Making Sense(s) Of Eating

The key to mindful eating is to stay radically present, and there’s a quick (and fun!) way of doing this with your food through your 5 senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, tasting. So many of us are in such a rush to get on with our lives that we are rarely staying present with our food, but let me remind you that we are one of the only animals on this planet who have senses as strong as we have. Why shouldn’t we USE them to better embrace and truly enjoy all that life has to offer?

Did you know that our taste buds only really TASTE food for the first few bites? After that, we’re just eating to eat, not to taste, so if you’re missing those first few bites, you might as well be missing the whole enchilada! What a shame to deny yourself that flavor, my friends.

All that said, today we’re focusing on slowing down, taking a beat as we eat, and really ENJOYING our food. After all, not only do relationships need attention, but they should be enjoyed as well, and that goes for our relationship with food too. Do you get pumped about a relationship that isn’t fun, pleasurable or interesting? Yeah, me neither. 

For an upcoming meal or snack, use the word bank of page XX, and follow the guided sensory eating experience. Be sure to journal your reflections, too! How was this experience different than eating on-the-go? Did it feel more intimate or nourishing?

Today’s Activity:

Let’s eat with your senses…

Reference the Sensory Word Bank below to help with specific word choices.

Step 1:

Make note of where your body and brain are before you eat. Even if you decide that you aren’t hungry, don’t judge yourself, it’s fine. Being able to be mindful is the first step.

• Yes, I’m hungry

• No, I’m not hungry.

• If you aren’t hungry, can you identify why you’ve chosen to eat? (ex. I’m bored, I’m sad, I’m happy, I’m feeling anxious, I need a sense of community…)

Then I want you to rate how happy you are in the current moment.  1 is not very happy. 10 is very happy. Being able to identify your starting point may help you identify patterns moving forward (i.e. I crave this type of food when I’m sad…)

Step 2:

Look at the food you’ve chosen. Take a moment and describe what it looks like. Once you have done this:

• Does looking at this food remind you of anything or anyone?

• Are there any immediate memories that come up for you?

• Can you envision all the people and processes this food took to get into your house and on your plate? (i.e. farming/processing plants, etc.)

• When you look at it, do you notice any sensations in your body (watering mouth/rumbling stomach/excitement, etc.)

Step 3:

Pick the food up. Feel it. Describe how it feels to hold it and touch it. Engage with it.

• Is it cold or hot? Rough or smooth? Is it heavy and dense or light and airy?

• What does feeling this food make you think of?

• How does it make you feel?

Step 4:

Smell it.

• What does it smell like?

• Does smelling it bring up any memories for you? Of places or people (these can be unrelated or not).

• When you smell it, do you notice any sensations in your body (watering mouth/rumbling stomach/excitement, etc.)

• Do you notice any changes in your emotional state?

Step 5:

Listen to it. This step might occur at a variety of stages of eating your food. If you’re cooking your food at home, you might hear it sizzle or boil or make sounds during cooking. If this was not part of the process, maybe you hear the sounds when you open a package or unseal a can? Perhaps there is a particular sound when you actually go to bite into the food (a crunch, for instance).

• What sounds can you identify?

Step 6:

Now go ahead and bite into it. Before you start chewing, let it sit on your tongue and get a sense of the mouthfeel.

• Does it dissolve on your tongue?

• Does it start to heat up because of its spice?

• Can you taste it simply by letting it sit there?

When you start to chew, how does it feel? Chewy? Soft? Grainy? Dense?

• What flavors can you identify?

• Do the flavors taste organic or fabricated? Savory or sweet?

Now let’s think about whether this food brings up any memories or thoughts while you’re eating it. If it’s a memory, what age are you or what time in your life?

Step 7:

Now let’s rate how you’re feeling now. (1 is not very happy. 10 is very happy.)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

What are your thoughts? Anything you want to comment on?