I used to think that I knew exactly what I was eating and why I was eating it. Now, I realize that there’s a whole lot more to the psychology of eating than I was aware of. Turns out hunger may not usually even be in the top three reasons why people eat and when they eat. This is the concept sometimes called “Mindful Eating”.
Eating without being mindful of it can be surprising to some people. When you want to lose weight, the formula is simple. Less food in, more calories out and voila: weight loss. If you’ve been on a diet you know it’s a little more complicated than that. Eating sometimes seems to have a mind of its own and happens without a lot of thought – eating without being mindful about it.
Mindful eating means thinking about every thing that you eat and why you’re really eating it. For example, if turning on the TV always leads to mindless munching, that’s something that would be good to realize so you can head it off. One thing that I also became aware of is that when it’s lunchtime or dinner time, I eat. Often times, I’m not even hungry but I eat anyway, because it’s time to eat. You would have a hard time calling that ‘mindful’.
Another one of the major mindless eating triggers for me is boredom. Eating can sometimes be something to do when you just need a little stimulation. Now matter how long the day is dragging on we always know that eating is right there when I’m feeling bored or anxious to give me a shot of positive stimulation.
Eating to please someone else is another potential trap of mindless eating. Everybody seems to know someone who loves to cook for their families and friends and, for them, food equals love. It can be very hard to not overeat in that situation because by rejecting their food, they feel that you’re rejecting their love. Eating to make someone else feel good is a common predicament but if you can find some other way of demonstrating your love, you can avoid hurting their feelings and avoid putting on the extra pounds.
Mindful eating can be a complicated subject. What seems like a simple everyday action can have some deep rooted motivations. If you can identify the situations and the triggers that cause you to overeat, that will go a long way to getting your weight under control and keeping it that way.
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