The Ball State Counseling Center psychologists understand students live in a busy world with classes, jobs, homework and social lives, but they took the time on Monday to remind students to eat mindfully.
Ellen Lucas, associate director and outreach-consultation psychologist at the Counseling Center discussed the eating habits of society in her presentation, "The Art of Mindful Eating," in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.
"We are such a face-paced culture," Lucas said. "Slowing down a bit and taking note of how much we eat, what we eat and where we eat will help us decrease problems with obesity."
Lucas said mindfulness was focusing complete attention to the present on a moment-to-moment basis. Mindfulness is not only helpful when it concerns eating patterns, but also when people express emotions, cope with stress and learn to enjoy life fully, Lucas said.
Mindful eating involves several components including: being aware, observing, finding middle ground, shifting out of autopilot, being in the moment, letting go, and accepting.
The first components, awareness and observation, involve eating slowly which enables someone to better gauge how full they really are, Lucas said. Awareness is about noticing characteristics of food such as smell, texture and taste. People can chart what they eat and take note of how they eat, including how quickly or slowly they eat or what environment they are most comfortable with eating in.
People should find a middle ground between eating too much and too little. Finding middle ground helps people figure out what being full feels like, Lucas said.
Shifting out of autopilot involves becoming aware of every action, not just eating. People often walk, drive and eat when they are not paying attention, which makes them forget how they got somewhere or where the food on their plate went, Lucas said.
Being in the moment and focusing on eating allows people to eliminate future goals and helps people to really enjoy what they are taking in. They should also let go of guilt or feelings of not eating because it helps them to be satisfied with what they are eating.
Finally, acceptance is coming to terms with things as they are instead of wishing about how something could be. It's accepting food for what it is and accepting its role in your life, Lucas said.
"I think most people know about eating disorders, but a lot of people don't take it seriously," freshman Krista Haddix, a deaf education major, said. "I think mindful eating is about being aware of what you eat and not being obsessed with it."
Lucas reminded students to stay away from negative vocabulary such as, "Food is bad." Rather, think positively and remember, "Eating is okay."
"Mindfulness is an alternative to dieting," Lucas said. "It's about going back to how we eat as children. Eating what we want and not eating what we don't want. It's about enjoying what we are eating."
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