Hi all,

I mentioned the benefits of mindful eating in another thread and VSGAnn suggested I start a thread. I'm far from an expert on this, and honestly don't practice it as it should be, but I think the exploration of it has really helped me, so wanted to go ahead and start this - and invite others who may practice it chime in with their input and experience. I did a workshop about mindful eating in the months before my surgery. So sharing what I learned.

So mindful eating is really just about slowing down and paying much closer attention to the whole process of eating than we normally do. We all know the problems of mindless eating - how easy it is to finish a whole pint of ice cream, large bag of chips, etc. while watching TV. But even when eating at the table in a more traditional way so much of our eating is still pretty mindless. And we let external cues, rather than our own bodies, determine what we eat and how much.

Some of the basic tenets of mindful eating (again, not an expert so may be leaving things out - all are welcome to add/correct what I'm including!):

• Before eating, check in with yourself and really think about what is your body wants to eat; sometimes we're just on autopilot and reach for the usual things, but when we listen we realize that we actually are craving something different
• Don't judge yourself for what you're craving; trust your body to tell you what it needs
  • This one was REALLY hard for me, and I have not perfected it, but I do think it's really important; most of us have spent years dieting or "cheating" on diets and it's all just disconnected us from listening to what we actually need
  • This one is also hard to align with the guidelines post surgery - like focusing on Protein, but to a somewhat limited extent it can still be done
• Before eating a meal, pause and think about the meal you're about to eat - where did all the ingredients come from? Who prepared it? And so on
  • For me, this helps me feel so thankful for the abundance of foods available to me; I often marvel at the range of spices and flavors in each of my meals that come from all over the world, or the fresh ingredients that made their way from country farms to my NYC apartment; and I am more aware of the animals that gave their lives for my sake than I used to be (still a carnivore, but more conscious about not wasting meat)
• Eat one bite at a time, putting your fork down between bites and think about the whole sensation - how the food feels in your mouth, the flavors that hit different parts of your tongue, how the flavors change as you start to chew
  • In the workshop I did we did a few guided meditations with food, for example eating just one raisin at a time and contemplating each stage of eating - holding the raisin in our mouths, chewing (for a while) and then finally swallowing; then doing the same with a 2nd raisin and noticing how the experience is slightly different with the 2nd bite vs the first; I highly recommend this! It was amazing how delicious one raisin could taste when you pay attention (and I'm not someone who thought I liked raisins). Also interesting how much less intense each bite is vs the first; after the first bite we tend to go into autopilot mode and just shovel it in without thought
• After each bite check in with yourself and consider how your hunger, satiety and fullness has changed
  • Satiety is probably the hardest of these; I tend to think of it as - if someone took this food away right now how would that feel? If I would feel that I needed to get something else to eat than I'm not satisfied; if that feels like it wouldn't be so bad, and that what I've eaten will keep me going for 2-3 hours than most likely I'm just about satisfied
  • In terms of fullness, paying attention helps you recognize the early signs of fullness; especially for us WLS people it's important not to eat to point of too full. There are always signals before that; we just have to get used to recognizing them
• There are mindful meditations that you can do - for just 10 minutes a day; this isn't about eating, but just about learning how to listen to your body signals - there's an app called mindfullness with a good 10-15 minute meditation (I think it's 2-3 dollars)
  • Full disclosure: I did these during the workshop I was in, but have not continued; but I think it's helpful for someone who wants to embrace this process to do the work of strengthening your mindfulness muscles
  • Mindfullness is not easy! We're programmed to rush. It's almost ridiculous how frustrating it can be to hold a raisin in your mouth for a minute without chewing it, but again - a great thing to do for yourself to build this skill - it really feels like taking care of yourself in a deeper way, and we all deserve to give ourselves that attention and care

I did this workshop in the months before my surgery and I really think it's helped me since surgery. As I mentioned above I don't practice perfectly, but having worked to be more conscious in my eating for a while, now that awareness is more innate. I am much better about checking in with myself about what i'm craving. If I start eating something that's not satisfying I stop and get something different (when possible). If I want a little more than I planned to eat I get more. If I'm satisfied before I clean my plate I stop. I track what i eat, and focus on protein and veggies, but I don't stop myself from eating more some days when I am just hungrier - or force myself to eat more on days when I'm not too hungry. And if I crave something sweet - I eat something sweet.

Overall I think this has helped me feel satisfied with the smaller meals we eat post surgery. Even though they're small I still think about each meal and make sure that it's yummy and satisfying. I've seen people post about how eating is so much less pleasurable since surgery and I don't relate. I enjoy food as much or more, but I think the mindfullness has helped with that a lot.

Hope this is helpful to some! Look forward to hearing if anyone else has tried this approach. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

-Susan/Suse

Wow, Suse!

