Thinking about food & eating

I think about food a lot these days.

I haven’t always thought about food, but the past couple of years have made it prudent for me to do so.

It became clear to me one day that I was eating whatever was readily available – mindlessly – and indigestion became a growing concern.

I enlisted the assistance of a nutritionist named Jillian Trigg from one of my communities, and she started me down a path of more mindful eating.

We talked about the kind of food I liked and what kind of food I should strive to eat in order to give my body the nutrients it needed – but not to get there all at once. She also gave me advice on how to make healthy options readily available. I was fascinated, and worked on making some changes over time as to the food I chose.

Today, I now have an increasing awareness of how my body and its needs shift over time. There is a list of “won’t eat again” as my lived experience bears out either because of an unpleasant reaction or just don’t like the taste. For example, I stay away from Subway sandwiches, kale, peaches, olives and apples. A sugar intolerance crept up in the last couple of months. I’ve been watching for what causes indigestion at night and rice and other solids are a current suspect. I am also adhering to a strict gluten-free diet at the advice of my naturopath as a way to support my thyroid health – which is also helping with my indigestion. I am also paying more attention to how food is connected to how well I sleep, how well I move and my psychological framework.

I am more intentional about what I eat and along the way I have discovered there is much more to be intentional about as it relates to my well-being. I can be intentional about how I chew, when I eat, how much I eat, why I need to eat, how I think about food and eating, and setting up an environment to support healthy eating habits.

Before I go any further, I want to be clear: I am not a food or eating expert. What I am about to tell you is a reflection of how I am thinking about food and eating today based on my lived experience, what I know today, and what I deem to be important for me. It is abundantly clear that each and every one of us has a body with different needs, preferences, things it can and can’t handle – and our lived experiences will be quite different. Please read the following and pay attention to what works for you, what might work for you and what definitely won’t for you.

I will now tell you more about what I can be intentional about as it relates to food and eating:

How I chew:

I grew up watching my mother chew her food longer than everyone else at the table. As I learned about mindfulness and how that relates to eating, I began to wonder if my mother was being mindful about the food she ate – or just understood the need to chew her food well. When I am mindful and not distracted by anything else I am doing at the time, I can pay attention to the different flavors and textures in my mouth.

Separate from my knowledge about mindful eating, I had not expressly thought about how much I chew my food. Then all of a sudden, the universe sent me two different references to make me pay attention. First of all, I watched an episode of Young Sheldon from Season 1 called “A Therapist, A Comic Book, and a Breakfast Sausage” which told of how Sheldon had almost died at the age of 9 at the hands of a Jimmy Dean sausage because he failed to chew that sausage his requisite 20 times. He actually had a number? Secondly, I later read The Energy Book by Qiang Chen who brought mindfulness and the number into focus together:

“Eating mindfully means being fully focused on eating and feeling your body, your breath breath and the taste of your food as you eat. This includes chewing your food well (between 30 to 40 times is the common recommendation) until it is almost liquefied. This not only enhances your enjoyment of the food but assists the digestive process, allowing you to get optimal nutritional value out of your meal. It will also help to improve your digestive strength over time.”

I have been putting more attention into chewing my food more intentionally – and it is paying off. Maybe rice and solids aren't the problem after all?

When I eat:

I remember reading a story about a cowboy who only ate a big breakfast every day. That struck me as odd at the time. Then I came across a related recommendation from The Energy Book:

“Eat at regular meal times: respect the body's natural rhythm by not skipping meals. Wake up the digestive tract with a substantial breakfast. If you skip breakfast you will be more likely to lack appetite at lunch because your digestive tract will not have been awakened. As a result, the body will operate on virtually no energy and go into craving mode, especially for sugar. Low blood sugar levels caused by the lack of food later at lunchtime and dinner time can lead to excessive eating and the rise of famine and feasting. So it's important to follow a substantial breakfast with a well-sized lunch and small simple dinner that allows the stomach to be empty by bedtime.”

Given how much indigestion I have, this caught my attention. I also read another passage somewhere (right now I can’t remember where!) but they phrased this idea of not eating breakfast as akin to making my body think it was starving. When my body thinks it is starving, Chinese medicine believes it reduces my blood supply to less important areas such as my digestive system, hands and feet in order to safeguard supply to critical organs such as the brain and heart.

