Have you ever been eating and went to grab that last bite and realized there was nothing left? You think to yourself, “where did that go? I know didn’t eat all of it, did I?”
That is mindless eating. It is putting your hand to mouth and not thinking about what you are doing.
Mindful: Aware of something
Mindless: Not thinking of or concerned
Let’s look at some examples of mindless eating.
- Do you eat by the clock? Do you have to eat lunch and/or dinner, whether you are hungry or not, at a certain time of day because that is how you do things?
- Do you eat out of the bag or box?
- Do you eat standing up in the kitchen?
- Do you eat in the car?
- Do you eat while watching television?
- Are you a member of the clean plate club?
- Do you eat too fast?
- Do you constantly sample while cooking or baking?
Mindless eating becomes a habit that is hard to break.
For example, I am a member of the clean plate club. Like many of us, I was brought up to eat everything on my plate, whether I was hungry or not, whether I liked it or not. We didn’t waste anything around my house, and certainly not food.
As an adult, I didn’t think much of my club membership, as by then I was preparing my own food and controlling my own portion sizes. I still cleaned my plate, but by then I knew how much that plate should contain.
It wasn’t until I had kids of my own did my clean plate membership get reinstated. I realized this when my kids were little. I never made my kids clean their plates. Instead, I applied my professional knowledge and accepted the fact that if they stop eating, then they are done. I never made them take “one more bite”. I wanted my kids to be in tune to their hunger and stop eating when they were satisfied.
The ironic thing is, I failed to apply that same professional knowledge to myself, and it wasn’t until I began to notice a weight gain that I came to the realization that that not only was I cleaning my plate, I was cleaning their plates as well!
When I became aware of what I was doing, and the effect it was having, it was time to work hard to stop that long-ingrained habit.
Some successful tactics I have used to get this mindset under control:
- I will use a smaller plate for myself at mealtime. A smaller plate makes it look like I have a lot of food and that leads to satisfaction.
- After a meal, I don’t touch the kids plates. I have them scrape their plate into the garbage and then put that plate in the dishwasher. Not being involved in the cleaning prevents me from putting extra calories in my mouth.
- Restaurants often provide way too much food for a single meal, so I will order a small portion when available or I will ask for a to go container before I ever start eating and put a portion of my meal in the container for later. Out of sight out of mind.
Do you have a mindless eating habit?
Most of us do. Where do you eat? Are you standing up in the kitchen? Are you laying on the couch watching TV? Your environment may be contributing to this mindless habit.
How can you change your ways?
For the rest of 2020, I want you to focus on mindful eating. Be aware of what you are eating, your hunger, your satisfaction, and how much you are eating.
Enjoy the food around you and those with whom you share it.