Blindfold Eating

In my last session with J we did a little experiment called "Blind fold eating". It is a bit embarrassing because you have to eat without looking at the food and you are likely to make a mess. I brought a bacon burger and cheese fries from here:

Then she put one of these on me:

I took a few deep breaths, checked in with my hunger and fullness level and started eating. During each bite, J asked me questions about what the temperature, smell, taste was like. Was it as good as I expected? What foods stand out in each bite? I loved really thinking about what I ate. I thought it was a cool experience. I thought I was eating pretty slowly but at one point J told me to stop and wait. We talked about the experience for a bit and then asked me to check in with my hunger and fullness. Wow - I was satisfied and if I hadn't stopped, I would have eaten the whole thing. I took the blindfold off and realized that I ate about 2/3 of the hamburger and not much at all of the fries. It was amazing. My assignment this week was to do something similar twice a week with my own meals - not necessarily blindfold myself but to really try and be mindful while I eat. It works when I actually take the time to do it. I learned that I eat at a 3 and I thought it was a 2. I eat too fast. I don't focus on the tastes, smells, temperature and textures enough.