Mindful Eating: How to Feel in Control Around Food

Eating used to be simple.

Now it’s often rushed, distracted and squeezed between emails, errands and endless to-do lists. You might find yourself standing at the kitchen counter, halfway through a packet of something, wondering how it disappeared so quickly.

This isn’t about lack of willpower. It’s about disconnection.

Mindful eating is the practice of reconnecting with your body’s cues - hunger, fullness, satisfaction - so food stops feeling chaotic and starts feeling calm again. And no, it doesn’t require perfection, calorie counting or cutting out your favourite foods.

Why Mindless Eating Happens

Modern life encourages distraction. We scroll while we snack. We eat while we work. We rush meals without tasting them properly.

When you’re disconnected from the experience of eating, it becomes much easier to:
• Overeat without realising
• Eat past fullness
• Crave more shortly after finishing
• Use food to soothe stress or boredom

Your body actually has sophisticated hunger and fullness signals - but they only work when you slow down enough to notice them.

Mindful eating isn’t about eating less. It’s about eating with awareness.

6 Practical Steps to Practice Mindful Eating

1. Sit Down to Eat (Yes, Really)

No standing at the counter. No eating from the fridge. No “just grabbing something”.

Create a clear eating moment. Sitting down signals to your brain that this is intentional - not accidental.

Small shift. Big impact.

2. Remove Distractions

Try one meal per day without your phone, TV or laptop.

Notice the taste, texture and smell of your food. It might feel strange at first - that’s okay. You’re retraining your awareness.

Presence reduces overeating naturally.

3. Check In With Hunger Before You Eat

Pause for 10 seconds and ask yourself:
• Am I physically hungry?
• Or am I stressed, bored or tired?

There’s no judgement in the answer. Just information.

If it’s emotional hunger, you might still choose to eat - but now it’s conscious, not automatic.

4. Slow Down Your Pace

Put your cutlery down between bites. Chew properly. Take a breath.

It takes around 20 minutes for fullness signals to register. When you slow down, you give your body time to respond.

Speed is often the hidden driver of overeating.

5. Eat Until Satisfied, Not Stuffed

Fullness isn’t an all-or-nothing switch.

Aim for comfortable satisfaction - that point where you feel nourished but not heavy. It’s subtle, and it takes practice to recognise.

Trust builds with repetition.

6. Drop the Guilt

If you overeat, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

Notice what happened. Were you overly hungry? Distracted? Emotional? Tired?

Curiosity changes behaviour. Criticism keeps it stuck.

The goal is awareness, not perfection.

Why Mindful Eating Changes Your Relationship With Food

When you practise mindful eating consistently, something powerful happens.

Food stops feeling like a battle. You begin trusting your body again. Cravings soften. Portions regulate more naturally. Meals feel satisfying instead of chaotic.

You move from reacting to food… to responding to it.

And that sense of control? It ripples into every area of your life.

Your Next Step

This week, choose one meal each day to eat mindfully.

No distractions.
No rushing.
Just you and your food.

Start there.

Next week, you can build on this momentum because reconnecting with your body is just the beginning.