28 Day Mindful Eating Challenge Module

28 Day Mindful Eating Challenge

Food is intended to be eaten to provide nourishment for our body. Nourishment that allows us to live full, productive lives. In our society food has become the enemy and we eat mindlessly. There are foods that are good for us, foods that are bad for us, foods we should NEVER eat, foods that are overprocessed, foods that aren’t really foods at all. We are BUSY and we are ZONED OUT! We go faster and faster, trying to get more and more done.

Eating becomes a chore, an obligation…something to get done, to do to ease hunger, numb emotions. Meals are on the go…breakfast in the car on the way to work (if eaten at all), lunch at our desk so we can get one more thing done, dinner in front of the TV or on the way to our next appointment. We eat when we are not hungry, so we won’t be hungry in the next meeting or appointment. We don’t eat before the meeting, so we are starving and scarf down whatever is available or convenient. We have little awareness of the taste of food, how much we are eating, and how the food makes our bodies feel. This leads to over eating, weight gain, loss of pleasure in food/eating, digestive issues, emotional issues…we could go on and on!

So, what can I do about it? Mindful Eating is a simple solution that can be added into your daily life!

What is Mindful Eating? Mindful eating is a simple concept that brings our focus back to our food when we are eating. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical center defines Mindfulness as:

“Paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

Mindful eating brings pleasure back to food. You simply focus all thoughts and senses on the food you are eating right NOW! Nonjudgmentally, so there is not guilt or make wrong. We say simple, but it is not necessarily easy. It takes practice. It is a learned skill.

So why Mindful Eating? Studies show multiple benefits to incorporating the practice of Mindful eating into your life:

Reduced overeating
Reduced binge eating
Weight loss
Reduced BMI
Improved blood sugar regulation, preventing or improving Type II Diabetes
Improved food choices
Improved emotional regulation
Decrease snacking
Decreased craving
Improved digestion, improved metabolism

How do I incorporate Mindful Eating as a practice in my daily life?

Completing this challenge will allow you to bring your attention back to your meals. You will begin to notice your thoughts and conversation around food. You will begin to notice your habits around food. You will begin to create a habit of mindful eating.

Start your mindful eating journey by viewing this TEDx Talk about the Mindful Eating Cycle by Michelle May, MD, expert on mindful eating and founder of Am I Hungry? Eat Mindfully, Live Vibrantly.

Day 1 - Objectives & Preparing for Success

What is required?

Pick one meal a day that you will eat mindfully.
Use the tip provided on the post for that day to eat mindfully.
Continue tips from previous day when possible to make mindful eating part of your eating routine.

Think of each day of this module as a building block that over time creates a structure that empowers you to incorporate Mindful Eating into your daily life! Each activity is 15 minutes or less.

So how do you increase your chances of taking daily action for 28 days???

Schedule at least one meal on your calendar every day for the next 28 days and treat it like any other appointment that you wouldn’t dare miss! Do that NOW!
Use a reminder alert on your calendar AND an alarm on your phone.
Share with your family and friends that you are doing this daily AND ask them to hold you accountable.
For those of you who love to check things off a list, add it to your to do list or use your calendar to “check off” days that you completed!!!
Evaluate what might get in the way of you doing this activity daily and strategize how to prevent this from happening.
Get a support partner! Who can do this 28 day activity with you? Who would benefit from learning mindful eating skills? Partner up and share your progress, challenges, and experience with that partner!!!

Do it Now!!! Do the above listed items now or plan them into your schedule in the next 24 hours to improve your success for the following 28 Days!

Print this “Sticker” and put it in places where it will remind you of your commitment to wellness!

Day 2 - Moment of Contemplation

Moment of Contemplation & Gratitude

Take a moment to contemplate how the food came to be in front of you. Where did it grow? How was it harvested? How did it get delivered? Who prepared it? What did it take for it to be prepared?

Take a moment to be grateful for all that it took for the food to be available to you!

Gratitude improves digestion! Gratitude shifts our perspective from what is wrong/bad in our lives to what is good. This shift in perspective naturally calms us, as stress is a reaction to a perceived threat. Gratitude allows our body to experience safety, which contributes to improved digestion of food!

Day 3 - How does your food smell?

Take on the challenge of continuing the skills you learned in previous days. Take a moment for contemplation and gratitude for your food!

Take a moment to smell the food before taking your first bite. Take several deep inhalations and notice what is happening in your body, especially your stomach.

As you take each bite, smell each bite.

What difference do you notice by smelling your food? Do you notice the food being more fulfilling or enjoyable? Do you feel more satiated at the end of the meal?

The process of digestion begins before you put food in your mouth. Simply seeing and smelling food stimulates saliva and stomach acid production and more.

Day 4 - SEE your food!

Continue building skills! Take a moment to contemplate your meal. Smell your meal.

Take a moment to SEE your food.

Notice the colors, the textures, the shapes, the details.

Day 5 - Hear your foods.

What are you noticing about eating mindfully so far?

Notice how your food sounds.

How does it sound when you put your utensil in the food or pick it up with your hands?

How does it sound when you bite down? when you chew?

How does the utensil sound when you put it down between meals?

Day 6 - Feel your food.

Each day of this challenge is a building block that is intended to provide the structure for mindful eating. Continue to build, using multiple skills in as many meals as possible.

Notice how your food feels.

What does it feel like in your hand? What does your fork feel like in your hand?

What is the texture of the food in your mouth, on your tongue, on your teeth?

What is the texture of the food when you swallow? How does it feel to swallow? How does the food feel in your esophagus?

Day 7 - Taste your food!

Taste your food. Really taste your food. Can you distinguish the different flavors in your food?

Super Challenge:
This 5 minute audio incorporates all of this week’s activities. Pick a food (for example we use carrots, but a raisin, orange, or apple will do) and use the audio to guide you through a mindful eating experience!

