Food For Thought: Mindful Eating

Have you ever heard of mindful eating? Mindful eating is when you actually give your food the full attention it deserves and just be present in the moment. Whether it’s a meal, a snack, or a treat, when you are mindfully eating you are focusing on the entire eating experience. Also, mindful eating has been known to have many health benefits as well. Being more present when you eat could help to reduce the amount of food you eat, aid in weight loss, and possibly reduce your risk of certain diseases like type two diabetes, or heart disease. Listed below are 5 tips on how to eat mindfully and potentially change your relationship with food entirely.

Put away all electronics and other distractions. 
When it comes to mindful eating it is important that you give your food your full attention. No distractions, no TV, no phone. Nothing that will pull your attention from your meal. You should be fully present in the moment, and just…..eat.

Listen to your body.
Listen to your body’s hunger cues. Eat when you are feeling hungry and stop when you are feeling full. Did you know that it takes a few minutes for your brain to realize that you are full? If you eat too fast, you’re not giving your brain a chance to keep up and this can lead to overeating and feeling too full. Take a bite of your food and put down the utensils in between bites. When you take your time and eat slowly, it gives your body a chance to signal to your brain that you are full.

Listen to your thoughts and feelings.

How do you feel about the food you are about to eat? Is it something new you’ve been wanting to try? Is it your favorite meal? Do you feel guilty about what you’re about to eat? Or are you excited because you’ve been craving this all day?

Use your senses while eating.
As the saying goes, you eat with your eyes first. How does the food look? Focus on how the food smells. They say that smell is responsible for 80% of what we taste. Focusing on the smell of your food will make you enjoy a delicious meal even more. Focus on the texture. What is it like? Is it crunchy or soft? Velvety or lumpy? What different flavors do you notice? Is it sour? Sweet? Salty? Bitter?  Can you detect any specific spices or ingredients? Taking your time to truly taste your food can really change the way you look at food and possibly change your entire experience with that particular food altogether. 

Notice how you feel after the meal.

Once you have noticed that you are full, stop eating, even if there is still food on your plate; this takes us back to listening to your body (tip 2). Take note of how the meal makes you feel now that you have finished. Do you feel sluggish and tired, or energized and satisfied? Is this something you would eat again? What did you like about it? What did you not like? 

So, that is mindful eating. It’s all about being present in the moment and giving your food the attention it deserves. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover new foods that you never knew you would like, and you might realize that some of the foods you have enjoyed in the past aren’t as good as you remember. No matter what you discover, one thing is for sure, if you practice mindful eating enough, it will change your relationship with food.