Mindful Eating
- flitnesswithslimla
- Aug 18, 2020
- 4 min read
“Our relationship to food is a central one that reflects our attitudes toward our environment and ourselves”
Mindful Eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your eating habits.
It has been shown to promote weight loss, reduce binge eating, and help you feel better.
This article explains what mindful eating is, how it works, and what you need to do to get started.
What is Mindful Eating?
“Mindful Eating is based on mindfulness.”
“Mindfulness means focusing on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.”
Mindfulness promotes balance, choice, wisdom and acceptance of what is.
Mindful Eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings, and physical cues when eating.
The tenets of mindfulness apply to mindful eating.
By truly paying attention to the food you eat, you may indulge in these types of foods ( cheeseburger and fries) less often. In essence, mindful eating means being fully attentive to your food—as you buy, prepare, serve, and consume it.
Fundamentally, Mindful Eating involves :-
Eating slowly and without distraction.
Listening to physical hunger cues and eating only until you’re full.
Distunguishing between true hunger and non-hunger triggers for eating.
Engaging your 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.
Appreciating your food.
These things allow you to replace automatic thoughts and reactions with more conscious, healthier responses.
Why should you try Mindful Eating?
Today’s fast-paced society tempts people with an abundance of food choices.
On top of that, distractions have shifted attention away from the actual act of eating toward televisions, computers, and smartphones.
By eating mindfully, you restore your attention and slow down, making eating an intentional act instead of an automatic one.
You also increase your awareness of triggers that make you want to eat, even though you’re not necessarily hungry.
By knowing your triggers, you can create a space between them and your response, giving you the time and freedom to choose how to react.
Mindful Eating and Weight Loss :-
Binge eating, emotional eating, external eating, and eating in response to food cravings have been linked to weight gain and weight regain after successful weight loss.
Chronic exposure to stress may also play a large role in overeating and obesity.
By changing the way you think about food, the negative feelings that may be associated with eating are replaced with awareness, improved self-control, and positive emotions.
When unwanted eating behaviors are addressed, your chances of long-term weight loss success are increased.
Mindful Eating and Binge Eating :-
Binge eating involves eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time, mindlessly and without control.
It has been linked to eating disorders and weight gain.
How to practice Mindful Eating?
To practice mindfulness, you need a series of exercises and meditations.
Practicing the BASICS will change the way you eat forever and for the better—training you how to eat for pleasure and health.
BASICS stands for :-
B—Breathe and belly check for hunger and satiety before you eat
A—Assess your food
S—Slow down
I—Investigate your hunger throughout the meal, particularly halfway through
C—Chew your food thoroughly
S—Savor your food
However, there are many simple ways to get started, some of which can have powerful benefits on their own.
Eat more slowly and don’t rush your meals.
Slowing down is one of the best ways we can get our mind and body to communicate what we really need for nutrition.
The body actually sends its satiation signal about 20 minutes after the brain, which is why we often unconsciously overeat. But, if we slow down, you can give your body a chance to catch up to your brain and hear the signals to eat the right amount.
Eliminate distractions by turning off the TV and putting down your phone.
Multitasking and eating is a recipe for not being able to listen deeply to our body’s needs and wants.
When we are distracted, it becomes harder to listen to our body’s signals about food and other needs. With your next meal, try single-tasking and just eating, with no screens or distractions besides enjoying the company you are sharing a meal and conversation with.
Focus on how the food makes you feel.
Considering where food comes from vs. thinking of food as an end product.
Many of us don’t even consider where a meal comes from beyond the supermarket packaging. This is a loss, because eating offers an incredible opportunity to connect us more deeply to the natural world, the elements and to each other.
As you consider everything that went into the meal, it becomes effortless to experience and express gratitude to all of the people who gave their time and effort, the elements of the universe that contributed their share, our friends or ancestors who shared recipes and even the beings who may have given their lives to a part of creating this meal.
Know your body’s personal hunger signals.
Are you responding to an emotional want or responding to your body’s needs?
Often we listen first to our minds, but like many mindfulness practices, we might discover more wisdom by tuning into our bodies first. Rather than just eating when we get emotional signals, which may be different for each of us, be they stress, sadness, frustration, loneliness or even just boredom, we can listen to our bodies.
True mindful eating is actually listening deeply to our body’s signals for hunger.
Ask yourself: What are your body’s hunger signals, and what are your emotional hunger triggers?
To begin with, it’s a good idea to pick one meal per day to focus on these points.
Once you have the hang of it, mindfulness will become more natural. Then you can focus on implementing these habits into more meals.
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