Mindful Eating Even When You’re Busy

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Related Episodes:

• Mindless Snacking
• Being Too Busy and Your Eating Habits

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Full Episode Transcript:

Mindful Eating Even When You’re Busy

Hello, welcome to the podcast. I’m happy you’re making some time to listen in to this episode. It’s October and it’s getting into that busy time of year. But we can say that about the entire year though, really. It’s so easy to think that the season we’re currently in, is the busiest. It can leave us feeling overwhelmed, always in a rush, or even serve as an excuse NOT to do something, even if we know that something is good for us. Especially as busy career women.

That’s why in this episode, I’m going to talk about slowing down, just a little bit, and becoming more aware and deliberate. Slowing down, becoming aware, and being deliberately particularly when it comes to eating.

Being mindful when you’re eating, which by the way, doesn’t just mean slowing down and chewing every piece of food one thirty times. I’m going to tell you why you’ll probably want to practice more mindful eating, how it can help your eating habits, and how to do it even when you’re feeling busy.

First, I want to talk about being busy though, because that’s a large part of it.

And actually before I get into that, just a very quick announcement. Doors to Food Freedom are permanently open. It’s my program that’s in membership form and it helps you break your bad eating habits, plus form any new ones you want.

It takes you through the step-by-step with lots of videos where I teach you exactly how to break any bad eating habit, and supports you along with way with live group coaching sessions, 24/7 written coaching, anytime you want it, plus a new monthly course, motivating community, bonus section, printables, and a private podcast for coaching call replays.

There’s a lot to choose from, but it’s like a gym, where you don’t have to do it all. You choose what works for you and your schedule. So head over to katemjohnston.com/coaching to take a look and become a member. I can help you with any of your eating habit challenges, and I’d love to help you.

Alright, back to the topic at hand. So, being “busy” is subjective, right? What does that word “busy” even mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the term, “busy” as “engaged in action.” They also define it as “being in use” “full of activity” “full of distracting detail.” Those last three seem more about something being busy rather than someone. The first one seems more to describe a person.

So, if we define ourselves as being “busy” as “engaged in action” then how do we have time to take care of ourselves? To rest? To do what we need to do to nourish our bodies? We need to actively carve out the time.

Now, sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes we can perceive ourselves as being more busy than we really are. We may really be “engaged in action” for 20% of the day. Now, that’s if you take the term “busy” to mean something more physical, right?

Sometimes we can feel mentally busy. Meaning, our brains are busy. That can definitely add to that overwhelm, right? It can lead to eating food quickly and without awareness of what or how much. Feeling busy can lead to eating convenient foods that aren’t necessarily nourishing and can even be considered “unhealthy.”

I’ve had a client tell me she sometimes eats candy bars for lunch because she doesn’t get much of a lunch break, if any.

It can also cause us to completely miss out on the enjoyment of our food. Food can provide so much, right? It provides calories for energy, it provides nutrients our bodies need to function and function well, it even provides pleasure to our taste buds.

This is where being mindful, can really be helpful. To quiet down the “busy-ness.” Being mindful is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as being “ deliberately aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment in order to create a feeling of calm.”

Now, in the case of mindful eating, the main purpose is a little different and not necessarily to create a feeling of calm.

The definition of mindful eating that I’ve always found to be a good one is from author Joseph Nelson, who published an article in Diabetes Spectrum, titled, “Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat.”

To quote him, he says “Mindful eating (i.e., paying attention to our food, on purpose, moment by moment, without judgment) is an approach to food that focuses on individuals’ sensual awareness of the food and their experience of the food. It has little to do with calories, carbohydrates, fat, or protein. The purpose of mindful eating is not to lose weight, although it is highly likely that those who adopt this style of eating will lose weight. The intention is to help individuals savor the moment and the food and encourage their full presence for the eating experience.”

He also goes on to talk about how mindful eating focuses on the process, rather than just the outcome, and is therefore more likely to have longer-term results.

I completely agree with this. When you’re enjoying the process of something, it’s much more likely you’ll continue doing it, right? If the process is difficult, uninteresting, or even painful or uncomfortable, it can be less desirable to want to stick with it.

So, if you’re trying to make eating habit changes, enjoying the process along the way can be incredibly helpful.

The reason why this article was published in the Diabetes Spectrum is because health professionals are starting to recognize the benefits of mindful eating, particularly in those with diabetes. It’s even being encouraged to include mindful eating behavior change in diabetic patient education.

Of note too, is that there have been several studies on mindful eating that have resulted in weight loss in participants and they can only theorize why that is so far. In general, we can say there is some sort of relation between mindful eating and healthier eating habits.

So, let’s explore a bit and then I’ll explain how you can practice mindful eating even when you’re busy. Because knowing the potential benefits will help motivate you to give it a try, right? At least for me it does!

Going back to Joseph Nelson’s definition of mindful eating focusing on your sensual awareness of the food and experience of the food. Focusing on your sensual awareness simply means bringing your attention to your senses as you’re eating the food. Sight, smell, taste, texture, temperature even.

Bringing your attention to the experience of the food might look like really focusing on the enjoyment of the food, or even enjoyment of taking a moment from your busy day to be nourishing your body, providing calories for fuel, and even just noting that the food tastes really good. That bit of pleasure on your tastebuds.

