Mindless eating...breaking the habit.

Most of us do this, and one thing I have learned is that it is a bad habit that needs to be broken. I remember when I was a child, we used to eat in front of the TV. I believe that this is where the whole "mindless" eating habit begins. Whenever we sit down to eat a meal, we should be "fully present" with the experience of eating. Take small bites and savour every aroma, taste and texture associated with your meal. If you don't do this, you will quickly inhale a meal without even realizing you have eaten. Regardless of whether you are on a six meal a day or a three meal a day plan, you have to recognize that you will be doing a lot of eating during your lifetime. If you want to maintain a good weight, you have to recognize the fact that you will be eating several times a week. (3 x 7 = 21 times!). You will sit down 21 times with a meal every week if you are on a 3 meal a day plan. If you really struggle with giving up mindless eating such as eating in front of the TV, computer screen, on the phone, or distracted by conversations with others, then try this strategy: Keep a food journal where you describe what the experience of eating is like with each of your meals. When you make a meal, describe what it is and what the experience of eating it is like. Sounds crazy, but eventually you will train yourself to become "fully present" with every meal you eat.
The next step to breaking the habit of mindless eating, is the habit I have where I eat a lot of "free snacks" during the day. I am on a diet, but yet I have eaten several chips, crackers, nuts, etc. throughout the day which have no calories! This is a serious issue for me because I live in a house with another adult who is a compulsive junk food eater. It is like an ex-alcoholic living in a house with a fully stocked liquor cabinet. How difficult would that be! One strategy I used to use to combat my "free snack" habit was to buy "healthy" forms of the various junk food items in our house. Ie. Dark chocolate, baked cheesies and baked chips. And then I would just allow myself to have a bowl of these items instead of a mindless handful once in awhile throughout the day. But right now I have decided to remove these types of items from my menu temporarily to allow for foods with a higher protein content. However in doing so, I am back to the mindless eating habit of acquiring "free snacks." In a future blog I will attempt to tackle this second element to mindless eating, as I have not yet figured out how to do this successfully.