Everyone lives life at a fast pace. Many of us eat too quickly and food is sometimes bolted down between meetings, appointments or whatever we are moving on to next.
Little attention is often paid to what we are eating.
Eating mindfully is not about restricting yourself - it’s about enjoying the food that you eat. You don’t need to be in a Zen-like state, you just need to pay attention to what you are eating.
The Benefits of Mindful Eating:
Prevents you eating on auto pilot and will allow your body to tell you when you are full
Improves digestion and helps to nourish your body because eating slowly will give your body a chance to digest your food
Helps you to eat less and lose weight. Many people who eat quickly often eat more because they haven’t given the stomach a chance to send a message to the brain that they are full. So, eating slowly means that you stop eating when you are full (1)
You enjoy and taste the food and therefore it boosts satisfaction
Makes you feel calmer and more in control
My Top Ten Tips on how to eat mindfully:
Make sure you eat when you are actually hungry
When you are having a meal, just eat. Don’t multitask and remove all distractions - turn off the phone, TV
Don’t eat on the go - sit at a table to eat and when eating snacks, place them on a plate
Don’t have too much food on your plate
Eat slowly, taking small bites, so that you don’t bolt your food down
Chew each mouthful 20-30 times (depending on the food)
Pay attention to what you are eating, chewing each bite, focusing on the textures, colours, smells and taste so that you can appreciate your food
Put your cutlery down between each mouthful
If you are full, don’t feel like you have to leave a clean plate. You can always keep any leftovers for another time
If this is all new to you - I would start eating with chopsticks for at least a week