Every time, before you eat,
take a moment to be silent. Close your eyes if you like, or just fix
your attention on a neutral object or point. Take a few slow, deep
breaths. Think about your body and that you’re about to feed and nourish
it. Gather a sense of gratitude about the food, and know how lucky you
are to have it when many others don’t. Remind yourself of your
commitments to eat well, but just enough. Remember that you love your
body, and yourself. Then be silent again for a little while.

Silence is anything but empty! When you put yourself and your thoughts
aside, you let God come into your awareness. You come to sense that all
is right and well with everything and with you.
Being consciously silent before eating can ground you, making you aware of the magnitude of what you’re about
to do. You are taking another living thing’s life into your body. Food
was once alive and by the act of eating it, you claim its life for
yours. You are continuing the flow of God’s magnificently intricate
eco-system with each bite.