How to be a Mindful Eater: 6 Tips for the Evolving Vegan

Mindful eating typically brings up images of eating slowly while being aware of what and how much we’re eating. Being vegan brings a deeper level of understanding to the art of mindful eating. If you’re vegan or considering it, here are suggestions to help you get the most from your food.

1. Peace of Mind and Body: Most vegans I know are pretty peaceful. There’s a sense of calm that comes over us knowing we’re not taking part in domination, cruelty or exploitation of animals. And yet, there’s a certain amount of stress that goes with being an ethical vegan. When I see others thoughtlessly consuming animals, my body often goes into flight or flight mode. In other words, I feel like somebody (me) should inform them of what it took to get the meat or dairy on their plate. There’s a part of me that feels I need to fight for the animals who are helplessly caged and killed. On the other hand, sometimes I just stay home rather than going out with friends who still eat meat. So there you have it. No great panic in the wild, but my body still registers many dining experiences as fight or flight. If you experience this too, no matter how slight, your body automatically responds by kicking in stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol. Proper digestion can’t occur when these hormones are running. 

    Take time to center yourself by inhaling and exhaling a few deep breaths so you can move from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic system.  Your body will feel safer allowing it to absorb more nutrients. Lower the stress factors by dimming the lights, focusing on high quality conversations or none at all, turn off unnecessary electrical devices and eliminate other stress factors as much as possible. Take time to look at beautiful flowers or flickering candles. 

Sympathetic nervous reactions come on quickly and can be brought on by simply getting into a debate or hearing a snide remark. There’s a sense of urgency for the body to do something.  Coming into parasympathetic states take more time but is well worth it. Being mindful of the state of your emotional and physical body as you eat will help you stay healthy and peaceful. Make a decision to set aside time for meditating, yoga or long walks in nature on a more regular basis as well as creating a calming environment while you eat.

1. Being Present: Whether you’re eating alone or with friends focus on bringing yourself into the current time and place. Let go of thoughts about the past or concern for the future. Take time to look at your food. Smell it. Play with the food that encourage you to use your hands like nori rolls and massaged kale. Take a bite and roll it around in your mouth. Feel the texture. If you’re using utensils, put the fork down in between bites to savor each morsel. Notice how hungry you are and when you feel almost full. That’s a good time to stop eating.

Vegan have an advantage when practicing mindful eating. It’s easy to be present with the food when it’s colorful and appealing to the eye. Maybe that’s why many carnivores ‘woof down’ their food. Personally, I’m not keen at noticing intricacies of animal flesh. I remember seeing a vein in a chicken leg once. My mom told me to eat around it. The image is still etched in my mind and that was many decades ago. I’d rather look at how nature forms a perfectly shaped artichoke, take in the color of a ripe tomato or enjoy the scent of a freshly zested lemon. My curiosity unfolds as I think that strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. 

Most of us are living busy lives and preparing more of our own food. I remember days of eating veggie burgers while shopping for produce for an upcoming class. Yes, there I was, pushing my cart around the store with one hand and a half-wrapped meal to go in the other hand. That can be fun once in a while, but not on a regular basis. Do one thing at a time and be present with the experience. That goes for chopping vegetables too. I learned in my culinary school that most knife cuts happen when people aren’t being totally present. Savor each experience and you’ll start to savor your life more.

3) Awareness increases in every area of your life when you put attention on the food you’re consuming. Mind fog lifts when you no longer need to block out the horror of taking part in the killing sentient beings. Before I became vegan, people were telling me how their minds were so much more clear when they gave up animal products including cheese and eggs. At the time, I thought they were exaggerating, but then I learned for myself how being vegan affects the mind as well. You’ve probably heard people say they simply don’t want to hear another slaughterhouse story. But as the saying goes, the truth will set you free. Ignorance does not equal bliss. Being mindful of what you’re eating increases your perceptual skills in other areas of your life. We get a clearer sense of what’s helpful and what’s not helpful. Unhealthy aspects of our lives are brought into the light to be examined. Dysfunctional relationships fall by the wayside. The flip side is true too.You might find yourself deliberately increasing sensory pleasures by using more essential oils, buying huge handfuls of colorful flowers and craving fresh air and sunshine.

As your awareness increases, you might also find yourself going down the rabbit hole. Just when I had watched every new documentary on the lives of ‘food’ animals and GMOs, I started learning about child slave labor for cheap chocolate and the effects of palm oil on the environment. It can be overwhelming but I’ve often found that the universe gives me what I can handle bit by bit. Kimberly Carter-Gamble co-producer of Thrive said that it was hard to learn about everything they discovered while making the DVD, but she actually feels happier now because she knows the truth. She’s fully aware and can make informed decisions.

If you ever feel tempted to eat an animal product, heighten your mindfulness by watching a documentary. Our society is set up to numb our senses. The main stream advertisements tempt us to believe we’ll be happy and loved if we just eat a happy meal. To get back to the truth and align with your own values watch Earthlings, Peaceable Kingdom, Vegucated or the many other documentaries available on the internet. 

1. Be mindful of how you’re communicating. Just by being vegan, many people around you will feel the transgression of not living from their values of care and compassion. If someone asks you questions about your eating habits, answer honestly from your experience. Not too many people like to be told what to do. Point them to resources so they can investigate on their own. Facial expressions and body language say a lot. Be aware of what yours are communicating. We can hold our tongue, but frustration has a way of leaking out through our body language. With emotionally charged topics, a study was done proving that only 7% of our words are heard, whereas 55% is expressed through body language and 38% through our tone of voice. Get more tips from my talk at Portland’s VegFest at http://youtu.be/6M4QFXWQy2w 

1. Be mindful of nutrients: Like most vegans on the planet, I get tired of being asked where I get my protein. Funny thing is, as I was teaching a ‘You are What You Eat’ class at Bellevue College, I found I needed more protein. We looked at the overall intake of protein, calcium and omegas we need and I became more mindful. In the past, I’d remark that even broccoli has protein. Now I know exactly how many grams I need so when people ask me where I get my protein I can tell them exactly. It’s true that many people are getting too much protein, but that wasn’t the case for me. Doing your own research will help you be more mindful. When I got my B12 checked it came out high so I cut back to 2 sublingual tablets a week instead of every day. Now my B12 numbers are normal and I feel satisfied and confident having done my own research. 

6) Being mindful without the guilt. Most of us have eaten animal products at some time in our lives. Do yourself a favor and forgive. Forgive yourself, your parents and anyone else who contributed to those choices. Without forgiveness it’s impossible to move on and make a difference. The more we forgive, the less reactive we’ll be. We did the best we could with the information we had. I still cringe when I remember  ‘kneeing’ my horse to tighten the girth on the saddle. This guilt does nobody any good now. Use the energy you feel to take action for good. Rather than beating yourself, make a resolve to do better next time. For me, becoming vegan was my path to learn about true self-love. Practicing mindfulness has made all the difference.

Pamela Ziemann is founder of www.ElementalCuisine.com offering fast track transformation in all aspects of the vegan lifestyle. Embrace change, practice effective communication, and learn great recipes through her 5-week online course. Pamela can be reached at 425.223.0123 or Z@PamelaZiemann.com