Learning to eat mindfully takes practice. Many of us have grown up in households where unhealthy eating was commonplace, and it takes a lot of effort to make a solid commitment to eating mindfully. By understanding the achievable steps towards mindful eating, you can gain control over your eating habits. The results? Mindful eating has been shown to promote weight loss, reduce the harmful habit of binge eating, and improve your overall health and brain function. Let’s go over what exactly is mindful eating and what you can do to get started.
What Does It Mean to Eat Mindfully?
To understand mindful eating, it’s helpful to know what mindfulness is exactly. It originally comes from Buddhism and is a form of meditation to help you center your mind and cope with emotions. Meditation has been used to treat many mental ailments, such as depression and anxiety. Mindful eating encourages you to pay full attention to your mental and physical experiences. In regards to diet, mindfulness puts a spotlight on cravings and physical cues while eating, along with your overall feelings towards food.
Also, it is not only helpful to transform your mindset about eating, but also the foods that you eat. Having a healthy diet is crucial to your overall health and wellbeing. And although healthy foods are given a bad-wrap, there are delicious alternatives out there, such as keto-friendly chocolate chips or other non-dairy substitutes to satisfy your cravings.
Ways to Eat Mindfully
It’ll take time, but learning effective ways to become aware of your diet and overall eating practices is key to eating mindfully. But how can you work towards mindful eating? Here are a few examples:
Eating slowly and appreciating your food
Our busy lives tend to get in the way of fully enjoying our meals and taking the time to truly appreciate the food that is in front of us. Next time you are enjoying dinner with your family or a special meal for one, make sure to slow down and take stock of your nourishment.
Only eating until you are comfortably full
It’s a healthy practice to only eat until you are comfortably full. No matter what we’re eating, our meals and bodies should always be treated with respect. That means tuning in and paying attention so that we can hear our bodies when they say they’ve had enough. Establish a two-way connection between yourself and what your body is telling you.
Determining the difference between true hunger and non-hunger eating triggers
Stress, anxiety, boredom—these are all common reasons we tend to eat when we’re not actually hungry. Food is a source of comfort for many of us and it’s hard not to turn to snacks or sweets when we’re feeling pressure in our lives. So next time you find yourself reaching towards your stress snack, take a deep breath and check in with yourself. Think about if you’re eating for the wrong reasons. Is there something else you could do to make you feel equally satisfied? Try getting some fresh air, talking to a loved one, or a hobby that makes you happy.
Putting your screens away and minimizing distractions
This may seem overly simple, but a lot of us treat eating as a multi-tasking activity. Instead, it should be treated as a special time to nourish your body and spend some time away from our fast-paced lives. The intention while you’re eating is to eat. The only way you’re going to truly appreciate your food is with minimal distractions. This way you can be fully present and take part in mindful eating practices.
Noticing sensory sensations such as colors, smells, sounds, textures, and flavors
Another way to start eating mindfully is to really take in the sensory sensations of your meal. Food is so versatile and it often engages with all of our senses. Ever heard the phrase: “We eat with our eyes.” Well, it’s time to really put that into action.
Learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food
Not all of us have positive emotions or experiences around food. But learning how to healthily cope with any guilt or anxiety you have around food is crucial to eating mindfully. Work on identifying the specific situations and thoughts that come with your negative feelings towards food, and then zero in on finding ways to combat these emotions.
The first step is to acknowledge your guilt or anxiety without judgment towards yourself. This is easier said than done, but be confident that you can break the cycle by allowing yourself to feel what you feel in the moment. Then do your best to let them go. Going forward, affirmations are also helpful to work yourself through a stressful eating situation.
The sooner you can begin to develop an awareness towards food and eating, the better you can start to eat mindfully.
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