Mindful eating involves paying attention and focusing on the act of eating, the food, the colours, textures, and tastes. It involves shutting out distractions which can commonly be things such as the tv, radio, or video games etc. It can result in a calmer mealtime which can mean less anxiety, and a greater sense of wellbeing. Another result of mindful eating is that it is known to often decrease the amount of food that you consume. Mindful eating is an important tool for anyone interested in weight loss through being more mindful of what and how much we eat.
During mindful eating one also pays attention to and listens to how one feels and this way we can learn to better ascertain when we are truly hungry as opposed to eating for purely emotional reasons. We can also better determine when we are full and need to stop eating instead of continuing to eat to the point of overeating. It takes practice and the more you work on mindful eating at your meals the easier it will become. Like building a muscle, and just like building your ability to meditate, it will get easier the more you do it. It is another important tool to have in your mindfulness toolkit.