Why You Need To Start Eating Mindfully
Do you remember what you ate for breakfast yesterday?
Would you be able to recall the smell, taste, and texture of yesterday’s meal today?
Do you eat without distractions such as watching a TV show or scrolling on your phone?
If your answer to any of those questions is ‘NO’, then you’re not a mindful eater.
This is your sign to learn more about eating mindfully for your health and happiness.
Mindful Eating: What Is It?
Mindful eating is a technique, almost like an exercise, which helps you focus on your experience during eating. It engages your senses and thoughts and redirects your attention to the taste and texture of the dish.
You learn to spend more energy appreciating the food you eat each day.
Mindful eating is not about always eating the ‘right’ thing and forgoing food cravings and unhealthy treats. Paying attention to the quality of the food you consume and how it is prepared is also another aspect of eating mindfully.
This activity can transform your relationship with food for good. It’s best if you start doing it right away, starting from meal prep.
How Does Mindful Eating Work?
Examine your food. Take smaller bites and give yourself the opportunity to savor your food. Chew slowly till you get a hang of it.
Engage your senses. Pay close attention to the texture and flavor of your food. Often certain textures, colors, and smells may cause a sensory overload, especially for individuals on the spectrum. If you experience such reactions, try to think about the flavor and the herbs and seasonings used.
When you sit for your next meal, rid yourself of all possible distractions like your devices (phones, laptops, TVs) and books. Anything that would take attention away from what you eat or delays the process should be distanced. Avoid multitasking while you eat.
The idea is to connect with food. Eat slowly. Attempt to mimic a restaurant-like ambiance in your home.
Mindful Eating is Better
Explore the benefits of practicing mindful eating.
1. Improved Digestion
With distractions, people tend to swallow food without breaking the particles down well which makes it harder to digest.
Chewing your food well makes it digest faster and helps absorb nutrients and vitamins more effectively.
2. Weight Management
When you don’t keep an eye on your plate and portion size, it’s easier to overeat unintentionally. One of the advantages of mindful eating is realizing your limits and eventually eating just enough to energize yourself.
3. Increased Satisfaction
Over some time, eating mindfully will train your body to consume only how much it needs. Along with increasing satisfaction, you will learn to differentiate between boredom and genuine hunger.
4. Reduced Stress-Induced Eating Habits
First, let’s reinstate that in no form is this practice a cure or replacement for eating disorders.
Occasionally, we are all bound to satisfy some sort of craving or fill an emotional hole with food. Mindful eating will help identify such nuances and eventually correct this behavior.
5. New-found Awareness of Food Intake
When you watch TV or read while eating, you tend to binge. You eat for as long as the video, show, or movie you’re watching goes on.
This prolongs your eating time and increases the quantity of food intake. Without external influences, you will be able to watch what you eat.
6. Inclination to Healthier Food
This practice will force you to acknowledge the kind of food you eat. Normally, people find it hard to prepare healthy meals and turn to heavily processed, packaged fast food.
Unhealthy eating is exactly what causes bad breath, poor oral health and a weak immune system. In case you suffer from these issues, Smile Brilliant offers the most trustworthy and effective dental products like oral probiotics that can give you some relief while you change your ways.
7. Gratitude for Food
Over time, you cultivate a completely different perspective. Instead of viewing food negatively, you might find appreciation and respect for everything you eat.
Imagine how much sweeter life would be when you know you cherish the most mundane things like eating and drinking.
Practice mindful eating and follow a ‘live in the moment’ philosophy for reaching your best potential, physically and mentally.