I know I’m not the only person that does not enjoy the sound of chewing. Not sure when this displeasure developed, but it’s plagued my life for many years.
This has sometimes lead me to stop eating because I don’t like hearing myself chew in a quiet room. This sometimes means I have difficulty eating with certain people because of their chewing habits. I thought this meant I was a terrible candidate for mindful eating.
Mindful eating is often taught in a way that removes distractions like screens and music.
For those of us who struggle with the sound of chewing, watching a show or listening to music can be very helpful to reduce the amount of chewing we hear while still being very much engaged with our meal. This also helps us pace so that we’re not rushing to finish a meal so that we spend less time hearing a sound we don’t enjoy.
Imagine this with me:
You’re home alone after a long day of work. You’re exhausted and have run out of emotional energy. You heat up dinner and you’re practicing mindfulness. You’ve checked in with yourself to make sure that your meal is honoring your hunger and cravings. You’ve surveyed your emotions and they are the sole deciding factors for what’s on your plate. You sit down to eat and all you can hear is chewing, not a song you like, not laughter from the studio audience of your favorite show. Just chewing. A sound that you’re not very fond of. This has the potential to quickly derail your eating experience. You have food you enjoy, your home in a comfortable environment.
This is where I struggled. I don’t enjoy the sound of chewing. It is unsettling and distracting for me. So I watch something on my phone or listen to music. I still tasting the flavors of my food. I’m checking in to gauge how full I am. I’m likely laughing, which is relieving some of the tension or frustration from the day.
In this case, the screen has a very specific function, cover the sound of chewing.
There have been cases where I’m with friends or family and turn up the volume just a bit to help with chewing. It makes all the difference and allows me to enjoy my meal without being discouraged by the displeasure with chewing. The volume isn’t too loud, and still allows to occasional conversation.
Avoid using screens as a distraction from the meal. When this is the case, you may not notice yourself getting full, how the food tastes, or the varying textures in the meal. You may reach the end of the meal and be unaware of how much you ate. You may eat too quickly, and go back for seconds without checking in with your hunger. In this case, you are likely using the screen as a distraction from emotions you’re not willing to deal with. Those emotions will still be there after the show goes off. Using screens a distraction without first checking in with yourself emotionally is a commonly used coping or numbing mechanism, but does not actually help us deal with what’s going on. But that’s a completely different topic.
Avoid using this time on social media. Social media is great, it has done some really interesting and powerful things for society. But it’s not very helpful at meal time. Scrolling through newsfeeds and timelines, commenting, liking, and sharing distract from the meal in front of us. We’re not focused on the flavor palette or array of textures. We may even be more focused on a different meal than the one in front of us.
This targeted use of screens and music is helpful in cases where the sound of chewing is distracting or discouraging, this can also be used for pacing. I can use a 23 minute episode to help me gauge how quickly I’m eating my meal. If I’m more than half through my meal and everything is still a mess and we’re not sure how this episode could possibly end without a cliffhanger I have probably eaten too quickly. So this is my clue to slow down, put the fork down, and enjoy my meal at a more leisurely pace.
Today is the best day to change your life!
