How would you like to enjoy your food much more while consuming far fewer calories?
Now, before I go any further I must say that I am not a dietician. I don’t even play a dietician on TV. But I do know a thing or two about Happiness. I can tell you that most people eat their food mindlessly, not truly tasting their food. I can also tell you that studies have shown that your enjoyment between your first and second bite of food plummets significantly (Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness). By the time you get to bites three and four, your mind is probably drifting to the day ahead or the day behind. So you are consuming a lot of food (and calories) with minimal pleasure. Why not try the Happiness Diet? I suppose we could also call it the Mindfulness Diet. Before you partake, look at your food. Notice the details, the contours, the difference from one side of the food to the other. If you won’t be breaking any major laws of protocol, touch your food. Close your eyes. “Listen” with your fingers. Once you have thoroughly examined your cuisine, take a bite of food and savor it. What is its texture on your tongue? Is your tongue having different experiences on the tip vs. the top vs. the sides? Though I am not a doctor either, it is widely known that different parts of the tongue experience food in different ways (see this article on Thinkquest on taste). Is there a smell that wafts from your food? Be sure to savor the aroma as well. You get the idea. There are five senses – use them. Experience the food. Simply by being mindful, you could experience more flavor in one bite than you could otherwise enjoy in an entire meal.
Savoring life experiences is just one of twelve Happiness Habits dished up by Sonja Lyubomirsky in her book, The How of Happiness. Buy it here and/or read my review here. Join us for Happiness 101 to learn how to enjoy life more with a fraction of the effort.
Frank Clayton
Licensed Professional Counselor
Once upon a time, I thought warnings on my prescription bottles were more of a “guideline” or a helpful suggestion. Then I took psychopharmacology in college and it REALLY scared me because I came to have a much deeper understanding and appreciation for the deadly mixture of alcohol with drugs. It drastically magnifies the effects of the drug. Depending on the drug and the amount of alcohol consumed, the combination IS LETHAL! I am tempted to go off on a long rant about this, but I will spare you the lecture and sum it up concisely: MIXING ALCOHOL AND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION CAN KILL YOU. PLEASE head the warning. Remember Heath Ledger.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to watch a true Happiness expert in action. I was handing out flyers to the “Happy Hour” when she came running at my full speed, jumped, landed firmly on both feet right in front of me and said “HA! HA!”. It was as if in the sea of people, she recognized a kindred spirit, one that appreciates life on that same plane. I bent down deeply and responded with the same battle cry of Happiness, ”HA! HA!”. Being an adult and she all of maybe four years old, I tried to engage her in conversation. “So, what did you have to eat today?” She giggled and responded with gushing enthusiasm “I don’t know!” This was said as if it were a silly question – as if her tone said, “Silly man. It does not matter what I’ve had to eat – it’s in the PAST and is no longer of interest”. Her mother was now before me. She had a camera in hand. I secretly hoped she had caught some of the interaction on film (though knowing that even the top-of-the-line camera could not capture the palpable feelings exchanged between teacher and student). I offered her a flyer and she took it with a smile then meandered to the next booth. Little Sage, as I have come to refer to her, wandered in that direction as well, but then paused. She was mesmerized by the site of people twirling wooden rifles. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk, fixated. Eyes wide. Body still. Then, for apparently no reason, she jumped into the air. Landing, she continued to watch the riflemen. Then another jump, then back into observation mode. After several seconds, she turned to catch up with her mother. I turned slightly to hand out another flyer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blond missle coming in at 4 o’clock! BAM!! I’d been hit! The four year old had ran full blast into my thigh, arms wide open, hugging me tightly before suddenly releasing me and running back without a word to rejoin her mother and be enveloped by the swarming crowd. 
