During my weekly brunch shift, I inevitably have to ask someone: which side does the fork goes on? I also do this every holiday that my mom makes me set the table for. Silverware placement is not something I’m focused on. I know it sounds like I must eat with my hands quite a bit. And sure, there is that. Breakfast this morning was Mini Wheats from box to mouth. No utensil required. Most meals at my house or at work are typically conducted simultaneously with another activity. I do eat with my hands a lot. My keyboard is nasty.
This is week 5 of my living life more mindfully. The challenge is eating.
This week, when you’re eating or drinking, don’t do anything else. Sit down and take the time to enjoy what you are taking in. Open all the senses as you eat or drink. Look at the colors, shapes, surface textures. Attend to the smells and flavors in your mouth. Listen to the sounds of eating and drinking. –-“How to Train a Wild Elephant”
I’ve spent the last decade trying to de-emphasize my attention on food. As a good size gal, my lifetime has focused on food. Dieting made me concentrate on every good or bad morsel. At different starvation points, I would be delirious thinking about what I would eat if I was ‘normal.’ I’ve wasted a lot of energy thinking about food. In the last decade, I’ve let the food obsession go. Ice cream dries up in my freezer. I toss things I don’t get around to eating. Cookies get stal— no, that never happens. A gal has to have her vices.
I feel a certain freedom from food. I focus on eating healthy for my optimal functioning. Yet, if I crave something, I eat it. I try not to put a judgment on it. There aren’t bad foods. It’s just food. It’s not my life’s focus. I don’t live to eat. I eat to live. Plus, I’ve had gastric bypass surgery so my portion control is automatic.
For this challenge, I’m going to be mindful of eating without going back to my bad habits. My plan is to ‘set the table.’ I’m going to prepare my dining area with utensils. And I am going to use them to eat. I know, right? Fancy! Those Mini Wheats are going in a bowl tomorrow. What side does the spoon go on?