The idea of mindful eating keeps popping up in my life: in my yoga magazine, on nytimes.com, and from an acquaintance whom I don't talk to very often...and this is just the last 24 hours. Maybe this is just a coincidence (statistics 1001 lesson: coincidences happen all the time and they're no big deal). OR! Maybe the idea keeps surfacing because it's actually important. Mabes I'm a dumb-dumb sometimes, but sometimes I also miraculously notice patterns. (I guess I should probably be able to do that as a statistician.)
My mindset is to meet two goals through eating: to nourish the body and to enjoy delicious things. Sometimes, both goals can be accomplished at the same time. For example, I looove broccoli! Sometimes (no matter how hard you stretch the truth) you know that you are not accomplishing both goals at once, but I think that's totally ok. My belief is that as long as you savor every single bit of what you're eating, it's absolutely fine to indulge in delicious, non-healthy things from time to time. You're listening to yourself, giving yourself what you want and (hopefully) eating very mindfully so that you do not overindulge. Plus, as Yoga Journal stated, it gives you an opportunity to learn about yourself. Without criticism, you can ask yourself "why am I eating all these delicious, unhealthy foods?" and maybe your response will enlighten you as to your wants and needs.
One night, freshman year, I went to the dining hall and none of the food interested me except for mint chocolate chip ice cream. I scooped one serving, savored it like crazy, realized that I wanted another bowl, and scooped myself a second serving. And then...I actually had a third bowl. Of course, this is not at all healthy (though you can say that dairy is good-ish for you), but it made me so so so so so happy. What did I learn from that? That I really freaking love mint chocolate chip ice cream. If I had been more aware, what would I have learned? That I was sick of the dining hall and needed to find some new way of eating.
During and after my ice-cream-dinner, I felt a little guilty but really, how bad can something be if you do it once in a blue moon? And guess what? I didn't do that again because I felt so satisfied. In fact, during my senior year, my roommate Sarah and I would each eat at MOST one spoonful of ice cream after dinner. That wasn't because we were on a diet (we weren't), but rather because we savored our dessert so much that we felt satisfied from our one spoonful. Rather than just gobbling it down and getting another, we enjoyed that one spoonful for a few minutes. Now THAT is mindful eating! (And I didn't even realize it at the time! I am a genius!)
Life feels so busy that we think we need to rush and multitask. I know that after a long day at school, I just want to nom down my dinner like a starved animal (and sometimes I do). I'm also guilty of eating at my desk so that I can continue to get work done, but all this detracts from enjoying the present. A couple years ago, I playfully dubbed 2009 "Year of the Hot Body" (meaning that I was going to get in shape), but for 2012 I'm leaning towards "Year of the Mindful Christina." I know 2012 is well underway, but the lunar new year just happened a couple weeks ago, so maybe this declaration isn't too late. And besides, is there really ever a bad time for positive change?