Let's talk about mindless eating. How many times have you been sitting watching TV a bag of crisps in front of you, and before you know it, you'll hit the bottom of the bag and you were only planning on having a few chips. How many times have you set and eaten a meal, getting to the end and realized you don't even really know how all of that tasted because you are completely not paying attention to it. mindless eating is such a normal part of our lives. We are so busy, we have so much going on there so we make about 200 decisions about food a day. But most of those decisions are really mindless decisions.

You know we just grab the the biscuits from the cupboard we we grabbed this piece of chocolate from from there when really not thinking about it. So one of the things that I started to notice was when I was preparing the kids meals at night, and we used to have separate meals, we don't anymore, but I would find myself in the kitchen preparing food, and things would just end up in my mouth. And by the time we were sitting down for dinner, I probably had half to three quarters of a meal already without even really registering, you know, chopping up schnitzel and crispy and beets or just going in. So what I said what I decided to do was I got a small side play out, and I had that in the kitchen, and anything that was about to go in there. I put down on the plate.

Now, I want to be responsible for everything that I put into my mouth. I want to know that I've made the decision to eat it. Nothing is off limits. If I want something, I can eat it. If I don't want something. I'm not going to eat it.

I'm not on a diet, but I am mindful with my food. So this little side plate would fill up with bits of chicken and crispy things that I previously just shoved into my mouth. And I would make that decision about whether I wanted to eat that anybody decided I wanted to eat it, I take it to the table with my meal, and I would eat that more often than not looking at my plate. I would have enough food there anyway. And so I dish those crispy bits out to whoever they were originally intended for. We we eat with our eyes, when you open the cupboard, if the first thing you see corn chips, and crisps and chocolates and things that you tend to be more drawn towards.

Then you're going to struggle a little bit with making great choices. Sometimes for sure. You'll have those things but you want to make sure that that those things are towards the back of your cabin so that they're not the first things that you say. organization is also really, really important. I do all of my food organization the night before I do the kids lunches for school the night before. I hate having rushed mornings, where there's so much to do, I like a nice easy start to the day, I prepare my lunch.

I prepare in my mind what we're going to have for dinner. Obviously I don't prepare that the day before although leftovers are the best thing ever. So always double your quantities if you can, but if you know that you are working from home, and you're a snacker make yourself a container of veggies that you really love. Have that some dips in there that you know that when you feel like having a snack the deeps delicious and you can use those Pre canned veggies with them, have some crackers that you love, have food choices ready and available for yourself so that, you know even if you are really busy and you're not focusing on the foods that you're eating, you know that what you're putting in there is good for you anyway. I guess mind list eating is about, you know, it's about the reflection. So, this journey is so much about reflecting.

So when you have an experience where you have overeating, or you're eaten without thinking, ask yourself afterwards, what could I do differently next time. It's not about punishing ourselves. It's not about talking negatively to ourselves. It's about saying, Well, what can I do next time, if you realize that you were actually just bored. If you realize he was stressed, I often find that I become my Less with food when I have work to do, but I'm a little bit stuck with it. And I don't have somebody here to give me a boot up the backside to say get on with it.

But I have a kitchen full of foods that can sort of distract my mind for a while. So I'm aware of that. And yesterday, I had one of those days where I just couldn't get going with things. And so you know, I was in the kitchen a little bit more. I reflected on that later in the day. Today, I've just got to stay out of the kitchen and get on with things.

So it's you, I'm not restricting my food. I'm not ignoring hunger, but I am reflecting on what I do, and then making changes. Remember, we're not after perfection anymore. Perfection doesn't exist. You know, you're not ever going to be perfect with your mindful eating, but it's about the reflection. And it's about the What can I do differently.

Next time, that's where the learning takes place. So think about what you do. Where are your mindless times? Is it in the coffee room at work? Is it when you are making the kids lunches? Where are you mindless with food, and then think about how you can change that.

And action, these changes, learn as you go, not aiming for perfect. We're just aiming for learning and understanding compassionately about ourselves and the way that we take things