What does it sound like to eat chocolate? If you’ve never thought about it, you’re in good company.
But there’s a group of people who have — as well as the nuances of all kinds of foods’ taste, texture, smell and appearance, They’re called mindful eaters. “They’ll listen to the snap of the chocolate, they’ll smell it and they’ll just sit there for five minutes with a piece of chocolate in their mouths,” says Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of the meditation app Headspace and author of “The Headspace Guide to Mindful Eating.” They won’t eat anything beforehand as to not affect the taste, he says. Afterward they may describe it as “smooth and bitter” or “cool and satisfying,” while you probably just call it “chocolatey.”
What sets mindful eaters apart isn’t just that they can tell you what eating a food sounds like; it’s also that they’re likely to be healthier, both mentally and physically, research suggests. Mindful eating — or using all of your awareness to focus on different aspects of food, including its taste, texture, sound, smell and appearance, as well as how well it satisfies you — has been shown to help reduce emotional eating, binge eating, and mindless snacking and increase your overall enjoyment of eating, says Megan Jones Bell, a psychologist who serves as Headspace’s chief science officer.
What’s more, experts say mindful eating likely confers many of the same benefits as other mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation, which are really just variations of each other. In yoga, you may direct all your attention to your breath and poses; in meditation you may zero in on a mantra; in mindful eating, you’re focused on how the food tickles all your senses. Some of those benefits include a reduced risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, stress and insomnia. It can even aid weight-loss efforts, many studies have shown. “Mindful eating helps people be aware of how much they eat, how hungry or full they are and how much they are enjoying their meal, Jones Bell says.
[See: 11 Things to Tell Yourself When You’re About to Binge Eat.]
But pursuing mindful eating sometimes sounds unrealistic. Consider eating with others, be it at a business lunch, a friend’s birthday dinner or a backyard barbecue. If you’re only present with what you’re eating and how your body is feeling, you won’t be present for the company. And that’s not good for your health, either.
“That pressure is on us to make every meal experience very serene and 100 percent mindful and in reality, that’s hard to do,” says Cara Harbstreet, a registered dietitian in Kansas City who specializes in intuitive eating, a concept with many overlapping characteristics of mindful eating.
Fortunately, your mindful eating practice doesn’t have to go out the window when you dine socially. “You can take it with you to restaurants, to parties, to social events [unlike] dieting, where sometimes people avoid parties and going out,” says Susan Albers, a clinical psychologist at Cleveland Clinic who specializes in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns and mindfulness. Here’s how:
1. Ground yourself.
When you sit down to eat, notice your back against the chair and your feet on the floor, suggests Albers, who’s written six books on mindful eating. In just a few seconds, you’ll have activated mindful thought patterns and gained presence in your body that can continue into the meal.
2. Order first.
“Are you ready to order?” When a waiter or waitress poses that question, jump to answer. “The person who orders first sets the tone for the entire table,” Albers says. If you’re not that person, you could be swayed to order a salad when you were really craving risotto. And listening to what and how much your body wants — no matter how healthy or unhealthy it’s perceived — is a central component of mindful and intuitive eating.
“The first [principle of intuitive eating] is to reject diet mentality,” Harbstreet says. “We’re letting go of food rules and turning inward to say, ‘What is it my body needs? What do I want? What would I enjoy?'”
[See: 6 Darn Good Reasons to Eat Sugar and Not Apologize for It.]
3. Go with what you know.
Whether they order first or last, it can be helpful for some mindful eaters to order something familiar so they can use more mental energy on the people around them than on the nuances of new textures, flavors and smells. Ask yourself: “What’s something you trust you’ll still enjoy, even if you can’t be mindful in your attempt to enjoy it fully?” Harbstreet suggests.
4. Set the pace.
Like ordering, it’s easy to be influenced by how fast or slow your dining partners eat. In fact, some studies even show that people are likely to match the chewing pace of those around them — even strangers, Albers says. “Pace don’t race — that’s something that can really impact the dynamics of mindful eating,” she says. “If you eat slower, other people will match you.”
5. Put down your fork.
One aspect of mindful eating — taking your time — can actually be enhanced in company if you break up your bites with conversation. “When you eat, just eat,” Albers say. “If you’re talking with other people, it’s OK to put your fork down for a moment and talk and chat and then pick it back up when someone else is talking.”
6. Embrace doggie bags.
Here’s another way to keep it slow, despite your companions’ pace: Expect leftovers. “You may choose to divide your meal into two sessions so that you can address immediate hunger, but save part of your meal for later when you can devote your full awareness to the meal,” Jones Bell says.
[See: How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime.]
7. Choose your company wisely, when possible.
Your companions’ conversation can enhance your mindful eating practice if, say, it centers around each dish’s presentation, smells and textures. But if the chatter turns to dieting or judgments of people’s food choices, beware. “That instills the idea that in order to belong, we have to engage in dieting just to fit in,” Albers says.
In those situations, experts suggest, aim to shift the conversation away from food entirely (“Tell me about your summer travel plans!”). If you’re comfortable, you can also ask family or friends to refrain from body and diet talk around you, Harbstreet says. “Setting boundaries and asking them to be respected,” she says, “is a big aspect of mindful eating and self-care.”
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How to Eat Mindfully With Others originally appeared on usnews.com
