mindful eating

[lucas]

Howdy folks,

Lucas here. I've been working on cutting out the junk from my diet lately, and I've noticed that being mindful can be really useful. By 'mindful' I mean stopping and really concentrating on the flavor and texture of what I eat. I'm a terrible sugar-monster, normally, !Splat!but it's interesting to find that when I really focus on the taste of what I'm eating, a vegetable or piece of fruit seems to be just as good as the candy bar my 'inner piglet' is so often calling for. I'm into meditation, and I'm guessing that practising mindfulness sort of shifts you into a different circuit in the brain's neuro-circuitry than the usual pleasure centre... it's funny to find that sweets only give me that pleasure 'kick' when I'm only half paying attention, though... it's as if I only get the 'high' because I'm semi-oblivious anyway... Have any other sweet-toothed types out there noticed this?

Hugs,
Lucas

[Tussiemussies]

Hi Lucas,

At times I have practiced different forms of meditation but not mindfulness...I read a book on it once but use other techniques as observation. So I didn't try it.

That's a really interesting observation that you've made that when you re in a state of mindfulness you are more aware, coming from a different area of the brain and a piece of fruit is just as satisfying as some chocolate would be. I have noticed that whatever we do makes habits then the mind and body crave that habit, usually for the chemicals that are released from the adrenal system or the brain etc.
If you keep doing your mindfulness it will become a habit of your brain (build neuropathways) and then you will be free from you other brain mode that grabs for the junk food for the chemical high or other pleasure you get from it.

I gave up eating sugar about two years ago and now I don't crave any desserts or junk foods anymore.

Interesting post Lucas! Christine:)

[bunnys]

http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352417293&sr=8-1&keywords=brian+wansink

http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/index.html

Brian Wansink--director of the Cornell University Food and Brand lab wrote the above book on how you are manipulated into eating more of the foods you don't really want by society and food manufacturers. It's a really interesting book. I think I got it at the library but the website is very informative as well.

[awakenedsoul]

I stopped buying Nacho Cheese Doritos and gummy bears at Costco, because I was eating way too many of them. I still have treats in moderation. My fruit trees are producing well, so I eat a lot of fruit. I find that when I eat meat or chicken in moderation, I don't crave sugar. When I was a vegetarian, I loaded up on coffee and desserts. I've also started eating nuts and having less animal protein.

[puglogic]

I've noticed that too, Lucas. When I'm in a good place mentally/spiritually, and really being mindful about all the aspects of my existence (my breathing, my body, my food) eating is a completely different experience. I can pop a single grape in my mouth and it becomes this cool landscape of texture, sweetness, tannins, wet, cold.... But when I'm just sleepwalking through life, I crave the junk that gives me a sugar/salt high, and crave caffeine, as though it makes me feel something. Weird.

[razz]

Taking food into the conscious realm really makes it easy to watch what one eats as well so controlling intake becomes easier and more enjoyable. good thread.