Healthy Eating: Big Beautiful Salad

I have been getting nudges left and right from the Universe about mindful eating. So, today, I tried it. I made a nice salad.

One of the things I did was pay attention to my thoughts while I was preparing it. At first I was anxious then I began focusing on gratitude. Thanking God for the food I was about to receive for the nourishment of my body. This is challenging because I was hungry and just wanted to throw the salad together and eat it.

I paid attention to the different greens on my plate, the different shapes and colors. Then I chopped a tomato. I held it in my hand and gave thanks. I paid attention to how I was chopped and lovingly spread it on top of the salad greens.

As I sliced red pepper, I enjoyed listening to the knife slicing against the crisp pepper. As I spread the pepper on top of the greens and tomatoes, I notice the difference shades of red. This is not something I would normally notice.

I enjoyed the smell of red onion and the pretty color it added to my salad.
I also enjoyed the smell of fresh black pepper.
Again, this was challenging and I was well aware of the thoughts to just hurry up, make the salad, and eat. After all, I only have an hour for lunch!

I then added feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette dressing and sat down to enjoy my salad.

I have to admit I did not do so well. I sat for a minute and looked at the salad. I took a bite and noticed all the flavors and textures…the sweet balsamic, the salty cheese, the sweet pepper and onion, the spicy black pepper, the earthy greens…it was delicious. The one thing that began bothering me about this mindful exercise is the amount of time it was taking me to eat and how much it was stimulating my senses. I’m not so sure if it’s a good idea for my compulsive overeating tendencies. I was aware of thoughts about the exercise being a triggering. Since joining OA, I’ve developed a strange fear of enjoying my food too much. There are times I will feel guilty about enjoying a meal. Anyhow, this is something I will discuss with my sponsor. After eating half of the salad in a mindful manner, I resorted back to my “regular” way of eating.