Mindful Eating
What is Mindful Eating?
As children we want food when hungry and stop eating when full- we are really good at listening to our bodies’ hunger signals.
As adults we are often mindless eaters, eating for all sorts of different reasons other than true hunger. For example: boredom, stress, tiredness and because it’s available.
This means we forget how to listen to what our bodies need, often resulting in overeating (or undereating). Often this becomes a cycle of overeating then feeling guilty and trying to under eat to make up for it. Only for us to feel starving hungry and overeat again.
So the practice of mindful eating aims to break this cycle by improving our ability to tune in, respecting the body’s needs and trusting ourselves. It is about being really present whilst eating!
Which of these mindless eating habits do you have?
- Eating whilst working/watching TV/looking at your phone
- Eating too quickly
- Finishing all the food on your plate regardless of whether you needed it
- Eating when stressed, bored, tired, lonely or sad
- Eating because everyone else is
Put mindful eating into practice:
Next time you go to eat something, try one of these tips:
- Rate your hunger out of 10 (1= starving hungry, 10= completely full) before, during and after your meal to practice your awareness of hunger signals.
- Aim to chew each bite of food at least 10 times
- Put your knife and fork down between each bite
- Take time to enjoy the taste, textures and smells of your meal
- Nibble your chocolate/cake or other treat as slow as possible, fully experiencing the flavours without distraction
- Eat your meal seated at a table without any distractions
- Choose ingredients to make a really nourishing and satisfying meal – pick some delicious vegetables for a hit of vitamins and fibre, a lean meat/chicken/fish/tofu for filling protein and amp up the flavor with a crumble of cheese or sprinkle of herbs
