“Why do I feel the need to watch something every time I eat?”
For as long as I can remember, I always HAD to watch something while I ate. Always. If I was eating anything at all, I had to be watching something on the screen (preferably something with a riveting storyline). My food would get cold as I scrolled to find the perfect thing to watch.
It is a way for us to relax and unwind, all the while turning our brains off and receiving pleasure.
After doing some research, I found that it was because both eating and watching tv offer a quick hit of dopamine, the pleasure chemical.
But the truth is, this stops us from eating mindfully. How are we supposed to stop overeating when we turn our brains off and just enjoy the feelings it gives us?
Watching tv while eating distracts us from the actual eating and focusing on the food itself. I believe this is one of the reasons we tend to binge eat, because we are not paying attention to what we are consuming.
I still wonder if it’s wrong to eat and watch tv at the same time.. I think that for someone who is trying to lose weight and create a healthier mindset about food, we need to retrain our brains to stop using food as an escape.
Food paired with tv, for me, is an escape. I need to be facing my issues with food head on and not eating mindlessly, but rather mindfully. I need to think about the food I am eating, how it makes me feel and pay attention to when I am full.
For you, this may not be a struggle at all.
It became an addiction of it’s own for me, where I couldn’t go one meal without the joy of a tv show to take me away from reality, even for just a little while.
So I have made it one of the things on my “list” (if you haven’t read my Daily List of 100 goals yet, read it here) to avoid meals in front of the screen.
To sit at the table, turn the tv off, focus on the taste of my food and how it makes me feel. I do not want to feel this overwhelming tie to eating and watching television at the same time. I’m not saying I will never watch tv and eat again, but while I’m on this journey, I think it may be helpful to retrain the way my brain looks at food and the feelings it gives me.
So do not be shocked if you see lots of pictures of meals and tablescapes in the future. I want to make eating at the table a wonderful and romantic experience, because after all, I am dramatic (Enneagram 4 over here!). Screenless meals from now on.
How about you, do you tend to eat majority of your meals in front of the tv? Does it affect your personal eating habits?
Follow along on the journey!
1/100: The Starting Over
2/100: The Daily List