Eating food is a sensual experience. The taste, texture, smell. The feeling of being nourished. The sharing of a meal. How often do you eat your food in this way, for pure pleasure?
Chances are, not often. Like body language, we get into ruts or habits around our food. Which way of eating is most like you?
Eating as a chore - "I know I need to eat. Not really hungry. Nothing sounds good. Whatever."
Eating as a pastime - "There's nothing else to do. I'm bored."
Eating as an emotional cover up - "I can't deal, where's the chocolate?"
Eating as an energy boost - The car ran out of gas. You'll take anything, fast food to vending machines, to spike that energy back up, just shove it in there.
Eating as a multi-tasking activity - You're driving, talking on your cell, making a note to yourself at the stoplight, and shoving half a sandwich in your face.
Eating as a meditation - Setting an intentional space, calm and without distraction, taking a deep breath before your first bite, chewing slowly, being grateful for the meal.
Eating for pleasure - Overcome with compliments for the food, indulging your mind in food fantasies as you eat, enjoying the combination of flavors.
Eating for health - Being conscious about what you feed yourself, mostly whole foods, organic, nutrient dense and superfoods, helpful food combining, listening to your intuition around what would be best for you.
All of the above ways are ones I'm personally familiar with. The more I come to care for my overall health, the easier I find it to eat from the bottom 3 categories. It feels much better and I appreciate the whole experience even more.
Which way do you eat? I challenge you to try out the bottom 3 categories of eating this week. Leave a comment and let me know how it went.
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