“Sit. Feast on your life.” ~Derek Walcott
“It’s not a technique for eating; it’s a practice for living.” ~Char Wilkins
We’ve all heard about “mindless eating” and how it contributes to weight gain. But we don’t often hear about mindless not eating and how it is connected to our struggles with emotional eating and weight. And yet for many of us, especially with the faster pace of fall activities approaching, mindless not eating is one of the major reasons we end up eating past comfortable fullness.
Having too much [private_membership circle]to do and not enough time to do it, we find ourselves saying “yes” when we wish we had said “no,” showing up when we really needed to lie down. As a result, we unintentionally ignore or delay meeting our needs. Though we are exquisitely tuned in and responsive to the needs of others, we become disconnected from the signals of our own body and spirit. We rush out of the house in the morning with no time for breakfast. We skip lunch to run errands. With after-school activities or too much to do at work, we get home later than usual, hours after our body has tried to tell us it needed fuel. Mindlessly not eating.
Inevitably, when we slow down after mindless not eating, and when we are no longer distracted by others’ needs, our body naturally responds to our low blood glucose by letting us know, “Eat! Eat as fast as you can!”
When we combine this natural end result of mindlessly not eating with feelings of depletion and stress that we may be experiencing, we increase the likelihood that we will end up eating emotionally.
With our busy fall schedules, it is easy to lose our mindfulness and to mindlessly not eat. But if we can remember to include our own needs on our “to do” list — stopping every couple of hours to eat, to breathe, to receive, to be — we allow ourselves the opportunity not only to avoid an emotional eating episode but also to be more fully present with the people we care about as well as the sensations of autumn unfolding.
Invitation: Treat yourself like a little child. As you head out to each busy day this week, take time to prepare and pack meals and snacks. Stop to rest and feed yourself before you get cranky. Enjoy!
Affirming Statement: “I mindfully tend to my needs.”
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Nutrition therapists Amy Tuttle, RD, LCSW and Karin Kratina, RD, PhD provide no-diet articles and resources including “Stay Attuned: The E-zine for Nourishing Connections” at their Nourishing Connections website. www.nourishingconnections.com
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