Happier Way Original –
Mindful Eating
Mindful eating refers to the act of paying attention to our food and purposefully consuming it without any judgment. Mindful eating emphasizes people’s sensual awareness of the food they are eating and their experience while eating it. Sometimes we eat without giving much thought to it. While there is no right or wrong way, eating mindfully can benefit both your physical and mental well-being!
Mindful eating will help you develop a sense of what you eat, how you eat it, where it came from, and most importantly, it can help you improve your relationship with food.
Here are 5 tips to help you master this healthy habit:
Focus on the act of eating
If you like watching television or are otherwise distracted while eating, try to instead spend some time with others (or yourself). Try to savor every bite in order to increase your mindfulness of what and how much you are consuming.
Avoid rushing through your meals
While trying to implement mindful eating, you can set a specific time for your meals throughout the day. You can curate your meals based on your hunger cues and your schedule, which will allow you to avoid speeding through your meal during a short break, which disconnects you from your food and your experience.
Listen to your body
Pay attention to your body’s cues of fullness, hunger, and satiety! Due to decades of pervasive and harmful diet culture, over working, and negative relationships with food, we have forgotten how to listen to our body’s biological signals. Slowly but surely you can become more in tune with your body and recognize when it needs fuel, when it’s had enough, and even when you just want to treat yourself.
Do not eat whenever you feel low
Mindful eating helps us curve the use of food to deal with anxiety or cope with negative emotions. You can try to focus more on the needs of your body as they arise. When we begin “emotional eating,” it can become a detrimental habit that’s hard to kick. When you are feeling anxious, sad, or otherwise unwell and you immediately want to run to the kitchen, try journaling about your feelings instead. Reflect on why you want to eat when you’re sad, and develop a new pattern of coping.
Savor your food
Whenever you eat, try choosing a silent atmosphere where you can focus on your meal and enjoy yourself. Eating slowly and savoring your food instead of rushing through the meal will allow you to listen to your body more accurately. Try adopting a habit of chewing a lot whenever you have your meal. It makes it easier for you to digest food, thus less work for the body!
The Final Words
With jobs, busy schedules, families, and tough routines; mindful eating can be a massive step towards better emotional, mental, and physical health. Indeed, it takes a little bit of adjustment, but consistency and practice will allow you to adopt mindful eating and develop a positive and healthy relationship with your food.