Secrets to eating mindfully
Mealtimes can be quite hectic for moms as we speed around the kitchen frantically trying to figure out a seemingly balanced meal with a little one tugging at their leg or crying in the background and before long the entire process simply feels like a chore. Either they don’t choose the right food, the right amount, or the right times to be eating and end up feeling as though they haven’t really been satisfied all day. Not only will this lead to eventual weight gain or prevent weight loss, it also perpetuates an unhealthy relationship with food that is being inadvertently being taught and role modeled to their child.
Here are five tips to start eating mindfully:
1. First things first, clear your minds of ALL the preconceived ideas you have surrounding types of foods and the associations they conjure up for us; for example, thoughts such as bread=sugar=gaining weight or cookies=unhealthy=bad.
2. Next, think about what your body is feeling in terms of hunger and how much food it might actually need. It might be a salad, a burger, a chicken dish, pasta or maybe even just an apple.
3. Be sure that you are free from inappropriate distractions when beginning to eat. This means no texting, TV watching, talking on the phone, or reading emails. Not only is this crucial for your own mindfulness practice, but it opens up the awareness for you to connect with your family or friends during meals.
4. Appreciate the aroma and appearance of your food as you reflect on the tastes, textures, smells, and colors. Some will even find it useful to contemplate the origins of their food to help them connect to the taste and satisfaction gained while consuming it. When feeding children it is always a great idea to talk about these aspects of the food and provide some education about how it was grown, made, or cooked.
5. Once you are about halfway through your meal, take a moment to pause and consider how full you are feeling and whether you need to keep eating. All too often we eat the portion in front of us rather than the amount our body really requires, which as we all know will lead to weight gain regardless of whether the food was “healthy” or “unhealthy” in our minds.