What do you think about food? REALLY?

When I plan and fix a meal for my family, I want it to be healthy, diverse, colorful, and tasty. However, when I sit down to eat that meal, do I even taste it? As a mom I am frequently jumping up to fill a glass with water or milk, get the missing item from the fridge, grab the salt or pepper from the counter, finishing the last part of the meal that didn’t get timed just right, or even running toilet paper to the little one in the bathroom. Then there is the ever roving mind considering all I need to get done as soon as dinner is finished, what can I begin cleaning up first, how can I multi-task to complete the tasks the fastest.

Often, I don’t think I even taste what I’ve fixed. I am the last to sit down and the first to jump up to clean the table. Hmmm. I know that I am making healthy choices for my family and myself, but choice I am making to inhale it rather than enjoy it can cause other issues for my health.

Taking the time to Mindfully enjoy my dinner, the time with my family all together (even if it is brief), the tastes & textures of our dinner, and the hilarious things my five year says benefit me much more than the nourishment I am sucking up in a mere 5 minutes of shoveling food into my face.

Take it one step further:

When I stop to actually think about what I am eating, what do I really think about food?

Do I

• Ignore hunger signals, purposely skip meals or starve myself?
• Stop eating even when I am still hungry?
• Expect the weight to drop of quickly? (almost magically?)
• Exercise with a vengeance to compensate for my overeating?
• Find that food is my comfort, my reward, my pleasure source? Do I feel deprived if I try to cut back?
• Eat in secret? Hide food? Feel like I am cheating if I eat foods I like?
• Flip back and forth between overeating and depriving myself?

Take a moment to really consider these options.  The way we “feel” about what we eat has a HUGE impact on how we move toward a healthier lifestyle, attention to prevention, and restoring our health.

Feel free to contact me if you, or someone you know, would like additional information on the topics discussed in our blog.

Make it a GREAT Day!