I have been intentionally shifting my daily food intake to eat a bigger breakfast and lunch, and a smaller evening meal. At the same time, I am noticing my energy increasing and my digestive system is settling down.

How much I eat:

While I am focusing on eating a bigger breakfast and lunch and a smaller evening meal, there is still the question of how much I eat at each meal.

I have been watching how much I eat ever since I put on the “freshman fifteen” after my first year of college where I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted. When my clothes started to pinch, I changed my approach and only ate until I was full. That helped immensely… I didn’t need to change my wardrobe yet.

The Energy Book helped me think about the value of eating smaller portions, particularly for my evening meal:

“Eat moderate and balanced quantities, avoiding the habit of famine and feasting. A traditional Chinese and Japanese saying advises that we should eat until we are about 80 percent full. This particularly applies to dinnertime because it ensures the stomach is empty by the time you go to bed.”

That makes so much sense to me!

Why I need to eat:

This might be a no brainer but I like knowing what my body and brain need, and how I can support that need. I read an interesting article about Bryson DeChambeau, a professional golfer, who worked with Neuropeak Pro for a while in order to optimize his brain and to learn what is needed to provide energy for the brain.

That led me down a path of learning how my brain is believed to use up to 20% of my energy when I am in a resting state – which means it needs even more when I am active.

Where does my brain get that energy?

Partly from the food I eat (along with sleep, water and breathing).

I’m convinced even more.

How I think about eating and food:

I didn’t have any thoughts about eating and food apart from addressing any hunger needs for the longest time.

I have a growing awareness of how my thoughts about food and eating influence my health. I read about some interesting research in The Mindful Body which showed how “imagined eating” can make us feel full, as well as how “mind-body unity means that everything we do, experience, or think is relevant to our health.”

There are other ways to influence my thoughts about food and eating. I learned about food values from Shelly Longenecker in Dinner for a Dollar who applied her food values to preparing every meal for her family. I am no stranger to using values to make better decisions but I hadn’t thought about applying values to food like Shelly did:

“I want my meals to:

• Be simple and tasty

• Use whole foods

• Include lots of fresh produce

• Be allergen-free

• Cost $1 per person”

Now that I have thought about this, I would have similar values except for the last two bullets: be gluten-free and eat at home as much as possible (because I am not sure I can make meals for $1 per person in Vancouver and that would take a lot of energy I don’t currently have).

I will continue to intentionally work on improving my thoughts around eating and food, thus improving my health.

How my environment affects my eating habits:

My nutritionist was the first person to suggest ways of changing my home environment to remove the less helpful and replace it with a variety of more helpful foods. Dinner for a Dollar also provided tips for planning meals, shopping, and how to ensure I use up the food I have in the home.

All of this is helping me intentionally set up my environment for healthier eating habits, one which takes into account when my husband is here and either at work (and doesn’t need lunch from me) or on a weekend, as well as when my husband is away. That means I make sure we have:

• easy food options for breakfast (like bread and granola (both gluten-free and gluten-forward options), yogurt, fruit, eggs, bacon, and tomatoes)

• a good-sized meal of meat, mixed veggies, healthy fats and seasonings for lunch (with enough for leftovers the next day)

• snacks, like my homemade popcorn, crackers and cheese, and a variety of fruit

• a smaller dinner for the two of us which often looks like soup with crackers, cheese and sometimes some meat slices.

Isn’t that a lot to be intentional about? I think so too…but I think it is worth it for me to think about food and eating. I can then make sure I create an environment which supports the kinds of food my body needs and aligns with my values. I can then focus on eating the right foods, at the right time, in the right amount with the right amount of mindfulness — and supporting my well-being.

Resources

Chen, Qiang. 2020. The Energy Book: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Overcoming Fatigue and Restoring Energy.

Langer, Ellen. 2024. The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health. New York: Ballantine Group.

Longenecker, Shirly. 2018. Dinner for a Dollar: How I Feed My Family a Simple, Allergy-Friendly, Whole Food Diet for One Dollar Per Person Per Meal.

Image taken by Tammy Brimner