Beck, Day 5, Eat Slowly and Mindfully

I once heard something about how many people who struggle with compulsive overeating don't really taste and enjoy the food that they obsess over. I can totally relate to that. I can't quantify it into raw numbers, but I just know that when I think about how I eat, it seems that a large portion of what I eat goes in my mouth, barely noticed by my brain.

I know, it's awful.

I wish it were different. I wish that I savored every bite and ate every bite mindfully. It's almost too big to even grasp for me.

Apparently, I'm not the only one with this problem, as evidenced by the number of books written on just this subject.











And that was just a small sampling.

But try, I must, as I am on Day 5 of Beck. The task right now is to commit to slowing down our eating so that, you know how this goes, ultimately, we will eat less. I'm sure you are familiar with that mechanism in our brains which only starts to feel full 20 minutes after we begin eating. Slowing down our pace should result in less food consumed.

Beck details a lot of creative ideas on just how we can slow down our eating and taste our food more. The one that I am going to give a try is to look at the clock when I sit down and begin my meal. I have never done anything like that before. Then look at the clock at the end of the meal. The goal is to extend mealtime. The complicated thing is that this presupposes that I am not in my kitchen also feeding four other people. Maybe this exercise is best done during a workday lunch for me. Way more controllable and consistent setting!

Beck acknowledges the challenges of eating mindfully in the real world and emphasizes the point that we need to learn how to eat slowly in a quiet, non stimulating environment so that we can then apply the skill to our real lives--you know, the meals where we are distracted by the noise and the conversation.

I will try. I promise I will.

Are you reading your Advantages Response Card at least twice a day? Giving yourself credit? Sitting down while you eat?

How is this pace? Should I slow things down?