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Radii · 02-24-2015, 04:00 PM

Mindful Eating

This is our first practice of the day. There is a container of raisins and a container of almonds. We pass them around and take two of whatever we want. 100g of raisins has 75g net carbs. 100g of Almonds has 10g net carbs. No, I don't care that I'm only going to be eating two of them (1g or 2g at most), thank you very much :P I take two almonds.

The "Beginner's Mind" pillar is referenced, we're asked to pretend that we've never seen these objects before. We don't know if they're even edible. The instructor walks us through all 5 senses, one at a time. What does this look like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? Does it make a sound (remember, beginner's mind)? Finally, put one almond in your mouth. Don't chew yet. Just observe, texture, any taste at this point, any other reactions? Now take one single bite. New observations? Now slowly chew completely until the food is nothing but mush, and swallow. Observations?

This quick example of "beginners mind" does not help open up the concept any to me. I'm unable to see this object as anything but what I already know it is. That's ok.

My observations - feels solid, doesn't give. the skin on the almonds move a bit when touched. No smell - I have an extremely weak sense of smell, always have. My almond doesn't talk to me. Whew. I notice when I put the almond in my mouth that it softens very slightly as my saliva soaks into it. Its not salted. There is not a taste I can really articulate. The room is very quiet during this, when I take a bite it sounds very loud to me. I notice a lot of the almond mashes into my back teeth and I have to use my tongue to free it to be able to swallow. I notice these sensations, but I also notice that I have a very difficult time describing the taste itself in any other way but "it tastes like an almond".

We repeat the process for the second almond.

I also reflect on the fact that I am not hungry. There is a huge positive judgement associated with this. Its probably 6:45pm now. I haven't eaten since before noon, b/c I know I'm going to get wings on the way home after this class. In the past when I had poor control of diabetes I could not go this long without eating, I would get physically ill. I revel in the fact that I have this element of control over food now, even after a full year of success on my keto diet it still makes me happy every single time I notice it.

We discuss our observations of our food and talk a little more about mindful eating. One lady points out that she used to eat all her meals at her computer so she could multi-task and might not even remember eating her lunch on some days. I eat every meal at my computer, anyone that knows me is in shock at this revelation, I know.

Re-Visiting Autopilot

We re-visit the concept of autopilot in our lives. The instructor tells us that we now have a concrete way to turn off auto pilot for a bite, or for a meal, should we choose to do so, with what we've just learned about mindful eating. This leads to a bigger point about this class itself, and a way to view the things that we do. We're not going to be mindful all the time. We want auto pilot in many things (like the example of driving), but that many people don't know any other way to exist other than to have the auto pilot on all the time. Throughout the duration of this course, we're going to learn lots of ways that we can temporarily turn off that autopilot, if we choose to do so, to notice and experience moments in our lives. We go back to a topic from orientation - not everything we do will appeal to everyone. For now, just have an open mind and be willing to try things. Some will resonate, some may not. But hopefully this is the beginning of understanding that we can choose to slow things down and observe a moment.

02-24-2015, 04:00 PM	#18
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Mindful Eating This is our first practice of the day. There is a container of raisins and a container of almonds. We pass them around and take two of whatever we want. 100g of raisins has 75g net carbs. 100g of Almonds has 10g net carbs. No, I don't care that I'm only going to be eating two of them (1g or 2g at most), thank you very much :P I take two almonds. The "Beginner's Mind" pillar is referenced, we're asked to pretend that we've never seen these objects before. We don't know if they're even edible. The instructor walks us through all 5 senses, one at a time. What does this look like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? Does it make a sound (remember, beginner's mind)? Finally, put one almond in your mouth. Don't chew yet. Just observe, texture, any taste at this point, any other reactions? Now take one single bite. New observations? Now slowly chew completely until the food is nothing but mush, and swallow. Observations? This quick example of "beginners mind" does not help open up the concept any to me. I'm unable to see this object as anything but what I already know it is. That's ok. My observations - feels solid, doesn't give. the skin on the almonds move a bit when touched. No smell - I have an extremely weak sense of smell, always have. My almond doesn't talk to me. Whew. I notice when I put the almond in my mouth that it softens very slightly as my saliva soaks into it. Its not salted. There is not a taste I can really articulate. The room is very quiet during this, when I take a bite it sounds very loud to me. I notice a lot of the almond mashes into my back teeth and I have to use my tongue to free it to be able to swallow. I notice these sensations, but I also notice that I have a very difficult time describing the taste itself in any other way but "it tastes like an almond". We repeat the process for the second almond. I also reflect on the fact that I am not hungry. There is a huge positive judgement associated with this. Its probably 6:45pm now. I haven't eaten since before noon, b/c I know I'm going to get wings on the way home after this class. In the past when I had poor control of diabetes I could not go this long without eating, I would get physically ill. I revel in the fact that I have this element of control over food now, even after a full year of success on my keto diet it still makes me happy every single time I notice it. We discuss our observations of our food and talk a little more about mindful eating. One lady points out that she used to eat all her meals at her computer so she could multi-task and might not even remember eating her lunch on some days. I eat every meal at my computer, anyone that knows me is in shock at this revelation, I know. Re-Visiting Autopilot We re-visit the concept of autopilot in our lives. The instructor tells us that we now have a concrete way to turn off auto pilot for a bite, or for a meal, should we choose to do so, with what we've just learned about mindful eating. This leads to a bigger point about this class itself, and a way to view the things that we do. We're not going to be mindful all the time. We want auto pilot in many things (like the example of driving), but that many people don't know any other way to exist other than to have the auto pilot on all the time. Throughout the duration of this course, we're going to learn lots of ways that we can temporarily turn off that autopilot, if we choose to do so, to notice and experience moments in our lives. We go back to a topic from orientation - not everything we do will appeal to everyone. For now, just have an open mind and be willing to try things. Some will resonate, some may not. But hopefully this is the beginning of understanding that we can choose to slow things down and observe a moment.