- [Narrator] Hunger gives us many opportunities
to practice mindfulness.
If we consider mindfulness to be being aware
of our present moment to moment experiences,
then hunger is a perfect opportunity to exercise mindfulness
because we're fueled by food, we are wired to eat,
we need to eat to function.
So every day we have these built-in reminders
to practice mindfulness.
How to become a more mindful eating
or to include mindfulness in your life in any area
is to increase awareness.
Awareness is the first step, the cornerstone
on the path to true and lasting change.
We know that mindfulness is linked
with kindness and compassion
and that this self-awareness is non-judgemental,
this is not a practice of self abuse or self judgment,
this is a practice which is kind and compassionate
and nonjudgmental.
It's totally normal to forget to be mindful at times,
we all forget, we all stumble and we are all learning.
Remember, the piece of self compassion is so important
because it teaches us to ask ourselves what we truly need,
what would be good for us in this moment
versus self criticism which tends to drive overeating.
Mindfulness, kindness and self-compassion
are what allows us to begin again and again
each and every time we forget.
Here's what I want you to do.
Ask these questions to yourself with kind awareness
when you are feeling hunger.
Ask, "Why am I choosing to eat?
And what do I really need, what does my body really need?"
Learn to identify what physical hunger feels like to you,
learn the nuances of the language of your body,
the physical sensations your body emits
and calls out to you.
Notice specifically what your hunger feels like physically.
A good way to do that is to use the hunger scale.
You can take the printout of the hunger scale
and paste it somewhere like on your refrigerator
or a kitchen cupboard where it's easy to see.
But remember, from a scale of one to 10,
one being extremely famished, empty,
no more fuel in the tank, to 10 being so full,
you're splashing fuel all over the place,
you're nauseated, you're bilious.
Remember, we want to start eating around
the range of three or four
where we're somewhat neutral
or just starting to feel hunger, the first signs of hunger.
Remember, the first signs you have to go to the bathroom,
you tend to respond to those signals.
So respond to your body's hunger signals the same way.
And then here's the other layer of practice
with the hunger scale.
Complete you're eating around five to seven range,
this is where you're feeling satisfied
and starting to get full.
Remember it takes your body 20 minutes
to recognize that it is receiving food,
that brain body, brain belly connection.
So one way to help you
deal with that 20 minute gap
is to set an intention
of how full you want to be before you start eating.
So when you sit down
before you put the utensil with food into your mouth
or before you take the first bite,
practice setting an intention of how you want to feel
after you're done eating.
You could also create a little speed bump on your plate
or a speed bump in the food
and what I mean by this is
establish an area
that serves as a reminder.
When you get to that area, you pause and you check in
and you're checking in with your fullness level,
you're checking in with your eating behaviors,
are you tuned into what you're doing?
Are you full?
Are you starting to get fall?
Where are you in the process?
Another way to boost your practice is to recognize
where the head hunger or emotional eating is coming from.
This is a good time to ask yourself,
"What are my true needs?"
If you find yourself reaching for food
when you're bored or sad
or angry or frustrated,
that could be a very good indicator
of emotional needs not being met.
Also pay attention to the social expectations from others,
these are things like, "Oh, here take a bite.
Oh, I made you these, try this."
Or, you know, when it's happy hour after work
and everybody expects you to partake in social drinking
or if something just looks so good
that you're tempted to do,
you know, to eat if you're not even hungry.
And also notice when you experience environmental triggers,
these are things like popcorn at the movie, advertisements,
like seeing a picture of something on the side of a bus
or a billboard or a commercial.
Notice some kinds of environmental triggers
happening in your day-to-day experience.
So let's put these into six specific steps you can take
as practice for mindful eating.
Number one, before eating, give your hunger a number
and practice how full you are, practice being aware
of how full you are getting while you are eating.
Remember to practice giving yourself a fullness number two.
Number two, explore alternate ways to fill your true needs.
Explore what else you could do when you're not hungry
and practice mindful breathing.
Number three, remember to practice five minutes
of intentional breathing, compassionately sensing your body,
noticing your thoughts and your mood.
It can be helpful to set a timer.
For example, you're already going to bed every night.
So if you haven't done this practice yet in the day
then set your timer for five minutes
and when the timer goes off, you've got your practice in.
Number four, practice being mindful
as often as you can throughout your day, make a game of it,
how many times during the day
can you take a few conscious breaths
and another like a good reminder to do this
is when you are feeling irritated or edgy
at the very first crawly sensations of that,
that irritation, that's a good indicator to pause
and take those few conscious breaths, noticing your posture,
your breathing and allow yourself to expand your view
to take in your surroundings.
Okay, step five, number five,
writing in your journal
and doing this with an attitude of kindness.
Write down why you are eating, when you eat,
what you choose to eat, how you eat your food,
how much you eat and where your energy is going
after your done eating,
so where you use your energy after eating.
And continue to research new resources on mindful eating
that can support your unique and individual
mindful eating journey.
I leave you with this quote from Kristen Neff,
she says, "Naming a difficult emotion
helps us not get lost in it."