Welcome to Journeys in Mindful Eating!

Welcome to Journeys in Mindful Eating!
This is my first entry. Important! Must be significant and powerful! Must really measure up to the vision of this blog! Oh, not that!..... Yes - those are the thoughts running through my head as I NON-mindfully prepare to start this blog. Full of fear laden, procrastination-building judgment! Mindful eating for me is a process that requires getting out of the judgment and perfection expectation mode. It is an act, a simple act of eating with awareness. Eating with awareness! No easy task for most of us as we eat in front of the TV, we eat in the car while driving, talking to the kids and answering the cell phone, and we eat urgently (OK, compulsively at times) to deal with feelings - anxiety, sadness, depression. These patterns of eating are anything but mindful!

As a society, we are becoming more aware or mindful of the food we select: commercial, organic, free-range, local, fresh or frozen??. These choices can make a difference in our health in the long run research suggests. One simple, but not easy, act of mindfulness WHILE eating can make the difference between over-eating and feeding your body what it needs.

I know this personally, as my body size has gone up and down and up, up for the last several decades as I tried to use food to soothe, solve, and survive. But no more - being mindful about what and why I put things in my mouth is a new way of life.

Mindful eating for me requires staying conscious through all the stages: planning, shopping, fixing, dreaming about Garlic and artichoke pizza, as well as setting the table and sitting down to eat in a calm focused manner. Full-time Focus!

So, welcome to my blog! Let's do this together, you and I and all of us! Let's learn day by day how to be more mindful eaters!

JME Affirmation for the Day:
Today, I enjoy food by paying close attention to smells, tastes and textures of my meals. I savor my food today.