Mindful Eating and Mindful Cooking
Welcome back and hope everyone had a good weekend!
I felt called to send this post after the Thanksgiving holiday, as a way to rewrite the way we approach big holiday feasts.
If you’ve been following along, you know that I started meditating about 5+ years ago. In practicing meditation daily my relation to everything changed. Including food.
I wanna talk about that relational change today.
When I was growing up, we were taught to “eat quickly”. That was pretty typical of a Sri Lankan-American household. I think universally many of us were encouraged to do this, too.
As my awareness increased, I realized there’s a lot of underlying pathology behind the food choices we make, how fast we eat, and how much we eat as well.
Mindfulness allows us to pause and ask ourselves questions about our cravings, choices, and motives for eating.
Am I craving this food because I actually want it? Or because I’m emotional or didn’t sleep enough?
Because ghrelin (the hunger hormone) increases after a sleep deficit.
I also realized that if there is underlying trauma or belief system that has not yet been healed, that can lead us to establish the eating patterns that we have.
When we reach for food in times of stress or emotional pain, and then feel guilty about it afterwards, we are making stress hormones in the body (like cortisol) as well as free radicals. So we create a loop, from start to finish, where we don’t feel good. And then our bodies don’t feel good.
When we apply mindfulness to eating, we can start to ask ourselves: does my body want this? Personally, I can’t tell you how many times the answer is no. I’ll stand in my pantry closet (where all the snacks are) and ask myself this, and then quickly exit.
But on the off chance that it’s a full body yes, here is how mindfulness helps me eat in healthier ways.
Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is the process of paying attention to the experience of eating, in a present, nonjudgmental, and kind way. It’s a way of immersing yourself in the experience fully.
It means putting your phone away and turning the TV off so you can be fully present with your meal. In this way, you enable yourself to pay attention to what is in front of you. The smells, the textures, the flavors, the full taste all together.
It means slowing down your eating so that you can savor every bite.
And I swear to you, food tastes so much better when you do this. I can taste every single bite and thoroughly enjoy it.
What I Noticed from Mindful Eating
I noticed that I can still have what I want, in smaller quantities, and still feel satisfied. For example, it used to be so easy to overdo kettle cooked jalapeño chips. Now, I can take out a small amount and mindfully eat that, and still feel good about myself.
Same with french fries, same with dessert.
We Live in a Culture of Overindulgence & Fast Food
It’s no surprise that many of us overindulge, because culture encourages it. Portion sizes are huge at restaurants and the like. We are encouraged to eat faster so we can “save time”.
But we can shift our focus to realize that it’s okay to take our time when we eat. It’s actually better if we do. It’s okay to not finish everything on the plate. It’s okay to save the leftovers for later. It’s okay to feel good about your choices.
An Even Better Question to Ask Ourselves
Earlier in this post, I mentioned to ask yourself does my body want this? I’d actually argue that you could even ask yourself does my soul want this?
Because let’s be honest. There are foods from our childhood that give us so much comfort and good memories. Like when Amma (mom) makes payasam (a Sri Lankan sweet tapioca pudding with raisins and cashews). Sometimes those foods do make us feel good.
I read a book called Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Deepak Chopra. He interviews supercentenarians (people who live to >100 years old) on their secrets for seamless aging. And he found that most people who live to >100 years eat to only 80% full at their meals. Meaning they don’t overeat. They have a zest for life and a sense of purpose. They don’t really retire, because they choose things to do that give them meaning every day. They are relatively active (for example, they might do Tai Chi or walk), but they aren’t ultramarathoners.
He argues that as long as we stay connected to our souls, we are allowing Well-Being (from the Source) to reach us as the truest form of Health.
When you sit down to eat mindfully, you are inviting Spirit to your meal.
So maybe the secret to healthy living is staying connected to who we really are.
Mindful Cooking
Mindfulness can also be applied to cooking. Last week, I made eggplant moussaka for the first time. It’s a Greek dish, with layers of roasted eggplant, a tomato meat sauce, and topped with a lovely bechamel.
It takes hours to make. You have to salt the eggplant first for 30 minutes, then roast the eggplant for another 30 minutes. The tomato meat sauce takes another 45 minutes or so to make. Then you have to make the bechamel and then bake the whole thing for another hour after that.
My original plan was to make the roasted eggplant and Impossible meat sauce in the morning, then make the bechamel and bake the whole thing in the evening.
But what happened was, I was having so much fun, I ended up doing the whole thing at once.
It was soooo tasty y’all. The roasted eggplant was salted and pull-apart-easy to eat. The Impossible meat sauce was garlicky, tomato-y, cinnamon-y, and seasoned with fresh parsley. The bechamel was buttery, soft, and slightly cheesy.
I could taste every flavor in every single bite. I toasted some pita to eat with it. Chef’s kiss - so good.
It was the ultimate comfort food. It was all born out of my soul wanting to try it. And I swear, it was the best meal I’ve ever made.
So My Thoughts Are…
Pay attention to what your soul wants and how your body feels. Check in with your feelings and make sure you are eating for the right reasons.
Eat mindfully, and celebrate that you have taste buds. Cook foods that are totally fun. Ask Spirit to join you in your meals. Eat to 80% full.
As long as you are in alignment with your soul (this means feeling good), you are connected to unlimited Health and Well-Being, so no need to worry so much.
You got this!
What foods totally fill up your soul? What meals do you love to make?
Sending oodles of love,
Angeli
“Mindful eating is eating with intention while paying attention.”— Kati Konersman, RD, CDE
PS…
My e-book is out on Gumroad :) It’s called Create Your Own Beautiful Story: Learn to Manifest the Life of Your Dreams (link here).
Are you looking for more love? Deeper relationships? Better pay? Improved health?
This e-book contains 12 chapters (26 pages) and daily activities to help shift your vibration and receive more of what you want! I include my own personal manifestation struggles here, and my manifestation journey now! (It's going much better!) It is beautifully illustrated with gorgeous colors and pictures. You will have so much fun reading this and applying the concepts! Everybody is entitled to live the life of their dreams! This includes YOU! Embody the powerful creator that you are! Made with lots of love!!!