometimes still am ..hehe)

-To be present and alert in more moments of my life.

-To STOP overeating

-Because I am worth taking the time to enjoy a meal

And on and on and on

 

So HOWam I making progress?

PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! 

If you want to be better at something, what do you do? PRACTICE!!  Before, I would try something for one meal and expect to have a divine realization of how great it is to eat slow and be cured.  Finally I realized that wasn’t going to happen.  The habit was too engrained into my everyday life.

 

Here is how I tackled eating fast.

 

I SET A GOAL and I got a NON FOOD REWARD for reaching it! (Money… which I bought a fitbit with J)

 

In one month I was going to eat 15 meals SLOW.   I had to play around with what this meant for me and find something I would actually do that would produce results.

 

I chose my lunch meal to work on.  It is just Anna and I and she already knows I am a bit special.  But try to find one meal that you feel safe playing around with how you eat.  You are worth the practice and your gut and waistline will thank you later!

 

I downloaded a free timer app on my phone.  But you could use a stopwatch or gymboss or whatever timer you can dig up.  I played around with the timing for the first couple of meals. I started with everyminuteI could takeonebite.  I found that was too long and I was taking ginormous bits to help fill the time.  This kind of defeated the purpose!  The happy spot I settled on is 36 seconds (don’t laugh, that is just the magic number and it happens to be how old I am).  I have time to thoroughly chew and pause before the next bite.

 

SO HERE IS A STEP BY STEP OF WHAT A PRATICE MEAL LOOKS LIKE FOR ME (play around with it though…we are all different)

 

-I guestimate on how much it will take to comfortably fill me (knowing I don’t have to finish it or I can have more if I am not full)

 

-I pause for a moment before digging in to ground myself.  I usually take 2 or 3 really good deep breaths from my belly(gosh those feel amazing) I also take this time to give thanks for the food and my day.

 

-Remove as many distractions as possible.  I used to be a face-book skimmer while eating but I found I don’t even realize I have eaten when this distracts me!

 

-Start the timer. Mine is set for 36 seconds per bite.

 

-Choose the best bite on the plate to eat first.  Try to make it a size that fits nice in your mouth and doesn’t over stuff it. 

 

-Experience each bite!  What do you like about it, taste it, and really taste it.  Once, Jeremy blindfolded me and took me on a date I noticed while I was eating that things taste different on different areas of my tongue.   Move the bit around so you get to have the full flavor.  (yes we are weird, we had our first blind date after 7 years of marriage..hehe)

 

-DON’T be preparing the next bit while chewing!  I find that when I am doing this I am thinking about the next bite to dive into and NOT even TASTING the current bite!

 

-PAUSE.  I have my timer set up as an interval and after 12 bites I check in to see if I am full or approaching full. 

 

How do I determine full? (This can mean something different for everyone)

I try to ask myself 2 questions.

  • Is the food still enjoyable, does it taste as good?
  • If Anna wanted to go out and play right now would I double over with a side stich?

 

-After my 12thbite I become even more mindful of how full I want to be at the end of the meal. Sometimes if it is more of a special occasion and I don’t mind being a little full. But if I have something active to do and I don’t want to have a lot of extra digestion going on I stop sooner. Each day, each person and each goal is a little different. (I have found I rarely go past 20 bites and feel fully satisified and not deprived)

 

-Journal.  At the end of the meal I wrote down what I learned, what I liked and didn’t like, and what might work better. 

 

After my 15 meals in ONE month I noticed significant changes in ALL of my meals and my approach to food! The second month was even more significant and am noticing mindful eating becoming more and more instinctual!

 

I hope this was helpful to you all…

Post any tips or ideas that have worked for you or you are excited to try!

 

Have a blessed day!!

 

Sarah

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