YOUR 2025 BRAIN BRAWN MINI RESOLUTION MINDFULNESS • WEEK 3

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We hope you had a great weekend and are feeling more centered and mindful! This week we tune out our “monkey mind” and tune into our food.


Track Your Progress!
 
We urge you to stick with all our past mini resolutions, too. Use our new log to to track all your progress!
 
Questions? Email your Motivated Mondays Coach Michele at [email protected].
 
If you are new to Motivated Mondays, you can review the 2025 content here.

Practicing Mindfulness While Eating

What is the "monkey mind?" It's a term meant to convey unsettled, restless, indecisive, and whimsical thoughts which distract us from the present moment. Mindful activities are intended to tame the "monkey mind."
 
How often do you plop on the couch in front of the TV to eat your meal? Or do you not even bother with a plate and stand in front of the refrigerator picking at what’s in front of you? Or maybe you get a plate, even silverware and make it to the dining table even, but then mindlessly scroll through your social media accounts while eating? Typically, in these scenarios we end up not really tasting/enjoying our food or recognizing our satiety, thus consuming far more calories than were necessary.
 
Here is a technique to dial into your meal:

First, ask yourself are you hungry or thirsty? As discussed in June when we covered Hydration, hunger is often a mask for thirst. If you aren’t sure, have a glass of water, wait a few minutes and see if you still want to eat. If so, continue.
 
Next prepare your plate and sit at the table with no TV, no music, no cell phones, no computers.
 
Take a breath and enjoy the aroma of your food and the colors on the plate. Appreciate the effort that went into its preparation, farm to table.
 
Set a timer for 20 minutes and allow the full time to complete the food on your plate. This will likely require smaller bites and more thorough chewing of your food. There are theories out there recommending a minimum of 16-30 bites per mouthful. You may even wish to close your eyes to enjoy the flavors and textures on your tongue.
 
Consider: what did you observe/experience? Were you full before the plate was empty? Was this meal more satisfying than most?
 
Before you go back for seconds, ask yourself: are you really hungry?

Listening to Theta music may be beneficial during this activity. Once you have mastered this exercise, you may wish to try eating with your non-dominant hand or chopsticks!

We’ll see you next week!