Congratulations on completing your first week of the Mindful Eating Challenge! Celebrate your success!!!!

Day 8 - SLOW DOWN!

Take a moment to think back over all the meals in the last 24 hours. How have your meals been? What difference do you notice in the meal that you eat mindfully versus the other meals of the day?

Put down your fork between each bite. Put down your sandwich after each bite.

Don’t pick up the next item until you have chewed and swallowed.

What difference do you notice at the end of the meal when you slow down?

Within 1 minute (48 seconds) you will have a feeling or sensation when eating a food. Notice what yours is!

Day 9 - De-stress before eating

Stress hormones divert the blood flow away from the digestive system. Take a moment to remind your body that you are safe and sound and get your digestive tract functioning optimally to digest your food!

Use Dr. Hyman’s Take 5 Breathing Break:

Breathe in through your nose for a count of 5, pause, breathe out through your mouth for a count of 5. Repeat 4 more times or until you feel relaxed and ready to begin your meal. You can put one hand on your belly to help you connect with deeper belly-breathing.

Use technology to your advantage! Use a meditation app to de-stress! GPS for the Soul and Insight Timer are ones we love!

Day 10 - Why am I eating Right Now?

Use this inquiry for all meals over the next 24 hours!

Why are you eating right now?

Are you hungry? Are you over-hungry?

Are you craving something? If yes, what and does the food satisfy the craving?

Are you eating because it is a convenient time?

Day 11 - Hunger

What does hunger feel like? Where do you feel it in your body?

What thoughts do you have when you are hungry? What emotions do you experience when you are hungry?

Consider using this Hunger Scale to support you in connecting with your hunger before, during, and after meals.

10 – Uncomfortably full or “sick” – “Thanksgiving full”
9 – Stuffed and uncomfortable
8 – Too full, somewhat uncomfortable
7 – Full, but not yet uncomfortable – hunger is gone
6 – Filling up, but still comfortable – could definitely eat more
5 – Neutral – neither hungry nor full
4 – Slightly hungry, mild signals that your body needs food – you can wait to eat
3 – Hungry, not yet uncomfortable – clear signals that your body needs food
2 – Very hungry, irritable, or anxious – you want to eat everything in sight
1 – Starving, feeling weak, lightheaded, dizzy, or other extremely uncomfortable symptoms of hunger

Stop eating when when you reach 5-7 rating OR 80% full, no longer hungry!

Day 12 - Satiated?

Use this inquiry for all meals today!

Are you satiated (satisfied, full) at the end of the meal?

What does satiety feel like in your body?

If not satisfied, what does your body want, your mind want, your heart want? Does food satisfy that want?

Day 13 - Emotions

Take a moment to notice your emotions before you begin your meal. What name would you give your emotions?

Notice your emotions during the meal. What name would you give your emotions?

What emotions do you experience during the meal? What name would you give the emotions you experience at the end of the meal?

Day 14 - Eat ONLY!

Only eat while you eat!

Do not multitask.

Eat in silence. No talking. No music. No TV.

Turn off all media. No phone/tablet. No computer.

Focus on your food.

Do not read. Do not work. Do not do social media.

What do you notice?

What is it like to eat in silence, with no distractions? What do you notice about the experience of the meal – body, mind, heart, and spirit?

Day 15 - Drink Mindfully!

Drink Mindfully. Pick one drink today to drink mindfully. It could be tea, coffee, soda, or wine.

Intentionally use all 5 senses…smell, touch/feel, sight, hearing, and taste. Take at least 5 minutes to focus solely on this.

What did you notice?

Day 16 - Posture.

Notice your posture during the meal.

Do you sit? Do you stand? Do you slump over your food?

How does your back feel? How does your abdomen feel with your posture?

Day 17 - Chew 25 times!

Chew each bite 25 times before swallowing.

What was your experience of this exercise?

Day 18 - Bodily Sensations

Take a moment to do a quick scan of your body and notice how it feels.

Notice your bodily sensations as you eat.

How does it feel to swallow? How does your abdomen feel?

How do your shoulders feel? Your lower back?

How does your body feel at the completion of the meal?

Day 19 - The Meaning of Food

What does food mean to you?

What were you taught about finishing a meal when you were younger?

What did your family teach you about food when you were younger?

What does food symbolize?

Day 20 - Bite-Size

Take bites half the size you usually do.

Day 21 - Nutritional Value

Consider the nutritional value of the food that you are eating.

Does the meal provide a balance, plenty of vitamins, minerals, protein?

Notice what foods have less nutritional value and what has you eat these foods.

Congratulations on completing Week 3 of the Mindful Eating Challenge!

Day 22 - Oranges & Raisins

Take at least 10 minutes to eat 1 orange or 10 raisins!

Day 23 - Overfull?

When do you become over-full? What has you eat beyond being satisfied?

Notice the thoughts and emotions you have that contribute to over eating.

Day 24 - Gratitude for life of food.

Take a moment to experience and express gratitude for your food.

What plant or animal gave it’s life/energy for your well-being?

What do we take for granted about food?

Day 25 - Eating for Convenience

Notice what foods you eat (that you don’t necessarily enjoy) just because they are convenient or available?

What are you noticing about eating mindfully? How do thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations contribute to your eating patterns?

Day 26 - Eating Mindlessly?

Notice when you eat mindlessly.

What is different 26 days into a mindful eating challenge?

How often do you find yourself eating mindlessly during the meal you designated for mindful eating? How do you treat in those circumstances? What thoughts do you have?

Remember, mindful eating is a PRACTICE!

Day 27 - Dessert!

Take 20 minutes to eat a desert. Intentionally use all 5 senses…smell, touch/feel, sight, hearing, and taste.