Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is about mindfulness in food towards full attention to the taste, texture & smell of food. It is about the consciousness related to experiences, cravings, physical cues when eating. The control over mind during mindful eating makes you aware of your appetite, whether you are having food because ‘you are hungry’ or ‘to satisfy your emotions’; eventually helps control portion, choose healthy options & avoid emotional or stress eating.
Mindful eating is associated in solving wide range of health issues: weight issues, eating disorders, binge eating, anxiety, depression, GI issues.
Basically, mindful eating is:
- Eating slowly and without distractions.
- Listening to physical hunger cues and eating only until full.
- Distinguishing between true hunger and non-hunger triggers for eating.
- Engaging senses by noticing colors, smells, sounds, textures, and flavors.
- Learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food.
- Eating to maintain overall health and well-being.
- Noticing the effects food on feeling & overall health.
- Establishing healthy relation with food.
Due to our very busy schedule, our eating pattern has been shifted towards mindless act; eating along with the use of T.V, computers, phone & also we tend to eat quickly in less than 10 minutes.
‘Do you know, our brain takes up to 20 minutes to realize that we are full while eating?’
Thus, nowadays we tend to ‘overeat’.
How to practice Mindful eating?
- Sit down comfortably.
- Eat slowlyand don’t rush your meals.
- Take a small bite & chew thoroughly. For practice count each chewing up to 20-25 times.
- Eliminate distractions by turning off the TV and putting down your phone.
- Eat in silence.
- Focus on how the food makes you feel. Observe the way you eat.
- Stop eating when you’re full.
- Ask yourself why you’re eating, whether you’re truly hungry, and whether the food you chose is healthy.
- Keep a food diary.
- Plan meals ahead.
