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Mojo Monday - The Mindful Eating Advantage with Carly Taylor · Hardiness with Dr Paul Taylor

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Cully Taylor here. Welcome to this week's mo
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Joe Monday. So this episode is actually inspired by an
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: experience that I had this morning. So I was sitting
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: at my desk, fully focused on my university assignment, and
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I was also eating a piece of chocolate at the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: same time. So not just any chocolate. It was my favorite,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: which is ninety percent lint chocolate. And I know many
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of you are going to turn your nose up at that,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: but I don't have a massively sweet tooth. But I
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: do find that the lint ninety percent has this really smooth,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: kind of not so bitter dark chocolate, you know, beautiful taste,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: and I really enjoy it. But I digress with that description.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: But I have a rule that I only eat three
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: squares of this a day, and I have to have
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: this role because I really really enjoy it, and if
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: I didn't, I would I would definitely eat more. And
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: this is an important point here because because I limit
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: myself to this amount, it's really important that I savor
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the experience of the chocolate, and I really really enjoy it.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: But this morning, I was so engrossed in my assignment
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  Speaker 1: that I didn't savor the taste of that smooth texture,
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  Speaker 1: and I didn't notice the little dose of dopamine that
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I normally experienced. I just ate it and then it
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: was gone, And I missed out on the joy of
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: eating that chocolate because my mind was on my work,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: So my attention was on my work. And how often
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: do we do this? They eating on autopilot, not having
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: that sensory experience of our food and our enjoyment of eating,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: or even worse like barely remembering that we ate at all.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: And this isn't just a quirky observation that I had
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: this morning, It is backed by research. Studies show that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: eating while distracted can lead to overeating and even affect
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: our digestion. And one study that I came across from
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: the European Eating Disorders Review found that a mindful eating
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  Speaker 1: program significantly reduced emotional eating in adults who were overweight
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: or obese. And it wasn't just about eating less, it
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: was about changing their relationship with food by paying attention
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: to what, how and why they were eating. So mindful
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: eating can help us eat less, not because we're focusing
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: or forcing ourselves to, but we are more in tune
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: with our body's signals. And another study that I saw
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  Speaker 1: found that mindful eat eating improves emotional regulation and also
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: self compassion. And so imagine having that self awareness and
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: treating yourself with kindness and stop and stopping to eat
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: or stop eating when you're full, not because you're counting calories,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: but because you are okay with it, because you actually
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: feel satisfied. So if you've been listening to my Jo
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: mondays for a while, you all know that I continually
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: talk about attention, about where our attention is in any
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: moment and how powerful that can be. And this is
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: related to mindful eating. So mindful eating is simply paying
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: full attention to your food, paying full attention to the eating,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: to the process of eating that food, and not doing
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: anything else but eating. And it's noticing and fully experiencing
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: the colors, so the sight of the food, the smells,
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  Speaker 1: the textures, the flavors. It's listening to your body's hunger
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  Speaker 1: cues and listening to how full you are. It's about
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: eating slowly and without judgments, so allowing yourself to fully
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: enjoy the experience. And how often do you do this?
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: So this is a question to ask yourself, how often
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  Speaker 1: do you do this, think about what you were doing
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: at lunchtime yesterday, for example, So where were you, what
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  Speaker 1: were you eating? What were you doing while you were eating?
