Everyone talks about mindful eating, but do you know exactly what it means to eat mindfully?
Much more than just another "fad statement," eating mindfully means exercising your ability to focus in order to experience all aspects of your meal in a more conscious way.
Talking about it seems a little obvious, but it's not that simple.
Usually, during our meals, we are either running for some reason or having our mind and our thoughts elsewhere than in our food.
The fact is that not paying attention to all aspects of our meal ends up disconnecting us from our satiety signals, which often ends up leading us to eat much more than we would if we were paying attention to our meal.
So here are some tips that I'd like to share with you:
1- Disconnect: turn off your cell phone, TV, and close the magazine or report you are reading. Think that these 20 minutes (at least) when you are going to disconnect from the world will be exchanged for better digestion and better nutrient absorption.
2- Connect with your hunger level. Before diving into that delicious food you put on your plate, stop for a few seconds and ask yourself how hungry you are and if it is equivalent to the amount of food you put on the plate. This is an excellent exercise for those people who tend to "eat with their eyes."
3- Quickly observe the colors and the way you set up your plate. For me, the way we set up our plate gives us an important clue about our personality type… lol
4- Mentally, express gratitude for your meal. Visualize food as a cure for any disease that is lurking around your body and fuel to give you physical energy and mental clarity. Do not underestimate the power of your mind; it is much more powerful than you think...
5- At each mouthful, try to pay attention to the predominant flavor and texture. Sweet, salty, bitter, citrusy, crunchy, moist, creamy.
6- Chew your food… It seems like a cliché comment, but it is super important for the digestive process. Think that anything that is not well-chewed will need to be broken down later with a higher amount of gastric juice and/or fermentation, which is synonymous with slower digestion and, often, a bloated belly...
7- Rest your fork on the plate at least every two mouthfuls. This tip is not easy. When the food is good, we don't feel like resting our forks and knives, but this is important to give our brain time to activate our satiety hormone.
8- Access your hunger level when you are in the middle of your plate to connect with the signals from your body and decide if you really need to "clean" up to the last grain on your plate or if you are already satiated with less food than you imagined. This is an essential tip for those people who, unconsciously or consciously, grew up with that "rule" that no food can be left on the plate…
9- Finally, try to stop eating when you are about 80% satisfied. That is, you feel that you could even eat more, but by a conscious choice (and not automatic behavior), you decide to stop eating at that level you are at. satisfied and comfortable.
Remember that the digestive process demands a large volume of oxygen to happen and, if you are overloaded, it will interfere with other functions of your body, which will leave you with that feeling of tiredness, sleepiness and lack of focus.
Feeling this is too much to remember? Just keep in mind that when you practice connecting with the food and your hunger signs before meals, things flow more naturally.
The fact is that there is no general rule, but what works for you in your day-to-day routine.
Allow yourself at least try; it will be worth it. ????
With love,
C