Mindful vs. Mindless Eating

While I was having my lunch-time meal of soup today I realized that during the past roughly 3 ½ weeks I have been eating with thought. In the past I ate when I was bored, stressed, angry, happy, unhappy, lonely, because the food was there, because I didn’t want it to go to waste, because I deserved a reward and just because. Very rarely was it driven by true hunger.

When I began the pre-op diet I was determined to follow it to the letter and it was tough in the beginning but I stuck with it. I looked forward to each meal and relished each one although I was having the same things day in and day out. It felt good eating things that were good for my body and for the most part unprocessed.

Post surgery I have been eating the same way. It takes me about half hour to finish my protein shake breakfast and I enjoy each mouthful. Lunch is soup and I take the half hour at work to enjoy each spoonful while I look out my office window rather than what I used to do -- gobble something down in between responding to emails and phone calls. Dinner is also soup and again I take the time to enjoy each spoonful. Tomorrow I get to move to purées and I plan to continue eating the same way. Part of it is dictated by the band; I can’t eat nearly as quickly as I used to and the other is that I appreciate every morsel now that I am eating much smaller portions.

Eating mindfully has made it easier; it is no longer being miserable over what I can’t have but rather enjoying what I can.