A few months ago, I was talking with a few people and one woman remarked, “Mindful eating is hard.”    Afterwards, I found myself pondering that statement.   There is no question that it can be challenging to adopt and consistently use mindful eating strategies.  We forget, we get distracted, we default back to automatic “mindless eating” habits. Sometimes we are so hungry that we don’t care about anything but just filling our empty stomachs as quickly as possible.  Other times, when we feel stressed or frustrated, the immediate instinct is to reach for food to soothe ourselves.  Certain foods may seem irresistible even when we don’t feel physically hungry. Mindfulness allows us to become more aware of these patterns without judgment or criticism or guilt. We can choose to eat mindfully or mindlessly. Neither choice is right or wrong, it is simply a choice.  You might say, “But I don’t choose to eat mindlessly, it just happens! I start eating a bag of M&Ms and before I know it, the bag is gone!”  Learning and practicing mindfulness helps us to become more aware of that tendency to slip into auto-pilot mode which can curb overeating and enhance our enjoyment of food.  If you’re going to eat those M&Ms why not really taste and enjoy them?  Labeling mindful eating as “hard” suggests that it is difficult and arduous and a chore or an obligation. Mindful eating can be a lot of fun and an amazing journey of discovery. Ready to have some fun?  There’s still time to register for my four week class, “A Month of Mindful Eating” which starts on Thursday, April 7th.