Image Source: Unsplash
Mindfulness has become the new buzzword in today’s world. With so many people focusing on diet, fitness and wellness these days, it is not surprising that mindfulness is becoming increasingly popular as an activity for staying healthy and stress-free. Yet, have you ever wondered why there exists a need to practice mindfulness? And what exactly does this mean? Perhaps you might find it weird to be told to pay attention to your senses or even your thoughts. The truth is that many of us are often not really mindful about our eating habits -or many other things for that matter. We live in autopilot most of the times and do things without thinking about them which often results in unhealthy habits like eating over-processed food mindlessly, spending too much time on social media and ignoring our body’s signals when we are hungry, thirsty or tired.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the mental state of being conscious and aware of your surroundings and moment-to-moment experiences, especially as relating to meditation or yoga. People do not eat mindfully because they are distracted. Distraction at meals can lead to mindless eating and weight gain. There are various reasons behind this. It may be due to stress, work pressure or even a hectic lifestyle. When one is not mindful, one is not aware of their sensations, feelings, emotions and thoughts. A mindful person can identify the thought, recognize where it is coming from, and see if it is useful or not. As we go about our daily lives, we often get so caught up in the rush of activities that we fail to pay attention to the present moment. This can be especially true when it comes to eating. When we eat in a distracted way, we are missing out on the opportunity to experience our food fully.
The Importance of Mindfulness in Eating Habits
Eating is a complex activity that involves all of our senses. We use our senses to identify the food, smell it, taste it, and also feel it in our mouths. While enjoying a delicious meal, we might be distracted by stresses at work, relationship problems, children’s school activities or other worries. Our thoughts can be racing, causing us to barely notice what we are eating. If you want to make the most of your meals, you need to be mindful. Being mindful will help you to enjoy the food more, gain more benefit from the nutrients, and eat at a slow, healthy pace. It will also help you to eat less by distracting you from feeling hungry. If you eat when you are stressed or distracted, you may be more likely to eat too much or eat unhealthy foods. Being mindful can help you to make better choices.
7 Ways to Practice Mindfulness in Eating Habits
- Notice your surroundings. Pay attention to the setting where you are going to consume your meal. If you are eating outside, look around and notice the vegetation, other people or even the birds chirping nearby. If you are at home, observe the decorations and your table settings.
- Notice the food. This is the most important part of eating mindfully. Notice the smell, the taste and the texture of the food in your mouth before you start eating.
- Notice your feelings. This might sound cliché but pay attention to your feelings while eating. Notice if you feel stressed, tired or worried. If you do, try to find a way to calm yourself down.
- Notice your thoughts. Try to make sense of whatever is running in your mind. Identify whether it is something important or just your imagination. If it is important, take the necessary action. If it is just a random thought, let it go.
- Notice your body. This might sound a little out of the ordinary but you can actually feel the food being digested in your stomach as well as your blood flow to all your organs.
Finding Realistic Happiness in Food
If you are eating to cope with negative emotions, you are not eating mindfully. You might have experienced it yourself or seen others do it too. You might have seen people eat in a rush in order to complete the task on hand. This is a sure sign that they are eating out of emotions such as stress or anger. You need to retrain yourself to deal with your emotions differently. Take deep breaths, say a mantra or prayer, go for a walk or even do some yoga poses to calm yourself down before you start eating again. Try to eat your meals at a slow pace. Enjoy the textures and flavours of the food you are eating.
3 Tips for Being More Mindful When You Eat
- Be present. Be present with what you are eating. Don’t let your mind wander off to other things. If it does, bring it back to the meal and don’t get frustrated with yourself.
- Eat slowly. Eat slowly so that you can savour the flavours of the food and also eat less. You should eat until your are satiated, not until you feel full.
- Share your meal. Before you start eating, ask yourself if you are really hungry. If not, share a meal with someone else or put the food away for later.
Conclusion
If you want to lead a healthy lifestyle, you need to be mindful of your eating habits and pay attention to your senses. You can do this by taking a moment before eating to sit down and focus on your meal. This can help you to decrease your risk of weight gain and improve your overall health. If you want to stay in shape and live a healthy life, you do need to eat healthy foods. However, you will benefit from mindfulness even more if you eat slowly and enjoy each bite of the food that you are eating. You will also be able to recognize when you are actually full and not just eating because you feel like you need to eat something.
Are you confident that you regularly practice mindful eating habits ?
0%yes
0%no
That “auto-pilot” is something else! Sometimes I look up and find that I haven’t eaten or drank anything ALL DAY. I just wake up, and start moving without taking the time to CARE for myself and my body properly. I’m robotically checking off tasks on my to-do list with no regard that my body is suffering. I definitely want to be more mindful when it comes to this.