Sophie's Challenges

Ok. Two things happened today which I find fascinating..

I had this bread this morning which I have also been eating before but today I experienced something I've never experienced before after 2-3 bites and chewing 40-50 times each time (my saliva comes up around 40 chewings). The bread tasted like F* ing cake...or baklava.lol...it felt so sweet and I didn't like it..so I stopped eating it.
Also I fucked up during lunch..On Wednesday's I consult at client's place all day so I eat lunch there. In the beginning of my lunch I was alone..after eating half of the food and practicing one the guys came in and I realized after my food was finished that I had stopped practicing and had ate fast as I used to...Voices can say cocklly "Ehh Kawa of course you are the boss of your life"...but that's the proff that it ain't so....not yet

Ohh..I also laughed my ass off during dinner...when chewing and trying to be present and stop the mechanism that wants to swallow the food fast I saw myself as a baby that just starts learning to walk...hahaha...that was funny.

Kawa wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:13 pm Ok. Two things happened today which I find fascinating..

I had this bread this morning which I have also been eating before but today I experienced something I've never experienced before after 2-3 bites and chewing 40-50 times each time (my saliva comes up around 40 chewings). The bread tasted like F* ing cake...or baklava.lol...it felt so sweet and I didn't like it..so I stopped eating it.
Also I fucked up during lunch..On Wednesday's I consult at client's place all day so I eat lunch there. In the beginning of my lunch I was alone..after eating half of the food and practicing one the guys came in and I realized after my food was finished that I had stopped practicing and had ate fast as I used to...Voices can say cocklly "Ehh Kawa of course you are the boss of your life"...but that's the proff that it ain't so....not yet

Ohh..I also laughed my ass off during dinner...when chewing and trying to be present and stop the mechanism that wants to swallow the food fast I saw myself as a baby that just starts learning to walk...hahaha...that was funny.

you are doing great Kawa. it is all part of the learning process. thank you for sharing.

That is funny...I experienced the same 'baby's first bites' experience...I found it funny that at 55 years old I'm just learning how to chew my food. I also experienced the swallowing mechanism thing, I find keeping the food closer to the front of my mouth and not towards the back helps to curb that reflex.

I'm having to adjust my 'chewing my water', since Sophie noticed I take a big gulp and chew it like a giant wad of gum...I noticed I've started taking larger and larger drinks of water because it was taking longer to chew and swallow it, and I felt like I wasn't drinking as much as I was before. No wonder I get such strange looks when I'm taking a drink. There's still plenty to learn with this challenge...what has not become habitual and is still a challenge for me is eating when I'm really hungry...consciously slowing it down, becoming present and chewing when I really want to wolf it down.

The best thing about it for me so far is being able to refer back to that feeling of 'reining it in' and slowing down when I'm in other situations...my mind still goes back to doing it while eating. One of my most frequent is wanting to dive into a conversation and add my 2 cents because I'm so sure it's valuable information that I know and others don't. The Food Challenge seems to give me a real feeling and experience to grab onto and use in other situations where I've never reined myself in before. I see it as baby steps towards learning how to pull in my attention.

Thank you Sophie.

Regarding "adding my 2 cents because I'm so sure it's valuable information that I know and others don't"....hahaha I think that is what I did yesterday when that guy came in...

Ahhh...I'll test keeping the food closer to the front...Thanks for the advice Jodie!

this is what I like to see: community. people helping people. Never stop it, please.

Hey Jodie, keeping the food closer to the front actually works...so thank you for that.

One more thing came to my mind...Even when I eat alone, I can automatically wonder in my mind and stop counting and chewing..that happens...So I remebered yesterday something Sophie thought me longtime ago. When you read you have a tendency to start thinking about something else and not be present to what you read. She told when that happens just put the book down and continue think about what it is your thinking and than get back to your reading. So I am practicing the same with chewing. When the mind wonders and you catch yourself, stop chewing, hold the food in your mouth and get back from the mind into being present..

Kawa wrote: ↑Fri Dec 22, 2023 5:11 am Hey Jodie, keeping the food closer to the front actually works...so thank you for that.

One more thing came to my mind...Even when I eat alone, I can automatically wonder in my mind and stop counting and chewing..that happens...So I remebered yesterday something Sophie thought me longtime ago. When you read you have a tendency to start thinking about something else and not be present to what you read. She told when that happens just put the book down and continue think about what it is your thinking and than get back to your reading. So I am practicing the same with chewing. When the mind wonders and you catch yourself, stop chewing, hold the food in your mouth and get back from the mind into being present..

I am glad you remembered

Of cource I remember....you have thought me many useful things in life Sophie.

thank you Kawa

Thank you so much for that Kawa....I thought about that. What I've been doing is taking a deep breath and focusing right back on the food and the chewing when I feel my mind wander, but I guess more in a forceful manner (how I do everything)...I'm pulling my attention back to chewing, but I'm not first allowing the thought. As I think about that it makes the chewing seem more 'dutiful'...when it's dutiful, I'm on the doing of the exercise and not on the food, so not really present. I think better to try what you suggested, which is not forceful but allowing the thought while I pause chewing, and then getting back to being present...there seems more of a flow to that, less resistance. Thank you for that.

So glad the 'frontal chewing' method worked for you! Thank you for helping me re-visit this and see where it can be done better.