Eating when you are hungry can be very powerful, and trying to actually consciously experience the food as you are eating it may be even more powerful. Here are a couple of simple ways to get you to do just that.
Look at the Hersheys kiss and notice what emotions come to mind. Do you feel hunger? Guilt? Excitement? Joy? Now open the wrapper. Notice the noise that it makes. Notice how the wrapper feels in your hand. Put the candy in your palm. Hold it up to your nose and smell it. All along, notice the emotions this brings up. Now, place the candy in your mouth. What does it feel like? Try not to chew it! How does it taste? Does it feel different on what part of the tongue than another? What emotions come up for you?
Here is another nice version by Susan Albers on Psychology today.
Don’t eat in front of the TV: Eating in front of the TV makes us eat more because we pay less attention to our hunger signals. This makes us eat after we are no longer hungry. This regular over-eating suppresses the hunger signals our body is sending us eventually making the problem a bigger and bigger one. Here is a link to a nice explanation of how eating mindlessly causes physiological derangements in our ability to feel satiated.
Eat by yourself – I am all for eating at the family dinner table, but once in a while, it can be a nice exercise to eat by yourself, and of course, not in front of the TV or while using other electronics. Research shows we tend to eat more in the presence of others, especially in large groups. Here is a nice little article on the subject.
Only Eat When you are Hungry and Stop When you are Satisfied – Intuitive eating is a behavioral weight loss technique that began with , Evelyn Tribole RD, a dietitian who discovered that emotions were an important part of the eating experience. There is still a lot to study, but there is some promising research behind the approach. The subtitle eat when you are hungry and stop when satisfied I think captures the basics, but there is a lot more to it. If you are someone who struggles with emotional eating, intuitive eating may be something to look into. Here is a link to the 10 principals of intuitive eating.
Emotional eating is different from an eating disorder, which needs to be treated by professionals. Please see a healthcate professional if you think you may have an eating disorder. Here is an online self-assessment for eating disorders, but it is not a substitute for a diagnosis by a health professional.