Thank you soooo much. I've read this twice and have bookmarked it. I'm going to try these exercises. All makes great sense.

The part about listening to what your body is telling you it really wants is the part I needed most to hear. I'm constantly trying to be "in charge" of what I eat -- obviously, I'm afraid to give my urges any power at all. Seems like it's time for a little more collaboration, eh?

Thank you once again. I appreciate the significant effort you went to to put this thread together.

Best regards,

Ann

Thanks for suggesting it Ann! It was good for me to think through the various aspects as well. Indeed - trusting ourselves is very challenging! For me, (before sleeve surgery) it was fascinating that once I started trusting myself and allowing myself to eat what I craved, I noticed that sometimes I actually craved healthy food! When you're not telling yourself that you must eat healthy food because it's the right thing to do you can actually hear when your body just naturally wants it. And when you tell yourself that you're a terrible person for eating sweet/fatty foods and deny your cravings, it can just make them come back with a rebellious vengeance.

Something else I want to add - when I started doing this, again pre-sleeve, I found that some of the foods that I thought I loved (like chicken chow fun from a local chinese place) were actually not that good! I think I craved them because they satisfied my cravings for fat and carbs, but when I actually paid attention to the taste it just wasn't very tasty. And I had an experience eating a burrito one night that was just amazing! I felt like I was eating food prepared for the gods - the range of flavors and spices was so intense and delicious. Since all this I use a lot more spices and hot sauces.

Edited September 28, 201411 yr by thesuse2000

Thank you so much for the mindful thinking on how we should eat. I copied it and pasted on my notes. I will read this again and again to remind myself what am doing in this mission.

Good messages. Thanks!

Very good advice. Since I can't/don't eat much, I make sure what I do eat is really good tasting and of good quality. I also find that eating items I used to devour doesn't happen much since Have to be so selective. And like you, I am in NYC and privvy to some of the best food out there thank goodness. A few bites of something wonderful is a damn sight better than a plateful of something ordinary. At least, that's how I see it.

Isn't it great to be able to really enjoy the food? And everything about it. I am a sucker for presentation but of course it has to be delicious, too. Before WLS I don't think I was ever in the moment of eating -- I was thinking about what's next, what foods were in the fridge, what to make, etc. Now my few bites are savored. So glad to be at peace with food. What a gift.

Thanks for this great post, Suse! I try to do many of the things you describe (with varying degrees of success). The closest thing I can relate to your raisin experience, believe it or not, was eating flan. I loved it so much, that I would hold it in my mouth, then swish it around so it would hit every taste bud before swallowing. It was the only food I was able to eat small bites slowly, hoping it would never end. Haven't had it since my WLS, but maybe some day... I do take small bites now, put my knife and fork down, lean back in my chair, and chew, chew, chew. I used to always be the first one finished with my meal, and now I'm always the last.

Here are a couple of AHA! moments I've had that other WLS folks may be able to related to or use:

• I now recognize the "I'm getting full signs" even when my taste buds think they want more. My head wants seconds, but my stomach says it's had enough. It's a very odd feeling to push away delicious food because you're already satisfied. AHA! So this is how thin people eat. Who knew?!

• I used to need to finish everything on my plate or in the container, even if I was full or sick of the taste. That's no longer the case. And since our stomachs are so small, it's rarely a case of, "Oh, that's not enough for a meal, so I may as well finish it off." AHA! It may very well be enough to save. And if it's not, I don't have to be the garbage disposal for unfinished or unwanted food.

I've had these two realizations in the past few weeks and it gave me some real hope for the future. If I can ingrain these types of mindful eating cues during my honeymoon period, maybe I'll be able to keep them as I transition into "normal" eating. Thanks again for the timely reminder!

WOOHOO!

I love this thread......lol.

I am in my 6th week of a mindfulness class and it is a real trip. I need alot of practice that is for sure.

Anyhow the psychologist that is giving the class had recommended several books, to me and of course I got enthralled with her. Her name is Susan Albers, psyd www.sootheyourselfwithoutfood.com

She also mentioned a free daily meditation exercise on mindfulness at Susan Pivers website.

I'm loving all the comments!

Gowalking - totally agree on making those few bites something wonderful - we are so worth it!

Bandista - love the way you talk about finding peace and joy with food. It is a wonderful thing!

Rog - love your AHAs! It really is amazing how our mindsets can change...

TatorTot - thanks for the reccos! I actually bought "50 ways to soothe yourself without food" before surgery - meant to read it during my surgication (time off after surgery) but got engrossed in a couple other books and never got to it. I was just thinking of it last week, but I haven't felt a need for soothing food substitutes (yet). I wish you the best with the rest of the class!