Had two cups of absolute comfort just now - one a cup of macaroni and cheese and the 2nd a cup of "Tension Tamer" tea. Utilizing mindfulness, just one cup of each is enough. What comfort - the look, the smell, the taste and texture of the macaroni and cheese. The warm sweetness of the tea - naturally sweet. How joyful when one can stop at 1, at enough!

Can't enter the same river twice, said Heraclitus about 2000 years ago. Same with green tea: can't have the same cup of it twice. As for other kinds of tea, I'll have to test that and report back... But the lesson of the moment is: now is exactly the time to notice whatever it is that you are doing (eating, etc).

Eating roots (beet, carrot). Feeling grounded. Go figure.

Sometimes this site feels like a bit of sanity amongst the insanity of the world. Maybe overstated but nonetheless it feels like a place where you can meet up with people of like mind(fulness). That can be a very good thing. Maybe it feels like a bit of an anchor when working to incorporate the concept of mindfulness not just with eating but with all of life.

Thank you for info Pavel. I know what evaporated milk is - I just thought maybe it was some new exotic drink I had never heard of when you mentioned it being in a shot glass!

Susan: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leche_evaporada

Pavel - am dying to know what "leche evaporada" is - never heard of it!

After many months of ME practice I conclude that not only do my eating habits need a mindful overhaul but many other things I do could use a healthy dose of mindfulness - how/when I sleep (or not as the case may be), work, rest, exercise, shop...etc. Sometimes I think I have been much like a spoiled, self indulgent child about many things and mindfulness is a cure for that sort of thing. Mindfulness in any endeavor (eating included) helps you get to at least your chronological age!:)

leche evaporada in a shot glass
a change of setting upsets mind's expectations

lunch eaten with a group--but in silence---the sound of others crunching on bread making a symphony of sound--leafy salad--somehow tastes better when you observe the pattern the drops of olive oil make--a totally digest-able piece of art work....somehow the taste, smell, texture, comes alive---a new moment--one I can eat!

Sometimes with ME you have to have some fun too - so I went out to eat at a restaurant specializing in African cuisine. What fun! Then a few drinks and listening to the band play world music. All the while my ME kicks in and reminds me when I have eaten enough and had enough to drink. So now, after many days of practice, practice, practice (ME), I now have awareness, awareness, awareness - almost effortlessly.

Great moment, Kaaren: naked food, naked taste.

eating raw vegetables without any dressing....mindful of really tasting the cauliflower, radish, etc

Yesterday my roommate was annoying me with her statements about me wasting food. Her reference is to the fact that I frequently bring food home from a meal at a restaurant (typically eat about half or less of what is served) and put the rest in the refrig for later. Sometimes the food goes to waste because I travel so extensively for work and so I am not always in synch with what is going on at home. I guess I find that type of comment so completely annoying because this person has no idea whatsoever of how hard I have worked at mindful eating. Never mind that it is my food and my money at issue. Now at least I listen to my body when it is telling me I have had enough food (or anything else for that matter). Sometimes one is working hard to get where you need to be and somebody else in the environment is knocking you down for your efforts!

Pavel - thank you for your kind words. Yes - am making progress. I am grateful for the journey & opportunity for growth.

Arunas - enjoyed your post about tasting food as a baby. Very nice. Never thought about it that way.

Interesting - consistently find that when I share a meal with a friend I am the most mindless about my food. Need to focus on the enjoyment of the friend AND of the food...bring ME into this equation.

Mystery salad for lunch (lunch brought in by department and shared with other groups). Each bite is a clue to what I am eating. Mindfulness by mystery.

Korean peninsula crisis in my mouth: kimchi-ouchy.

Great work, Heidi and Arunas. Thanks for sharing your awareness.

Raw Brussel sprouts and dried Medjool dates on a date in my mouth: green and brown, crunchy clean and caramel-like viscosity. My mouth is once again a witness to gustatory strangeness.

When I had perfect mindfullness (yes, Pavel - mindlesness) expirence ? When I truly tasted real taste ?
When I was new born baby - pure tasting, not thinking, not labeling. Being the tasting, being ONE with food and everything - no separation, disolving in eating expirience.

Got this minijar with apricot- jam. Opened it, expected the sweet smell of apricot and got - surprise- the bitter orangey smell of marmelade. Noticed that my tastebuds where expecting something different to what was offered. Used my mind to adjust and loved it. Memory of old times and loved peoplel popped up in my mind. Breakfast surprise and unexpected visitors.

Susan, just thought I'd say it: you seem to be doing great! Thanks for sharing your growth.

mindful eating...diliberate...thoughtful...

Have discovered just because I can afford anything on the menu does not mean I should have it! Takes awhile to realize some things depending on one's life experiences - mine was growing up poor! Heaven knows I ate much healthier (and was healthier) at that time than I do now - home grown, organic everything! Go figure!

Crazy - now that I have a better sense of mindful eating I find that with just about any restaurant meal I can make 3 meals out of the 1 meal. I now eat food +/- the size of my fist and take the rest home. Literally my body seems to be signalling when I have eaten enough and now I am listening so I just stop. Talk about a win/win. It's better for me, better for my poacket book, etc. Very nice!

