MINDFUL EATING

“Okay! I’m doing it!” I cried as I finished reading an article on ‘mindful eating’.

“What are you doing?” My husband Steven asked as he was passing through the living room and headed towards his office.

“I’m doing mindful eating during the holiday season.” I leaned back against a pillow and swung my legs up on the couch. “All I have to do is follow the five ‘S’ rules for mindful eating and I’ll be able to breeze right through this holiday season.” I tucked my hands behind my head and crossed my legs at the ankles.

“You seem pretty happy with yourself right now.” Steven laughed.

“Well, I just finished the article and it seems really easy.” I sat up and grabbed my phone. “Mindful eating is supposed to stop me from eating something just because it looks or smells good.” I looked over at Steven and raised my eyebrows. “Definitely a problem for me when all the holiday goodies start arriving.”

Steven moved my legs over and sat down next to me. “So what are the five rules?”

“Okay, the first one I’m really good at.” I laughed. “It says to Sit when you eat.” I pointed to my backside that was firmly glued to the couch. “Check!” I began to shake my head. “I haven’t wandered around eating since the boys were little and there was no sitting down!”

Steven laughed. “I remember those days.”

“The second one might be a little harder for me.” I grimaced and shook my head. “It says to eat Slowly.” I sighed. “I usually eat like I’m participating in a timed Olympic event and I’m in it for the win!”

Steven nodded as he laughed again. “We do eat fast.” He agreed.

I looked back at the article. “This next one might be a problem for me too. It kind of ties into the eating slow point.”

“What’s that?” Steven asked.

“It wants me to Savor.” I laughed again. “Do you know there have been times that I’ve actually eaten something and a few seconds later forgotten what it was?”

Steven shook his head. “That one has never been a problem for me. I can remember a meal I had years ago. Especially if it was good.” Steven noticed the confused look on my face as I was looking at the next rule. “What’s wrong?”

“Now that I’m reading the rules over again the next one seems kind of odd.”

“What is it?”

“To Simplify.” I looked back at Steven still confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I scrolled through the article. “Oh, okay. It says to simplify your eating environment by putting the food away as soon as you’re done eating, so you don’t pick.” I hit the phone with the back of my hand. “So why not just say that?” I cried.

“Maybe because it didn’t go with their ‘S’ theme?” Steven laughed.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” I laughed as I looked at the last one. “This one can’t be serious.”

“What?”

“It says to Smile in between every bite.” I just shook my head. “So, now they’re just asking me to look stupid while I’m eating.”

“Stupid is an ‘S’ word.” Steven reminded me.

“That’s true!” I laughed. “But I think I’ll just be sticking to the first four rules this holiday season.”