‘We are all likely guilty of eating food in a rush, whilst walking down the street or scrolling on our phones during meal times, or watching TV. Most of us are living in a busy world that requires us to be constantly switched on and leaves us distracted from the present moment, including when we’re eating. When it comes to meal times, many of us could benefit from a practice known as ‘mindful eating’.’
What is mindful eating? Mindfulness is defined as paying attention to the present moment, purposefully and non-judgmentally. Mindful eating is about bringing your attention to the food you eat as you purchase, prepare, serve and consume it. Benefits of mindful eating can include better control of weight, more satisfaction from food, better digestion and absorption of nutrients and a reduction in bloating, gas and undigested food. Recent research by Harvard University has found people that adopt mindful eating as a regular practice will lose weight and keep it off.
4 steps to Mindful eating
- Check in with yourself: Before eating, take a few moments to consider how you’re feeling. Often we eat for comfort or distraction. Eat food when you have an appetite or feel some hunger. If your desire to eat is not about hunger, do something else ore appropriate for the desire.
- Turn off for digestion: Remove all distractions such as your phone, TV, laptop. Eat intentionally. Chew your food, taste every last bite. This will send signals to your digestive system to release stomach acid and enzymes that are vital for digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. This simple act of removing digestion may also prevent bloating, reflux or undigested food.
- Appreciate your food: Pause for a moment before you eat and think about the journey everything on your plate took to get there- where and how it was grown and who prepared the food. Unless you are a hunter-gatherer or sustainable farmer, we have become so disconnected from the food that we eat. Taking a moment to honour where your food has come from may change the food you decide to eat. You may opt to indulge in whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds instead of highly processed packaged ‘foods’.
- Stop eating when you are full: Eating more than your body has the energy to digest can create inflammation within your digestive system and other bodily systems. After each bite, check in with your body to see how you’re feeling. Have you had enough? Is it time to stop eating? Do you need more. Listen to the signs and signals your body sends you.