Guide to Mindful Eating

What exactly IS mindful eating and why bother to do it? 

For many years, I was busy.  Busy, busy, busy.  I had an active family and that meant eating on the run a lot.  Still, we tried to mostly sit down together as a family for suppers, and those are times I treasure.  However, our hectic lifestyle meant that we got into the habit of eating quickly, even when we did sit down for meals.   

I remember noticing when we had guests for supper, often we would be finished eating while our guests were only half-way through their plate of food.  At the time, I was a little amused by how fast we ate, but didn’t think much more of it. Yes, I knew that the general advice was to eat slowly, but I didn’t have time for that!

Fast forward to 2016 when autoimmune disease entered my life.  I had no idea that the root cause could be digestive issues.  It turns out that rushing through meals can actually be harmful to your health!  Believe it or not, eating too quickly for so many years was actually a contributor to my autoimmune disease. 

HOW you eat can be as important as WHAT you eat.

Digestion actually begins in the mind, letting the body know it’s time to rest and digest and preparing the digestive system for work.

Eating mindfully means paying attention to the process of eating without judgement and trusting your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues. It’s a healthy way to reconnect with food, listen to your body and help your digestive system with its task of breaking down food to fuel you.

Some tips for eating mindfully:

• Prepare. When you prepare your own food, the sights and aromas help trigger responses in your brain which tell your body to get ready for digestion.

• Put away distractions. By turning off the television and putting away electronics or other distractions, your brain and body can focus on eating.

• Create a mealtime ritual. Set the table, light candles, and play relaxing music.

• Sit down. Take the time to site down and notice the food in front of you, and feel gratitude for all the people who were part of growing, gathering and preparing the food you are about to eat.

• Notice your food. Pay attention to the smell, colour and texture of your food. Chew slowly and throughly savouring the food as you eat.

• Listen to your body. Honour the cues from your body telling you when you are full or if you need to eat more. Eating slowly will give your brain the opportunity to receive signals from the digestive system.

• Eat whole foods. Highly processed foods and foods high in sugar can disrupt the body’s natural satiety cues.

Mindful eating can allow you to reject the dieting mindset. Rather than thinking about how your body looks, mindful eating focuses on how you feel - a much healthier and happier way to live. 

Did you know the way you eat can actually calm inflammation?  Download my free 3 Ways to Calm Inflammation While You Eat - And Show Your Joints Some Love to read how.