Can you name the best meal you have eaten this week? Think about it. Is it easy to come up with one meal? Or are you scanning your memory because everything you ate was just okay -- just did the job?

The other day, a wonderful client of mine was talking about a meal at a local restaurant that was “lick the plate clean” good. He told me that after eating that meal, it made him think about all of the other meals he had eaten that week and wonder why he had eaten most of the other things he did. The great meal had changed how he looked at all of the other meals.

Most of the people I work with say they LOVE food. When questioned more closely they downgrade that to loving to EAT.

I challenge the loving food and loving to eat. I truly love to wakeboard -- I am mindful almost the whole time I am on the water -- because if I am not…if my mind wanders off, even for just a few seconds, I end up catching the edge of my board and smashing face first down onto the water -- I see it as a built in reminder to be mindful. Pain is a wonderful teacher.

If you think you love food and/or love to eat, how mindful are you when you are going through the process? Most of us eat without giving it much thought. We might agonize over what we “should” eat but once the food is in front of you, how much thought are you giving to smell, taste, texture, color and presentation? And not just one of these but all of them.

If you are paying attention to the food and how you are responding to the food, eating can be a smooth and enjoyable process. But, if you lose focus and forget what you are doing -- eating on autopilot -- often you will end up having eaten too much and feeling terrible. Let pain be your teacher. Pay attention. It will serve you well.