And I want to mention with that, the importance of knowing that there is no shame in appreciating that food provides some external temporary pleasure. External meaning, not pleasure from within, but pleasure from an outside source. Pleasure from outside sources like food, are typically very temporary and that has to do with dopamine.

But like I said, no shame in appreciating that, right?

And that brings me back to the part of Joseph Nelson’s definition that mentions “without judgement.” I really want to stress that part, because judging yourself leads to nothing productive.

Self-judgement is completely useless when it comes to eating and food. It’s only going to decrease the likelihood that you’ll stick with the eating behavior changes you’re trying to make, making it less likely you’ll get the results you want.

So how does mindful eating help to develop healthier eating behaviors and once repeated enough times, healthier eating habits?

When you’re focusing on your senses and experience of the food, you’re being deliberate about each bite of food. You are being more purposeful and thoughtful. You’re slowing things down too when you’re bringing attention to your senses and the experience of the food.

When you’re deliberate and purposeful, you’re using your pre-frontal cortex, the part of your brain that makes decisions for your well-being and for your future. It’s a higher-level functioning part of the brain. It’s not that more primitive part that focuses more on instant gratification.

And when you’re busy or in a rush, instant gratification can oftentimes look like quick and tasty, which can mean (not always of course, but a higher likelihood), but it can mean grabbing whatever is convenient, without much thought to the effects on your body either short-term or long-term.

Your pre-frontal cortex has your best interests in mind. So, if you’re eliciting more of that part of the brain, you’re more likely to be able to decide when you haven’t had enough to eat yet and when you’ve had enough.

Now, you may have heard of “intuitive eating” before and that’s similar but not the same as “mindful eating.” I’ll discuss intuitive eating in another podcast episode, but intuitive eating also really focuses on being aware of your body and the physical signs of hunger and fullness. Not to say mindful eating doesn’t allow for that, it absolutely does, but intuitive eating goes a little deeper into that idea.

Another benefit to mindful eating when it comes to eating habits is that since you’re focusing on your senses and the food, you’re tending to focus on the positive aspects, right? How delicious it smells, the colors, the yummy flavor, etc.

When you’re focused on the positives, that plays a part on your mindset. You’re having positive thoughts. If you’re having positive thoughts, you’re less likely to be thinking critically of yourself and the food. You’re less likely to go to that self-judgement that never leads to anything good.

Because you’re in that positive mindset, you’re enjoying the process, and enjoying the process will help motivate you to have healthier eating habits.

For example, if you’re trying to lose weight and you decide to start eating salads for lunch. Initially, you may not be super excited about the salad, but if you start paying attention to every bite of that salad, the colors, how nourishing it is, the crunch of the vegetables in it, or the flavor of the dressing, you’ll enjoy it more.

If you enjoy it more, you’re more likely to stick with the change, right?

So, let’s get to the how-to for mindful eating even when you’re busy.

What you’ll do first, is make it more likely you’ll follow through with your intention to eat mindfully.

You can do that by carving out a little bit of time from your busy day, ahead of time. You don’t need much. Eating mindfully doesn’t mean that meals will take you an hour to eat. It just means actually taking a break from your other tasks and maybe adding in a few extra minutes.

Decide ahead of time, which meal you’d like to start out with for eating more mindfully, and how many days a week.

I would advise to not necessarily go from one extreme to another. Instead, choose something you think is doable for you. Something you’re positive you can deliver on.

So, it that’s carving out 30 minutes for lunch on the weekends only, then choose that. If it looks like 15 minutes for breakfast every morning of the week, then choose that.

Only make a promise to yourself that you really think you can keep though, and you can always build from there.

Whatever you end up deciding upon, write it down (research shows that if you write down your specific intention, called an Implementation Intention, you’re more likely to act upon it), and put it into your schedule. It’s just as important as anything else in your schedule.

Then, when you sit down to eat that meal, make sure you aren’t doing anything else. Make sure you aren’t multi-tasking, as difficult as that may be. I have to actually remind myself of this too, so no worries if this is difficult for you. The best way is to make sure your phone isn’t within reach and make sure you aren’t eating at your desk or by any technology or reading materials for that matter.

Alright, then you’ll start out by just noticing what your food looks and smells like. Maybe even notice how hungry you are and what that feels like in your body. Also, it can help just having a thought like, “I’m happy to take this time to just enjoy eating.”

Kind of set the mood, right?

Then while you’re eating, really try to slow it down, not for the sole purpose of slowing down, but for the purpose of giving yourself the chance to use your senses and be more aware of the different aspects and characteristics of the food you’re eating.

Also, to give yourself the chance to enjoy eating bite or spoonful. When you’re enjoying it, you’re thinking positive thoughts and just in that more positive mindset around what you’re eating in general.

This will also help prevent those negative thoughts or feelings afterward, if you’re someone who tends to have a negative thought or feeling about what you ate or how much you ate afterward.

When you’re so focused on the positives, you’re far less likely to go more to those negative thoughts and then negative feelings about you or what or how much you ate.

If you feel like you could use a little help with your mindset around food or your eating habits, then come to October’s free workshop on Mindset Makeover for Better Eating Habits. It’s on October 25^th at 7pm Eastern Time. It’s via Zoom, so if you sign up at katemjohnston.com/workshop, I’ll send you the link.

Remember keep that promise to yourself to schedule in that little bit of time for mindful eating, and gradually work your way up. Thanks so much for listening, and take care, I’ll talk with you soon.