The 10 Day Mindful Eating Challenge

If you’re tired of trying every diet imaginable, you’ve come to the right place. This 10 day Mindful Eating Challenge aims to re-engage you with food, which can make a huge difference to our mindset when it comes to eating.

Day 1 – Taste

If I were to ask you what you most enjoy about eating, I’m pretty sure most (if not all) of you would say “taste”! Whether it be a tasty chocolate bar or a delicious piece of fruit, taste is something that we most commonly take the most notice of when we eat. However, when we are busy we don’t always notice as much as we could.

Interesting Fact – Taste cells in the human body last for approximately 10 days. They are then replaced by new cells.

For day 1 of the challenge, try to really notice the taste of what you eat. If you need some help to describe them, here are some tastes you might experience.

These are just some suggestions to make you think about the taste. There are many others. To make eating a mindful experience, all you have to do is pay attention to it, and by beginning with noticing the taste of your food, you have begun your mindful eating journey!

Day 2 – Texture

For day 2, I would like you to pay attention to the texture of the food you eat.

Personally as I write this, it is making me cringe because I have a problem with the textures of food. It is ok to be uncomfortable with something though. The important thing is to recognise that and really learn what ‘makes you tick’. We are all different and you will find that you have preferred senses too. You may enjoy crunchy food, but dislike something gooey. By noticing the texture of what you eat today, you can begin to understand in greater detail why you like or dislike certain things.

Day 3 – Smell

Interestingly, flavours are recognised mainly through our sense of smell. For day 3, your challenge is to smell your food! Have a think about the following.

• Does the food smell strong?
• Does the smell make you want to eat the food?
• Does the smell put you off eating it?
• What are your favourite food smells?
• What smells did you notice today?

Day 4 – Appearance

Todays challenge is to pay attention to how your food looks.

• How do you choose to present your food? (With care, or slopped on the plate?)
• What is appealing about how it looks?
• What puts you off about how it looks?

Try to think about how the food looks. Here are some examples.

• Shiny
• Tall (perhaps its a tiered cake for example)
• Big/little
• Lumpy/smooth
• Beautiful (perhaps something really well presented for an occasion)

Think about how you like your food to look. Do you always go for the same kind of look in a food? Many people with heightened senses prefer to eat food separately and not mixed up in a casserole for example. Do you prefer your vegetables to be presented separately? Or do you prefer the ‘mixed vegetables’ approach. These are all things you can really tune into today whilst completing day 4 of the challenge.

Day 5 – Feeling Full

Day 5 is about recognising the feeling of being full. As you eat your meals or snacks today, think about how empty or full your tummy feels and notice how this changes throughout your meal. We often eat on ‘auto-pilot’ without noticing when we are getting full. By paying attention to how our body is feeling in terms of fullness, we can prevent overeating.

Day 6 – Slow Down

Our digestive system is complex and involves signals being sent from the gut to the nervous system. It can take up to 20 minutes for your brain to register that your gut is full. If you eat slowly, your brain can then ‘catch up’ and register when it is getting full.

Day 7 – Focus on the Food

In the modern World, it is commonplace to eat a meal whilst doing something else at the same time. If we are distracted by things going on around us, we may slow down our digestion as our brain is not fully registering that we are eating. The following may be things you do regularly whilst eating:

• Browse your phone
• Watch television
• Play games
• Walk
• Listen to music

For day 7 of the challenge, it’s time to put the technology down and sit and enjoy a meal without distractions. Let me know how it feels and if you notice anything. It could be your thoughts, feelings, or a physical reaction.

Day 8 – Notice How You Feel

Todays focus is on how you feel about food, and about yourself when you eat. This part of the challenge can be quite confronting for some. If you do have negative thoughts around food, it is alright to acknowledge that. Part of mindfulness is about acknowledging our thoughts and then letting them pass. By acknowledging them, it can help let them go.

Let me know in the comments below how you are finding the 10 day challenge so far if you are happy to share your experiences.

Day 9 – Think About Why You Are Eating

For day 9 we are moving on to focus on why you are eating. You may be somebody who only eats when you are hungry, in which case today’s challenge will be an easy one for you! However, some people eat for many other complex reasons. Consider some of the following today:

• Did you only eat when you are hungry today?
• Did you ‘comfort eat’?
• Did you eat socially?
• Did you find it difficult to stop eating even when you were full?
• Why do you think this is?

If you do have difficulty controlling your eating, mindful eating can really help you. However, if you do feel you need some extra help with controlling your eating it is important that you go to visit a doctor to discuss your personal needs with them.

Day 10 – What Have You Learned?

Today I would like you to reflect on what you have learnt over the 10 days. Think about what changes you would like to make with what, when and how you eat so that you can implement what you have learned into your every day life.

If you have found this challenge helpful, please leave me a comment below. I love hearing from my followers. All the hard work to put these things together is so rewarding when I hear from the people it has helped.

Well Done!

Well done for completing the 10 Day Mindful Eating Challenge!

You can enrol in my free mindfulness course here.