Have you been working on cultivating mindful eating skills (or thinking about it)? You may be encouraged to know that tomorrow is the inaugural Mindful Eating Day, sponsored by The Center for Mindful Eating (TCME). Registration, which is free, will earn you an invitation to join a special Facebook group created just for this event.
The Facebook group will feature a daily MEME (Mindful Eating, Mindfulness Exercise) and opportunities to discuss, share links and interact with each other. This 31-day mindful eating journey was created by Megrette Fletcher, current president and co-founder of TCME, and Fiona Sutherland, of Body Positive Australia If you don’t use Facebook, you will have access to the daily MEMEs via a weekly email.
You’ll also be able to watch a stream of educational videos throughout the day, marked by a live webinar at 3 pm EST featuring interviews, led practices, and more.
Why eat mindfully, you ask? When you eat mindfully, you gain more satisfaction from your food, because you are actually truly aware of your food. Not only can this enhance the pleasure of eating, gut it’s a gentle way of avoiding overeating. When you eat while you are distracted, you might eat enough to be physically satisfied (aka full), but you don’t have mental/emotional satisfaction, which can prompt you to go back for a second helping that you don’t really need, or to snack after the meal because you feel “head hungry.” Mindful eating also improves digestion, because the first phase of digestion (cephalic phase) begins when we anticipate eating. If you eat mindlessly, this phase of digestion doesn’t work optimally.
OK, are you convinced that mindful eating is a worthwhile pursuit? Sign up for Mindful Eating Day and a month of MEMEs. I did!
