Do you have 5 minutes to learn how to better appreciate your food and body?
Mindful eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your eating habits with a different perspective that helps give freedom with food choices and eating.
We spend about an hour each day eating (maybe 20 minutes per meal) and most of us don’t take time to listen to our bodies before, during and after eating.
The premises of mindful eating are:
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Eating slower with less distractions ⏰
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Listening to your body 👂(Am I hungry? If so, do I want crunchy, savory, etc.? Am I full?)
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Determining if eating is based on emotion or true hunger
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Using all your senses to enjoy food
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Appreciation of food and how it got to your plate 🍽️
Mindful eating can help you with eating too much, eating too fast, eating too little, and learning to really enjoy all types of food!
So let’s try it. Pick something to eat. Pick something small (piece of chocolate, cube of cheese 🧀, mandarin orange slice 🍊, grape or a cracker).
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Look at the food – observe the color, texture, think of all the steps it took for that food to get to you (growers, farmers, production, transportation, stores)
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Smell the food – does this trigger a memory, emotion, or hunger?
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Put the food in your mouth, BUT don’t chew – what flavors emerge? salty, sweet, savory? where do you taste the flavors on your tongue? note the consistency.
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Move food around in your mouth – does the taste or texture change?
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Chew if needed now and finish eating – does a taste linger?