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: So do you recall the flavors, the textures, the sites,
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  Speaker 1: the aromas of the food. So often we are so
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: busy that meals and filling our bellies so they don't
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: rumble are just another task to tick off. So we
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: eat while scrolling, and I've done it many many time.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: If I don't catch myself on, we eat while working,
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  Speaker 1: while watching Netflix or even being deep in thought, and
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  Speaker 1: suddenly the meal is gone and we feel stuffed. Practicing
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  Speaker 1: mindfulness while we eat has shown to reduce binge eating.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: It's shown to reduce anxiety around eating. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: people feel really anxious when they're choosing what food to eat,
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  Speaker 1: and it can even help with depression. And it can
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: help us differentiate between physical hunger and emotional cravings, and
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  Speaker 1: that leads to healthier choices over time, because it really
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: is increasing our self awareness around our relationship with food.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: And it's not about being perfect or rigid or avoiding
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  Speaker 1: chocolate in my case, thank goodness, because chocolate is my thing.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: There's no way I'm giving it up. But it's about
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  Speaker 1: enjoying the chocolate, or enjoying whatever it is that you're
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: eating to the fullest and taking the time to truly
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  Speaker 1: taste it and savor it. And this is something I
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: do normally do I do try and practice this, So
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  Speaker 1: I'm very aware of the difference between mindfully eating those
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  Speaker 1: three squares of chocolate and then just going through the motions.
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  Speaker 1: So I've got some tips for you to experiment with
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  Speaker 1: to start eating mindfully. The first one is, next time
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  Speaker 1: you're eating, just pause, so take a deep breath, so
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: look at your food and really appreciate it, like smell it,
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  Speaker 1: allow your senses to wake up and even appreciate where
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: it came from and all the people that made it
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  Speaker 1: possible for you to have this experience eating this food.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: You know, gratitude before eating can be such a good
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  Speaker 1: start to this process because all of a sudden, you
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: are very present with what you're eating and chew each
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: bite thoroughly, So slow down, put your fork down in
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  Speaker 1: between bites. This can be a real conscious decision to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: do that, because how often do we put the food
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: in our mouth and then we're back cutting things up
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  Speaker 1: and putting it on the fork ready for the next bite.
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  Speaker 1: So actually putting your fork down and then not picking
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  Speaker 1: your fork, your knife and fork up until you've swallowed
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  Speaker 1: that mouthful. And what this can do is really help
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  Speaker 1: you with your digestion and it also gives you time
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  Speaker 1: to notice when you're getting full. Now, the next one
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  Speaker 1: is putting your screens away. Make it a rule so
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  Speaker 1: when you're eating, screens are away and reaching for screens
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  Speaker 1: every time we have a few moments, which includes eating
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  Speaker 1: a meal often especially I think at lunchtime, it means
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: that we're just on autopilot. So if you can create
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: a habit that you eat screen free, you can really
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: mindfully enjoy the food in front of you and then
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: engage your senses. So notice the textures, the tastes, and
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  Speaker 1: even the sound of the food, whether it's crunchy, notice
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  Speaker 1: the creaminess or the spiciness, and just be really curious
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: about all the kind of sensations of the food. And
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: then finally listen to your body, like check in with yourself.
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  Speaker 1: I do this all the time when I find myself
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: entering the kitchen, am I really hungry or am I
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: trying to distract myself from all the work that I've
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: got to do. I actually find sometimes that it's a
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: procrastination strategy for me. So if I'm kind of like, oh,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: I really don't want to be doing this uni assignment,
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  Speaker 1: I'll distract myself by eating. So just being aware of
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: why you are going to the kitchen or why you're
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: reaching for the food or is it a stress response
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  Speaker 1: so many of us eat when we're stress or is
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: it just a habit. So here's the challenge for this week.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Pick one meal or a snack. Pick one meal or
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: a snack a day and try to eat it mindfully.
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  Speaker 1: Just give it a go. You know, maybe it's your
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: morning coffee or your lunch, or if you're like me,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: it's that piece of chocolate after lunch or the four
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: o'clock slump, And there might be an added bonus here.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe if you eat mindfully, the food's going to taste
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: better and you'll feel more satisfied and you might even
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: eat less. So thank you for tuning in this week,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Tom Joe Monday. I would really love to hear your
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: mindful eating stories or any other experiences that you may
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: have had. And I have started back on LinkedIn, which
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I'm actually really enjoying because it's a great platform for
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: writing content that can add some value and I always
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: try and post stuff that is practical. So if you
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: are on LinkedIn, check out my LinkedIn account, and it's
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: a really good platform for us to connect. So hopefully
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: I'll see you there. Otherwise I will catch you next week.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: See ya.