Mindful eating means putting the phone down. You’re scrolling through TikTok with a fork in one hand, consuming content and calories simultaneously, completely disconnected from both. Your body never signals fullness because your attention isn’t on your body. The food could be delicious or terrible. You wouldn’t know. This is how you end up eating too much, feeling too little, and wondering why nothing satisfies.

The world’s five healthiest communities share one non-negotiable practice: they eat together. Not just sit at the same table. They cook together, source together, break bread as ritual. What does this do? Portion control happens naturally when you’re engaged in conversation instead of your phone. Obesity rises when connection drops. The correlation isn’t subtle. And the fix isn’t complicated: stop eating alone. Stop eating distracted. Start treating meals like the intimate, communal experience they’ve been for centuries.

What’s true for food is true for everything: when you pay attention, you consume less and connect more. When you disconnect, you overconsume and feel empty. The meal isn’t the point. The presence is.

Topics: mindful eating, eating alone, phone distraction, communal meals, self-care through food

GUEST: Alyssa B | nourished.ca

RUNDOWN: What if your date night started at the grocery store instead of a restaurant? Shane and nutritionist Alyssa B explore how sourcing, preparing, and sharing food creates deeper intimacy than any reservation, and how disconnection from food mirrors disconnection from yourself.