Mindful Eating

Slowing down and being fully present are at the core of mindful eating; being fully in tune with the taste, smells and textures of the food in front of you

How often are we told by nutrition experts that we should be focussing on long-term, sustainable lifestyle changes over short-term diets? We are exposed to so much misinformation in the public domain, that navigating fact from fiction when it comes to nutrition can often feel like a minefield.

Mindful eating is an eating strategy all about awareness and intention. The key principle of this eating strategy is to focus on the present moment of nourishing your body. It goes beyond 'just eating' and involves bringing back the enjoyment and nourishment of food, rather than reducing it to numbers like calories, fats, carbohydrates and protein. Slowing down and being fully present are at the core of mindful eating; being fully in tune with the taste, smells and textures of the food in front of you.

But why is this important? We want to ensure that we are in tune with our body and promoting a healthy relationship with food. By being mindful about our eating habits and meals we can become attuned to our body’s hunger. Long term, eating mindfully can lead to positive lifestyle changes and bring us more in touch with our body, to nourish it in a positive way.

So how do we eat mindfully?

  1. Remove distractions - Try and reduce as many distractions as possible that can take us away from enjoying our meals. If you have distractions at mealtimes you can often find yourself finishing your meal without acknowledging you're nourishing and fuelling your body. Put away your phone/tablet, turn off the TV and become fully present with the food in front of you.
  2. Focus on your meal - Engage all your senses to tune into the smells, colours, sounds, textures and flavours of the different foods in front of you.
  3. Slow down - Taking a conscious effort to eat slowly can help us to appreciate our meals and also help with digestion and reduce feelings of bloating.
  4. Savour small bites & chew thoroughly - This allows us to tune into our meal and our feelings of hunger and fullness more easily.
  5. Stop eating when you’re full - Allow your body to realise and help you to acknowledge how much you are enjoying your meal and how it is satiating you hunger.
  6. Plan ahead & aim for regular meal times - Planning ahead allows us to be hungry and ready for our meals and also to make healthier meal & snack choices.                            Download the Nourished Life meal planner here.

 

Mindful eating allows us to recognise our body’s cues of hunger and satiety, It helps us to be less judgmental with ourselves and encourages healthier food choices and positive habits around eating. By practicing mindful eating we can all contribute to making sustainable steps to improving our long-term relationship with food.