Mindful Eating

This is a guided mindful eating practice with cues to tune-in to the body, focus on the expereince of eating and check in with hunger and taste satisfaction. By using this guided practice once a day, you can begin to slow down, be present for each bite and make more conscious choices around food and eating.

Transcript

Mindful eating.

This is a guided meditation designed to support you in eating mindfully.

Taking care as you prepare your food and then as you're getting ready to eat,

Bringing all your food to the table,

Making sure you have plates and utensils.

Removing any containers or bags.

And when you're ready,

Taking a seat.

Beginning with three deep intentional breaths.

Deep breath in.

And letting go.

Breathing deeply.

Breathing completely.

One more deep breath.

Connecting with physical sensations of breath in the body.

And then checking in.

Are there sensations of physical hunger?

How hungry are you?

Using the hunger and fullness scale,

Where zero is not hungry at all and ten is uncomfortably full.

Can you get a sense of how hungry you are?

You might be hungry for something entirely different than food.

Listening now to the language of the body.

And then assessing your food.

What does it look like?

Does it look appealing?

Where does it come from?

Reflecting on the story,

The journey of this food making its way to you.

And then as you're ready,

Slowly taking your first mindful bite.

Tasting.

Savoring.

Chewing slowly and investigating the experience of eating.

Letting your attention be on the taste and the changing textures and the sounds of eating.

You might even close your eyes to really tune in.

Be aware of chewing,

Swallowing,

And then pausing between each bite,

Even putting your utensils down and taking a mindful breath.

And be sure to chew each bite thoroughly,

Taking the time to taste the food.

Maybe even assessing the taste satisfaction,

Knowing that no two bites are exactly the same.

Rating each bite on the 0 to 10 scale.

How satisfying is it?

How much flavor is there?

It might be different than what your mind is telling you.

When you notice the habit of rushing,

Pause.

Take a breath.

And from time to time,

Pause to investigate your hunger and your fullness.

You might discover that you're tired of eating the food you've chosen.

Or you might discover that you're no longer hungry,

Even though there's still food on the plate.

Give yourself permission to stop or continue based on what you discover.

Moment to moment awareness of your direct experience.

Savoring your food means taking time to choose food that you really like,

To choose food that honors your taste buds and your body.

Savoring,

Becoming fully present for the experience of eating and the pleasure it can bring.

Whenever you notice that your mind has wandered into the future or the past,

Bring it back to the experience of eating,

Tasting,

Savoring.

Taking time with your meal.

Pausing between bites.

Being interested and curious about the changing sensations and textures and tastes.

Pausing to assess taste satisfaction.

How satisfying is this bite?

You might notice physical changes in your stomach.

Know that you have a choice about how much to eat and when to stop eating.

Continue with this mindful meal,

Breathing,

Savoring,

Pausing and checking in,

Knowing that you have the skills to make the right choices for you today.

Reviews

There are so many results when searching for "Mindful Eating" in this app, and most of them focus on sitting down, preparing yourself to eat, and only eating at the very end. But this meditation is truly designed for you to sit with your regular meal and listen while eating it, which I think is absolutely wonderful. I wish there were more meditations like this! I mean, I eat every day, so I could have hundreds of these and listen during every meal, I think. So thank you for creating this meditation—it's exactly what I've been longing for and searching for!

A great guide to mindful eating, minus the scale of 1-10 suggestion of “not hungry at all to completely full”. ;)

Good. I don't think I could eat my entire meal this way- I've been a fast eater all my life and sometimes my work break is brief- but its useful to spend a few minutes being mindful and the three breaths at the start helps.

Good reminder!

Thank you – this was the best mindful eating meditation I have found so far!

Thank you for this short but clear guidance around mindful eating, I will use your suggestions as often as I can remember to!

This a simple way to practice mindful eating. Calm & calming, she has a nice voice too!

Good introduction into practising mindful eating. I liked it very much

Thank you. Just what I needed.

This is a great compliment to the Eat Right Now app! Thanks, Dr. Boudette. 🙏🏼

The best mindful eating meditation I have heard thus far. Bringing my mind back to the experience is good advice. Checking on whether you are hungry, satisfied or full is very important for me, especially while I am eating.

Instructive and affirming accompaniment to mealtime. Thank you.

I really like this meditation.

Very helpful! Thanks to this practice I noticed that I was taking bites that felt uncomfortably large and that was the reason I was rushing to swallow them. Once I made them smaller, it was easier to pay attention to the taste. Thank you!

Really good neditation for mindful eating, just too quiet

Very specific instructions on creating a mindful eating experience, including considering where the food came from, and checking inWith the body throughout the meal by using the hunger scale 0 to 10. Thank you very much.

Thank you! It’s a wonderful reminder to stay in touch with our body and our senses around the food we are eating! What crazy relationships we have with food!

Practical helpful reminders for me—thank you.

Very interesting. Would have love just a wee bit of background music. ☺