Eat, eat, eat.
We all love eating, don’t we? It’s built into our brains, body, and habits. See a plate of food, and there you have it! Hunger attacks.
Still, how often is it that you notice what you eat? Taste the different ingredients that go into the final product, appreciate the subtleties of smell and texture, understand the intricacies of nutrition value?
The answer is probably never.
We shove food in our mouths, chew a few times, and swallow. Boom! It’s gone.
Wait, what was I eating again?
… This is where our problem comes in. We don’t think about what we eat, even when it makes up a few hours of our daily routine. We don’t even care about how we do it, just that we’re doing it.
Sounds terrifying, doesn’t it?
Well, the good news is that there’s a solution. And this blog is going to give you an entire guide to fix this very problem! After all, for every problem, there’s a solution.
So don’t worry and read on – we’ve got your back!
What is Mindful Eating?
Before mindful eating, one must understand mindfulness. In simple words, mindfulness is clearing your mind and focusing on the present. You want to be in the ‘now’, understand what is happening, and move along with it, rather than just reacting to it.
Similarly, mindful eating builds on these principles to bring you to the present whenever you eat.
Once you know what you eat, how you eat it, when you eat it, and the satisfaction of a stomach-filling meal, you can successfully say you have succeeded in mindful eating.
Why is Mindful Eating important?
- It brings unhealthy eating habits to the front (such as eating too much or eating without needing to.
- It helps reduce eating problems related to over-eating, binge-eating, etc.
- It allows you an appreciation for food.
- It satisfies you and your appetite.
- It helps with weight management and healthy eating.
In short, mindful eating is a great way to shift your life and pay attention to your health so that you can feel better, eat better, and live better.
The 7 Secrets of Mindful Eating – A Few Tips and Tricks
1. Begin with One
You can’t change your entire life in one day. That option is almost impossible.
Fortunately, you don’t need to change your whole life. If you just begin with a single decision every day and build up from that, you might just learn to apply mindful eating to every part of your life soon enough.
Still, if even the one-mindful-meal-a-day daunts you, make a smaller, easier-to-follow goal. Set the alarm, and maybe every Sunday, pay attention to what you eat at breakfast.
This one meal a week will increase to one meal a day, and before you know it, every meal will be a mindful meal.
2. Ask yourself
One of the core secrets of mindful eating is knowing your body. You must listen to the cues it exhibits and act according to them.
Is your body really hungry, or is your mind tricking you out of boredom?
How are you feeling? Is your appetite soaring because of a certain emotion? Can you fix whatever makes you feel that way?
Once you answer these questions, you’ll have a much stronger hold on your body, and therefore, on your eating.
3. Come to the table with an average Appetite
You don’t want to be too hungry or not hungry at all. Not at the dinner table.
After all, if you’re not very hungry, you may overeat. And if you’re ravenous, you’ll probably wolf down everything you see without reminding yourself of the different tenets of mindful eating.
In short, if you keep yourself sated through the day, not only will you avoid overeating, but you will also savor your food and be satisfied.
4. Sit at the Dinner Table to eat
The environment matters much more than everyone assumes. It can make you want to eat more, despite being full. It can heighten your senses and distract you at every turn.
Picture this; one day, you sit in the lounge, eyes glued to the TV, while you shove eggs into your mouth. Another day, you choose to sit at the table. You look at what you eat and do it slowly, without any distractions.
Isn’t the second option much better for mindful eating?
5. Look at your food
Have you ever looked at your food while eating it? Observed it, thought about what went into it, appreciated the effort and the taste packed in that tiny meal?
Probably not. Not a lot of people do. But now is the time to learn.
Pause and slow down before even thinking of eating. And then, once you’ve had your fill of thinking about the food, take a small bite. Taste, chew, swallow, and repeat.
Now, was that so hard?
6. Portion Control
A portion is the food you serve on a plate (or just eat per every meal). It’s hard to keep track of every moment you eat, but maximizing your attentiveness and knowing how much you need to eat will be very effective.
You also need to control nutrition values in these portions and keep in mind how much proteins, fat, and carbohydrates you need in your next meal.
Know how much you’re eating, and you’ll automatically slow down.
7. Make it a habit
Once you start, keep at it! Healthy habits are hard to make, but if you persevere and show the strength of character, you’re sure to be able to make mindful eating a daily skill.
So, grab your plate, sit down at the dinner table, and taste everything you eat. Savor the moment.
And then, do it all again for the next meal.
When mindful is a habit, appreciating life is not just a far-away thought, it’s reality.
Conclusion
These 7 secrets may seem like too much but taking it at your own pace is the best way to begin this journey.
Still, start applying these principles to your daily life, and you will slowly but surely, see a change in your lifestyle and health.
You will also realize that mindful eating is one of the tenets of living a healthy life!
Nevertheless, if you’re still curious and want to know more, here are a few options for you to learn more from; Healthline and a Harvard Article.
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