Let’s be honest. Most of us eat like your big brother is reaching in to steal your food, ravenous, distracted, and hurried. We scroll, chew, scroll some more, then wonder why we feel bloated, anxious, and oddly invested in someone else’s yacht on Instagram.
Enter: Mindful Eating. Not to be confused with “rabbit food” or “that thing Gwyneth does before chanting into a Himalayan salt lamp”.
Mindful eating is about paying attention and actually noticing what you put into your body and why.
Step 1: Stop Shovelling, Start Sensing
Mindful eating isn’t a diet. It’s not about kale guilt or counting chickpeas. It’s about being present with your plate. Ask yourself: am I eating this because I’m hungry, or because I saw a sad documentary and now I need three croissants and a cuddle?
Before the fork hits your mouth, pause. Take a breath. Look at your food. Smell it. Thank it, if you must. Then chew like someone who’s not being chased by deadlines, toddlers, or their own internal monologue.
Step 2: Don’t Let Your Phone Join You for Dinner
Phones are needy dinner guests. They don’t shut up. They’re always showing you something you don’t need — another diet ad, another billionaire doing lunges on a private jet.
Try this: a meal with no screen. No scrolling. Just you, your food, and the silence of a world not trying to sell you something. Spoiler: your brain will thank you.
Step 3: Eat Foods That Love You Back
I once ate an entire bag of wasabi peas while watching a documentary on toxic masculinity. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
If you want to eat mindfully, think like a high-performance machine — would you fuel a Formula 1 car with leftover pizza and energy drinks? (If you’re Max Verstappen, maybe. But for the rest of us — no.)
You Are What You Consume
Mindful eating is really just mindful living. Your body and brain are listening to everything you put in — food, words, images, energy. So treat them like royalty.
Next time you’re halfway through a bag of crisps while watching TikToks about productivity hacks, stop. Breathe. Ask: Is this feeding me? Or just filling me?
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s awareness. Progress. And maybe chewing each bite twenty times like your jaw is on a yoga retreat.
Nathan’s Mindful Menu of the Week (High-Performance, Low-Stress)
Monday – Reset Mode
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with chia seeds, blueberries, and walnuts
Lunch: Grilled chicken, tabbouleh, and roasted beetroot
Dinner: Baked cod with lentils and steamed broccoli
Snack: Handful of almonds + green tea
Tuesday – Plant-Powered
Breakfast: Overnight oats with banana and cinnamon
Lunch: Chickpea salad with tahini, parsley, lemon
Dinner: Sweet potato and black bean curry
Snack: Carrot sticks and hummus (and yes, a square of dark chocolate)
Wednesday – Mediterranean Vibes
Breakfast: Poached eggs on sourdough with avocado and tomato
Lunch: Tuna niçoise salad (bonus points for anchovies)
Dinner: Lemon chicken with quinoa and green beans
Snack: Sliced apple with peanut butter
Thursday – Zen Day
Breakfast: Green smoothie (spinach, pineapple, cucumber, ginger, lime)
Lunch: Brown rice, tofu, stir-fried veg with sesame oil
Dinner: Miso soup with seaweed, mushrooms, soba noodles
Snack: Rice cakes with almond butter
Friday – Fancy But Functional
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spinach and smoked salmon
Lunch: Baked falafel wrap with tzatziki and salad
Dinner: Grilled prawns with herbed couscous and a tomato-cucumber salad
Snack: Mixed berries + coconut yogurt
Saturday – Cheat a Bit, Still Win
Breakfast: Almond croissant + flat white (mindfully, of course)
Lunch: Burrata with grilled veg and olive tapenade
Dinner: Grass-fed steak with sweet potato wedges and rocket salad
Snack: Air-popped popcorn with olive oil and sea salt
Sunday – Slow Down & Recharge
Brunch: Shakshuka with feta and herbs
Dinner: Roasted veggie traybake with tahini drizzle
Evening Treat: A glass of red (mindfully sipped) and a magnesium-rich dark chocolate square
Eat well, move your body, surround yourself with great people, face your fears, smile.
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Photo credit: Pablo Merchán Montes, Unsplash