What is Mindful Eating?
In recent decades, mindfulness meditation has taken the United States by storm. As a result, more and more people are experiencing less stress and more fulfillment in their life by “staying in the moment.” Consider how mindfulness can be applied to any area of your life, including eating!
You may have heard of mindful eating before and assumed it had something to do with eating more slowly and chewing your food longer. These two considerations are part of the practice, but they only begin to scratch the surface.
Guidelines for Mindful Eating
You may be wondering why you should even begin to explore mindful eating. Well, the main reason is that the practice can help you to lose weight and easily maintain a healthy weight. This of course helps you to prevent the development of certain chronic diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
Health benefits aside, mindful eating also puts a lot of joy in your life. Most people no longer savor their meals but instead wolf them down while mindlessly watching TV or surfing the Internet. Mindful eating reminds you to savor your food and, in reality, savor every moment of this delicious life!
Here are some guidelines to help get you started with mindful eating:
- Refrain from eating because “it’s time” or because you are feeling intense emotions. Instead, become aware of hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions on when to eat. Satiety occurs when one is satisfied or beyond.
- Sit down to eat rather than treating it as another chore to multi-task.
- Be mindful when creating a shopping list, choosing those items that have real health value.
- Start with a small portion, you can always have second helpings if needed. But you may be surprised how often those second helpings aren’t needed when you eat slowly.
- Sip, don’t gulp.
- Enjoy each bite of your food while embracing your senses. Taste all the flavors and feel the different textures of your food. Eating this way not only adds joy and sensuality to your life, but it helps you to eat more slowly so you don’t overeat.
- Adopt an attitude of gratitude.
Mindful eating makes dieting a thing of the past and empowers people to make better food choices through common sense and enjoying the experience of nourishing our bodies (i.e., eating). Give mindful eating a try and see if it can’t benefit your health and overall well-being.
Reach out to the Counselors of New U by Design at 844.639.8298 today.
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