Mindful eating, or conscious eating, has become a topic you’ll see more frequently these days across social media. People want to know what it is, how to eat mindfully, what the benefits are, as well as ways to practice mindful eating.
A quick mindful eating exercise
How long does it take you to eat a raisin? If you’re ready to dive right in, check out this cool mindful eating exercise from Alyssia at Mind over Munch.
What is mindful eating?
Eating has become a mindless act for most of us as the demands of our lives cause us to often eat on the go, while replying to emails on our phones, working in front of laptops or while watching TV.
Mindful eating obviously comes from the discipline of mindfulness. The idea is to slow things down, eat without distractions and be consciously aware of what you are eating and the sensations and emotions that you experience while doing that, without judgement.
You would find somewhere quiet to eat, calm your mind and body and make yourself aware of all the sensations the food is offering you. Before you even start eating, ask yourself, how does the the food look, smell or feel to the touch? Is it hot or cold? What colours are you seeing? What memories or thoughts are you aware of? (Remember, no judgement…)
As you bite into the food be aware of all those changing sensations, appreciating the taste, textures, juices, nutrients as well as the emotions you feel and thoughts you have.
What are the benefits of mindful eating?
Eating mindfully helps you gain control over your eating habits promoting weight loss, reducing binge eating and helping you feel better. It can help you to retrain your hunger cravings so that you only eat when you’re actually hungry.
Eating consciously can transform our relationship with food as we start to take note of the foods we’re consuming, the effects they have on our minds and bodies and we start to ask ourselves how and why we’re eating.
It’s estimated that the brain takes about 20 minutes to register that the stomach is full. Eating mindfully therefore can help prevent you from overeating which has many obvious health benefits.
Overall, studies suggest that a more considered way of eating helps steer people away from unhealthy choices.
How to eat mindfully [8 Practical Steps]
While there are short mindful eating exercises that you can do it’s more of a lifestyle than just short experiences.
Practicing mindful eating starts with your shopping list according to this article from the Harvard Medical School.
Here are 8 practical steps based on that article to developing a mindful eating lifestyle:
1. Start with a shopping list. Before you get to the store (or go online) decide what nutritional products you want to buy and stick to it. Don’t get side-tracked by promotions on bags of processed food and candy.
2. Eat when you feel hungry. Skipping meals or only eating when you’re starving may cause you to stuff yourself on whatever is quickest and easiest to get your hands on in order to satisfy the hunger, instead of eating nutritious healthier options.
3. Start small. Small portions (and even small plates and bowls) may help be helpful at first.
4. Appreciate your food. Take a moment before you eat to think about how your food got to be in front of you – the people and energy involved. Be thankful for the meal and people around you.
5. It’s a sensual experience. Take in all the aromas, textures, colours, tastes, memories etc as you prepare the meal, plate it and then enjoy it.
6. Take small bites. Smaller mouthfuls will help you to taste the flavours better. Put down your utensils in between bites.
7. Chew chew chew. To really get all the flavours from the food focus on chewing your food thoroughly.
8. Slow it down. Take the time to really savour the experience.
Have you tried mindful eating?
Let us know in the comments below if you’ve ever tried eating mindfully and what the experience was like for you. We’d love to hear about it!
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