Health, Wellness, and Fitness for the Prime of Your Life!

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Enhance Your Health and Waistline With Mindful Eating

I love making a fresh, delicious meal — and then I love eating it!

I take it all in. The earthiness of the vegetables. The kick of the spices. The nuttiness of the grains…I could go on and on! But you get my point: Mindful eating makes meals better.

What is mindful eating? In a nutshell, mindful eating is eating only when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. It is also putting your full attention on the eating experience.

Most people don’t eat mindfully. They’re watching TV, talking, playing on their phone, or thinking about something else while they eat. These are habits that lead to overeating and weight gain.

Try these tips to do your health and waistline a favor by eating mindfully:

1. Start with Mindful Shopping. Avoid the tendency to just automatically buy the same things you’ve always bought at the store. Instead, ask yourself whether or not an item supports your health goals before placing it into your shopping cart. Be mindful of each item you choose to take home with you.

2. Remove distractions. Eat with minimal distractions. Turn off the TV. Put your phone away. Close your book. Ideally, you won’t even talk during a meal. Clear away all the distractions and just eat.

3. Start with a reasonable amount of food. The more you put on your plate, the more you’re likely to eat. Start with about 1/2 of your normal amount. You can always go back for seconds if you are still hungry.

4. Put your full attention on your meal. Keep your thoughts on the experience of eating. This isn’t the time to think about work, your boss, your significant other, kids, or bills. Relax and focus your thoughts on eating.

5. Chew slowly and thoroughly. The faster you eat, the more you’ll eat. It takes a while for your brain to get the signal that you’re full. Eating slowly will help to prevent overeating. Take your time and chew slowly. The food isn’t going anywhere. Give yourself the chance to enjoy it!

6. Focus on the taste. Unhealthy foods often taste great when eaten quickly. Many of them aren’t so delicious if eaten slowly. Also, many healthy foods are more enjoyable if eaten more slowly. Really notice the flavor of your food.

Here’s an interesting experiment for you to try. Take a piece of sweet fruit that you enjoy. It could be an orange or a small bunch of grapes. Eat the food very slowly and keep your attention on the flavor. You’ll find that it’s not easy to finish the entire fruit. Fruit is nature’s dessert.

Now, take an unhealthy food and do the same thing. You’ll find that it’s not that appetizing. Unhealthy foods are designed to be enjoyable when eaten quickly, since that is how most people eat.

7. Only eat when you’re actually hungry. There’s no reason to wait until you’re ravenous. However, there’s no reason to eat if you’re not hungry. Allow yourself to feel hunger before eating. If you eat when you’re not hungry, your waistline and your health quickly take a nosedive.

8. Be grateful for your food. Have gratitude for the food you’re eating. It’s a privilege to have plenty to eat. You’re luckier than most of the world’s population. Gratitude is a part of mindfulness.

Mindfulness is paying attention to your emotions, surroundings, and actions. It’s a type of self-awareness. Few people eat mindfully. We multitask while eating, and the result is overeating. This is extremely unhealthy, and it’s simply not an enjoyable way to eat.

Much of the eating experience is lost if you’re not paying attention. Eat mindfully and notice the impact it has on your life!

What is one way YOU can practice mindful eating during your next meal? Leave your strategies in the comments below!