7 ways to eat more mindfully

I hear this SO often: "I eat healthy so I don’t know why I always feel tired or why I experience digestive issues”.

One possible reason for that may be because you eat mindlessly. Like the vast majority of us, you eat on autopilot and out of your head vs. based on the bodily sensations that your body sends as signals of what it needs.

Eating mindlessly, which is any time that your brain is distracted and you are not aware of what or how much food you are consuming, disrupts digestion which can trigger a whole variety of imbalances and discomforts.

MINDLESS EATING
😐 eating out of boredom
📺 eating in front of the TV, your phone or a good book
🙊 eating directly out of a bag and not measuring portion sizes
😢 emotional eating, when you turn to food for comfort
😼 following a prescribed ‘healthy diet’ & overriding the signals and needs of your body

7 WAYS TO BE EAT MORE MINDFULLY
Mindful eating, on the other hand, teaches you to listen to the language of your body and choose the most nourishing choices for your mind, body, and soul.

1. Intuition trumps calorie counting: put the focus on your internal cues like hunger, fullness and satisfaction and move away from external cues like prescribed diets, food rules and restrictions.

2. Honor the food: we take it for granted and forget that a lot of work goes into the meal you’re about to eat so take a moment of gratitude

3. Connect with how you feel by placing your hands on your belly & taking a big breath before starting your meal. It will help you tune into how satisfied and full you feel throughout the meal.

4. Engage all your senses: with every bite, notice the taste, look, aroma, texture and sound. It will increase your awareness to the present moment and leave you feeling more satiated.

5. Chew more times than you usually do. Try 10-15 rounds of chewing for every bite. Chewing helps us digest and taste our foods! Once we swallow it, we no longer taste it.

6. Set down your fork in between each bite, this will help you slow the pace.