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<\/a>If you Google \u201cfood you can eat with one hand<\/em>,\u201d you\u2019ll see more than 2,000,000,000 results, pages with titles like \u201c13 Dishes You Can Eat with One Hand<\/em>\u201d (TodaysParent.com<\/em>), \u201cRecipes People Can Literally Eat with One Hand<\/em>\u201d (TasteofHome.com<\/em>), and \u201c29 Healthy Meals You Can Literally Eat on the Go<\/em>\u201d (Greatist.com<\/em>). Maybe some of these articles are for people who have broken their arms or are for some other reason limited to single-handed eating. But the vast majority of the audience for this topic is composed of busy people who can\u2019t or won\u2019t find time to sit down to eat.<\/p>\nThe Greatist.com<\/em> article begins, \u201cWhen your days are packed with meetings, appointments, errands, and social time, sometimes the only chance to eat is when you\u2019re on the go<\/em>.\u201d And by \u201con the go<\/em>,\u201d they might be speaking literally. According to a survey on drivers\u2019 eating habits by Insure.com<\/em>, the best foods to eat while driving are, in order of preference, candy bars, French fries, potato chips, and donuts. And a statistic floating around the internet, attributed to author Michael Pollan, states that 20% of all meals in the US are eaten in a car.<\/p>\n Mindless eating<\/strong><\/p>\n Is not necessary that we are \u201con the go<\/em>\u201d when we eat while doing other actions, however. What\u2019s called \u201cmindless eating<\/em>\u201d has become the default for many of us these days. How many of us eat lunch at our desks? How often are we too busy to pause what else we\u2019re doing while we eat?<\/p>\n The company that makes Pretzel Crisps conducted a survey in 2019. It found that almost 9 out of 10 people regularly dine while looking at an electronic screen. If you can relate to any of this, you\u2019re certainly not alone. The hectic pace of modern life impacts all of us. Sometimes it can feel like you have to multi-task just to keep up.<\/p>\n Our culture has shifted from \u201cthree meals a day<\/em>\u201d to \u201call food, all the time<\/em>.\u201d And never before has food been so readily available: co-workers routinely bring donuts and other sweets to work. In towns around the world, you can find junk food for sale on every corner. Convenience stores and gas stations offer an abundance of easy-to-eat, \u201cone-handed<\/em>,\u201d packaged and fast food. And in many downtown areas, food trucks peddle greasy and unhealthy takeout dishes to hurried workers and students.<\/p>\n And it goes even further when eating meets entertainment. What movie theater would be complete without audiences eating popcorn drenched in butter while gasping and shrieking at the latest thriller? And what sports stadium doesn\u2019t offer hot dogs, tacos, cheese fries, and local specialties.<\/p>\n Disconnected from our food<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s not just that the food itself is often unhealthy. Sadly, if we bring little awareness, we are unlikely to find lasting satisfaction or nourishment. When we eat while focused on other aspects, it\u2019s more difficult to feel a connection to the sources of that food \u2013 where it came from, what\u2019s in it, how it got to us, whose labor contributed to its production and distribution. And it\u2019s also harder to pay attention to how our food makes us feel while we\u2019re eating it. Only later, after indulging, might we notice nausea, bloating, gas, lethargy, fogginess, and the other myriad maladies caused by overeating stuff that isn\u2019t really even food, but actually manufactured food-like substances, usually called \u201cjunk-food<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a pretty grim picture. It reminds us of the movie \u201cWall-E<\/em>\u201d, in which sedentary, obese humans who have lost the ability to walk, float around on antigravity deck chairs, and mindlessly consume \u201clunch in a cup<\/em>\u201d while watching screens advertise all manner of consumption. But luckily, there are many ways to reconnect with our food, choose healthier options, and enjoy them more. And one of them is mindful eating.<\/p>\n What is mindful eating?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mindfulness is a practice inspired by the contemplative practices of many schools and faiths, including Christianity. It involves bringing attention and awareness to what you are doing in the here and now. Anything can be the subject of mindful contemplation, including your breath, physical sensations, an object in the environment (such as a candle flame, or a tree), a mantra, or in the case of mindful eating, all the sensations related to the food that\u2019s in front of (and inside of) you. Studies have shown that mindfulness can lead to better focus, less stress, and lower rates of depression.<\/p>\n Bringing mindfulness to eating can confer all these benefits \u2013 and more. When you bring awareness to the act of eating, you become more conscious of what you are putting into your body \u2013 and how your body is responding to it. Mindful eating allows you to pay attention to your body\u2019s hunger and satiety signals and allows you to filter out the emotional \u201cnoise\u201d that can be mistaken for hunger: boredom, sadness, anger, and even excitement.<\/p>\n When you consciously direct your attention to your food, it allows you to reconnect with your senses of taste, smell, and touch, allowing you to enjoy the food in a much more fulfilling and complete way. And rather than being disconnected from your dining partners, each lost in their own screen, you can create connections with others through breaking bread together.<\/p>\n Mindful eating is also a powerful entry point in addressing your emotional \u201cbaggage\u201d around food: guilt about particular foods, anxiety about not getting enough, and strong likes and dislikes that may be colored by past experiences more than current realities. By staying present, you are better able to recognize these emotional reactions without judgment, and thus begin to free yourself from the compulsion to act on them.<\/p>\n Benefits of mindful eating<\/strong><\/p>\n Are the benefits conferred by mindful eating backed by science? You bet they are! See bellow!<\/p>\n – can help with weight loss<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Paying attention to the experience of eating has been shown to help obese people avoid overeating and lose excess weight. A review of mindful eating studies showed that the process undermined three of the most powerful forces compelling people to eat when they aren\u2019t hungry: the urge to binge; eating for emotional reasons; and eating based on external cues. Being mindful helps people to heed their body\u2019s genuine signals and avoid giving in to temporary cravings that aren\u2019t rooted in nutritional needs.<\/p>\n – may help with treatment of eating disorders<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Mindfulness interventions have also been used to treat eating disorders, and binge eating, in particular. In addition to the increased awareness of physical sensations and psychological triggers, mindfulness often increases self-acceptance and dilutes the voice of the \u201cinner critic<\/em>\u201d that so often triggers a desire to self-medicate with junk or comfort foods. Since mindful eating involves, by definition, focusing on your food rather than splitting your attention between eating and other stimuli, this practice can also reduce the kind of \u201cemotional band-aid\u201d eating that often occurs when we\u2019re simultaneously watching TV or engaging on social media.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n