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Introduction
What comes first to your mind when you hear the word mindful eating? Restricted eating! But it’s the exact opposite. Mindful eating is not about restriction, instead, it’s about awareness of what you are eating.
It’s about appreciating the nourishment that we get from food and honoring the body’s needs by fulfilling them.
This is a very different way of eating your food, unlike the traditional way of eating. Mindful eating habits emphasize conscious choices of eating that are related to body requirements, emotions, and needs practicing.
This form of eating focuses on the sensory experience of eating such as the taste, texture, and aroma of the food.
In this blog we will be talking about all the possible aspects of mindful eating habits, what are the challenges that you face while practicing, what are the benefits to your body, and some that will make your journey easier. So let’s dive in.
Benefits of Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is a habit that goes beyond the mere act of consumption of food as it helps in connecting your food, body, and present moment. This habit helps to benefit our body in both mental as well as physical ways.
Not only this but it also helps in self-control and self-emphasis on our body. Some of the major benefits are discussed below:
- Improved digestion and nutrient absorption: Eating slowly and paying attention while eating food helps keep the digestion process smooth. It also helps to increase the absorption rate of nutrients in our intestines. Due to this most of the digestive problems get resolved.
- Control in portion size: This is helpful when you are on a journey of losing weight. It also helps you to recognize your hunger and makes you realize when you are full. Not only this but this habit also helps you to stop overeating.
- Enjoyment of food: When you involve yourself with sensory experience from food then you start connecting with each bite you take. This leads to one of the most positive relationships with food where you appreciate the flavors and textures of different foods.
- Impact on weight management and overall health: Several research claim that there are so many health benefits when you practice this, especially in weight management and stress management. It is directly proportional to so many health factors such as blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure.
How to Practice Mindful Eating?
Shifting from a world of distraction, chaos, and hurried routines to slowing down and enjoying every single bite that we take can be challenging. We are habituated to being time-bound while eating and that’s the reason why all the principles of mindful eating collapse down.
Some of the tips to practice mindful eating and how to overcome the challenges while practicing it are mentioned below:
Mindful Eating Tips
- Mindful Shopping and Meal Preparation: The very first step that begins while starting the journey of mindful eating is mindful shopping. You need to look at the products and ingredients while putting them in your basket. You need to keep in mind the freshness and durability of the product.
- Setting a Peaceful Eating Environment: you need to keep your eating place stress-free and also free from distractions while enjoying your meal. Keep your gadgets off and also turn off the TV show so that you can focus on your meal while eating.
- Paying attention to sensory experiences: take enough time to chew every single bite so that you can enjoy the flavors Aroma and texture present in it. Try to appreciate the food with a good amount of time you take to consume it.
Tips to overcome the challenges while eating
- Dealing with busy schedules and distractions: Minimize your distractions and busy schedule and try to prioritize your eating time free from gadgets or any kind of electronic device. This will help you to focus on your mail and enjoy it with peace.
- Emotional Eating Triggers: There can be emotional triggers that you may have to deal with while eating. That’s where you need to practice deep breathing and journaling or you can also seek help from Experts.
Mindful Eating vs. Dieting
People often get confused when mindful eating and dieting. Now dieting is something that makes you count the calories, food type, and several other factors. While Intuitive eating on the other hand makes you connect with your food without leaving any guilt inside you.
Mindful eating helps you connect with food at the cellular level while you chew every single bite of your food. You can feel the taste Aroma texture and so many other factors while consciously consuming the food. Diet on the other hand is a restricted way of eating and even if you break the rules it leaves you with a feeling of guilt.
Mindful Eating and Weight Loss
Mindful eating is one of the best ways to manage your weight as it makes you learn about the Hunger level of your body. Not only this but it also helps in managing the nutritional value of your plate. Due to these two factors, you also start eating in a controlled and proportional way. All the healthy habits that you create on the journey of Intuitive Eating help you to create a good amount of weight loss in your body. So somewhere you can say that Intuitive eating and weight loss are directly proportional to one another.