Try Mindful Eating With These Five Habits

Discover what mindful eating is with five habits, in this article!

To be mindful when eating, you need to look at your eating habits. It is also important to control your eating-related thoughts and feelings. By having wise eating habits, you can better enjoy your meals, and break any connection they may have with anxiety and stress.

To do this, you need to pay attention to your hunger signals. Eat consciously and put all negative thoughts aside. Because they can entice you to empty the fridge, even when you are not hungry.

Your emotions affect what and how you eat. Therefore, pay attention to what the food does to your body.

A study by  The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition  suggests that if you are distracted or inattentive while eating, you will tend to eat more during meals.

This confirms that mindful eating can help you lose weight. So if you are worried about your weight, pay more attention to what you eat. It can help you better control how many calories you consume.

Five habits for mindful eating

The following habits can help you eat with mindfulness. Keep in mind that mindful eating is not about following a strict diet. Instead, it is a way to control the emotions that arise when you eat.

1. Listen to your body

We often listen to our minds first. But, as with many other things in the field of mindfulness, we find the ideal time to eat if we listen to our body.

With that in mind, don’t count on the emotional cues to eat. These signals may differ from person to person. And they can come from stress, sadness, frustration, loneliness or simply boredom. Instead, listen to your body before eating. Is your stomach growling? Are you out of energy? Do you feel a little dizzy?

Mindful eating is related to the hunger signals that the body sends. Mindfulness related to hunger helps you to discern behavioral patterns. It draws your attention to the body signals associated with hunger and satiety.

2. Plan your meals in advance, for mindful eating

When you prepare your meals well in advance, you can reduce reckless eating. Instead of preparing a meal at the last minute, you can plan a meal for yourself, your family or your friends that is varied.

By planning your meals regularly, you can establish a coherent eating pattern. It does not have to be advanced dishes you make. The key is to include several different nutrients and textures. Remember to enjoy every single bite!

3. Sit down and enjoy your food

This sounds like a simple piece of advice that one should not even need to mention. But think about how many times you ate while walking around the kitchen or focusing on another activity. It is best to eat without distractions.

4. Try to recognize each ingredient

Trying to taste and recognize all the different ingredients is another great way to focus on the present and eat with mindfulness.

Concentrate on all the flavor nuances you can taste and how they affect each other. Also notice scents and textures. This will help you to appreciate your food, and eat slowly. An added benefit of this technique is that it can make you more creative in the kitchen.

Also try and recognize all the ingredients when eating at restaurant. It can be a fun challenge, since you have not made the food yourself.

5. Mindful eating is slow eating

The last habit to eat with mindfulness is to eat slowly. Keep in mind that slow eating, among other good things, makes you eat less at meals.

This is because the brain needs time to detect that you are eating and to tell the body when it is full. In fact, it takes the brain about twenty minutes to detect that you have had enough food.

Eat slowly and listen to your body when it says you are full. It is a good idea to talk during the meal if you are eating with friends or family.

These mindful eating habits can help you control the amount of food you consume, lower your stress levels and improve your digestion.