Are You REALLY Hungry or Just Distracted?

Think back to the last meal you ate. Do you remember the texture of the food? The different flavors in each spoonful? What about the temperature? Was it rich and decadent or light and refreshing? Do you remember how your hunger slowly subsided or what signals told you to stop eating?

You don’t have to answer all of these questions, but it’s a good way to get you to think about how present you were while eating. There’s so much happening in all of our lives, we have families to care for, a job to excel at, hobbies to fulfil us. It can be hard to stay present through it all and when we get a chance to step back from the stressors of everyday life, we often look for things to numb our minds with.

Food can be one of those things as I’m sure you’ve experienced.

If you’re someone who regularly eats at their desk or grabs a premade breakfast on-the-go, you’re most likely NOT being totally mindful of the experience you’re having. What we go for out of convenience, may be leading us further away from our intuition. Our intuition is that inner knowing that tells us when we need to rest, when we need to slow down, and when we’ve had enough to eat.

By tuning that out, you’re setting yourself up for mindlessly eating, even when you’re not hungry.

But why is it SO important to be mindful while eating? When we’re more present with our food and aware of what’s on our plate, we can eat with intention. Rather than focusing on the TV and eating past the point of fullness, we’re sitting down with no distractions and honoring when we’ve had enough. Overeating typically happens when we’re distracted, but with mindful eating, we strip away those distractions and can allow our bodies and minds to clearly communicate.

Think about when you’re trying to have a conversation with your child and they’re scrolling on their phones. You can be talking to them for 5 minutes before they’re even aware of the fact that you’re speaking to them. They tuned you out because their minds were stuck on something else.

Well, your mind is like the kid and your stomach is like the parent, it can’t get the message across because the mind is entranced in something else.

There are endless reasons that drive us to eat even when we don’t actually want to. Your mind can trick you into thinking you need food when it’s really hungry for something else. But how can we know what those hungers are?

When you practice mindful eating, you strengthen the mind-body connection and learn how to eat according to what your body needs. No more handfuls of chocolate chips disappearing into your mouth, no stomach aches from eating past the point of fullness, and definitely no more feelings of guilt and shame for overdoing it again.

This practice takes time and it takes support! I have a brand new FREE live workshop that will teach you about the “5 Hidden Hungers That Drive You To Eat When You’re Not Hungry” and help you to begin your own mindful eating journey.

Click HERE to register for the free workshop series (starts Sept 23rd) so that you can finally break free from your battles with food and make peace with it for good.