Because of ME I realize that not everything is as it appears...who said 3 meals a day etc., is the only way to get sustenance? Why not 6 small meals a day? Why not eat only when you are hungry and skip eating 3 meals a day? Can a small cup of yogurt be a meal? Yes indeed - why not!!! ME causes one to rethink everything, question everything...

you say kum-a-to, i say kum-ah-to
let's call the whole thinking thing off
a mindful mind is an empty mind
you say mind-ful-ness, i say mind-less-ness
mindfulness means "less mind," not "more mind"
Less mind means more experience

chicken breast---oddly shaped like a moon--connected to the whole planet---mindful of the process from reproduction to slaughter to bodily release---one endless circle

Went to eat dinner at an Oriental restaurant - interesting experience in that I ordered something I typically enjoy - General Tso Tofu. Good grief - the waitperson brought out a heaping plate of it. Enough for 4 people literally. Never had this reaction before but I lost my appetite because it was obscenly excessive. I had a few bites and then packed it up. Still have no appetite!

Very pleased with ME progress today. Dinner went so well. Am on the road as usual - had dinner @ an Italian Restaurant. For the first time I was aware of the whole meal as opposed to its individidual parts. I did not focus on how much I was doing without my favorite foods or just giving in and eating whatever pleased me. Ate half my pasta, 1 bread stick, 1 small Cesar salad with 1/2 the dressing provided. No wine, no dessert...I did not feel deprived. I was simply focusing on being mindful and seeing the food as neutral - neither good or bad - just there! Am trying to find my way to making all of this a lifestyle not a diet.

Notice that after many months of ME practice that I very consistently stop eating when I should whereas before I would overeat and then ask myself why I just did that. Gratifying!

Pavel - understand Thx for clarification & will proceed on that basis.

good ole pattern interruption to the rescue: ate a meal in my wife's glasses - blurry for the eyes, crystal clear for the mind - experience really came alive. crazy ole pattern interruption never fails to awaken the mind.

For discussion of mindful eating please go to "Mindful Eating On Your Mind?" (in Forum)
http://www.eatingthemoment.com/mind-to-mind/post/2085279?lastPage=true
thank you for your cooperation.

Correct, Susan: Mindful Eating Tracker (as the name implies) is just a place to share/track your mindful eating episodes. If you review the last thousand or so comments you will see that there is very little, if any, discussion. This is not a discussion feature by design but a place to share (in passing) a mindful eating moment you are having. That's about it. See the clarifying text below:

"For years we've been asked to track what we eat & how much we eat. Mindful Eating Tracker is about the how of your eating. It is a place to share the mindfully-meaningful eating moments of your life. Share a moment of eating presence: inspire and get inspired!
[For other kinds of discussions (of mindfulness, compassion, identity, perfectionism, etc), please, go to Forum.]"

Pavel - it seems that this site has changed a bit. Are you discouraging participants from getting into discussions even if it is about mindful eating?

Husk of the mind aside, I eat a tamale.

Had comfort for breakfast this morning - vegetable lasagna. Happy AND sad to report that, yes indeed, it was totally comforting. I suppose it beats many other things that could provide comfort albeit temporary.

March 5th - a date of sweetness.
A medjool date of sweetness, that is.

No problem, Susan.
I value your contributions to Mindful Eating Tracker.
Be well.
(same goes for you, Arunas, thanks for your regular sharing).

eating can be part of standing
standing can be part of eating
try eating and standing
or if you'd like you can
try standing and eating

In traditional japanese Zen monastery eating room is one of 3 "rooms of silence" it means - monks must eat in TOTAL SILENCE - ABSOLUTELY NO ANY SOUND ! Today I tryed eat and drink my morning coffe with no sound - it's too hard to me at his moment - mindfullnes guaranted. I think this is usefull trick to train.

Pavel - sounds good. Perhaps another way to put it is this is a place for the experience of mindful eating, not commentary about mindful eating? Got it. Thx for explanation. Note: My last comment about mindfulness & eating was a comment and not meant to solicit comment.

Hi Susan: mindful eating tracker has a very simple point to it: to share your mindful eating experiences - just that. Unfortunately, even relevant discussion of mindful eating dilutes this basic focus. This page is not really intended as a discussion forum (when a year ago or so, you and Arunas started introducing a discussion element into this, I promptly set up a place on the site for you guys to discuss things - the Form page). Thank you for understanding and cooperation. I want to keep this page simple and easy: just a place to stop by and share mindful eating experiences... and get inspired by others' experiences. Discussions will have to take place elsewhere.

Be well.

Hmm - Pavel - I think my last post moved elsewhere was about mindful eating. What did I miss????

Ahhh...the joyful, simple, perfect pleasure of eating a chilled orange...something I have enjoyed since childhood...something, maybe one of the few things that I have always eaten mindfully...paper towel, wash the orange, peel it, eat the white part of the rind, break the orange into segments, eat ever so slowly...savoring every bit of sweetness...eating slowly to make it last. Sometimes mindful eating like this has a sensual, hedonistic quality to it.

correction : Who talks ? Somebody

this meal I like ....
this food I dislike ....
.... I want more .... enough ....

Who talks ? Someone.

eating and food - just eating and food - nothing more, meal - just one of millions of fleeting sparkleds in CHANGLESS space

eating to music
a curiously entraining experience
zoning out by zoning in
eating-and-listening is a totally different beast that eating-and-watching
a pattern-break is a pattern-break
whatever it takes to awaken the eating zombie

Lemon water: memory in liquid form + a zing to the current moment