Mindful Eating Miniseries: Part 4 An Attitude of Gratiude

Remember from our Mindful Eating Mini Series, mindfulness involves bringing one’s full and deliberate attention to what you are doing at the time you are doing it. Mindfulness embraces a moment by moment awareness of the thoughts, feelings, and surroundings of ourselves and others.  We have learned to create mindfulness while eating that favors us to stop, taste, savor, and enjoy the experience of eating.

Despite the awareness of the experience, do you feel like you are still in a rut? Do you fight to make good food choices and feel deprived in the process? Just as the powerful intentions we have learned with mindfulness, what if we took the time to shift our focus? What if we shifted our focus from frustration and deprivation to thoughts of appreciation and gratitude? Gratitude includes being thankful for small things- that may simply be, having food in the first place.

Reflect on your Attitude of Gratitude. Fill in the blanks to the questions below:

I’m glad for____________________.

I’m grateful for____________________.

I am fortunate because____________________.

I do not have to worry about____________________.

Someone in my life I am very thankful for is ______________________because____________________.

Something I do not recognize that is good in my life as often as I should is________________.

I am lucky because____________________.

I am blessed to be able to____________________.

I am happy that I can____________________.

Before you sit down to a meal this week, take a brief moment to appreciate all the different aspects of the food in front of you; the aroma, the colors, the path, the preparer. Having an attitude of gratitude brings mindfulness to your eating and meaning to your mealtime.